In 2009, I became extremely concerned with the concept of Unique Identity for various reasons. Connected with many like minded highly educated people who were all concerned.
On 18th May 2010, I started this Blog to capture anything and everything I came across on the topic. This blog with its million hits is a testament to my concerns about loss of privacy and fear of the ID being misused and possible Criminal activities it could lead to.
In 2017 the Supreme Court of India gave its verdict after one of the longest hearings on any issue. I did my bit and appealed to the Supreme Court Judges too through an On Line Petition.
In 2019 the Aadhaar Legislation has been revised and passed by the two houses of the Parliament of India making it Legal. I am no Legal Eagle so my Opinion carries no weight except with people opposed to the very concept.
In 2019, this Blog now just captures on a Daily Basis list of Articles Published on anything to do with Aadhaar as obtained from Daily Google Searches and nothing more. Cannot burn the midnight candle any longer.
"In Matters of Conscience, the Law of Majority has no place"- Mahatma Gandhi
Ram Krishnaswamy
Sydney, Australia.

Aadhaar

The UIDAI has taken two successive governments in India and the entire world for a ride. It identifies nothing. It is not unique. The entire UID data has never been verified and audited. The UID cannot be used for governance, financial databases or anything. It’s use is the biggest threat to national security since independence. – Anupam Saraph 2018

When I opposed Aadhaar in 2010 , I was called a BJP stooge. In 2016 I am still opposing Aadhaar for the same reasons and I am told I am a Congress die hard. No one wants to see why I oppose Aadhaar as it is too difficult. Plus Aadhaar is FREE so why not get one ? Ram Krishnaswamy

First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.-Mahatma Gandhi

In matters of conscience, the law of the majority has no place.Mahatma Gandhi

“The invasion of privacy is of no consequence because privacy is not a fundamental right and has no meaning under Article 21. The right to privacy is not a guaranteed under the constitution, because privacy is not a fundamental right.” Article 21 of the Indian constitution refers to the right to life and liberty -Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi

“There is merit in the complaints. You are unwittingly allowing snooping, harassment and commercial exploitation. The information about an individual obtained by the UIDAI while issuing an Aadhaar card shall not be used for any other purpose, save as above, except as may be directed by a court for the purpose of criminal investigation.”-A three judge bench headed by Justice J Chelameswar said in an interim order.

Legal scholar Usha Ramanathan describes UID as an inverse of sunshine laws like the Right to Information. While the RTI makes the state transparent to the citizen, the UID does the inverse: it makes the citizen transparent to the state, she says.

Good idea gone bad
I have written earlier that UID/Aadhaar was a poorly designed, unreliable and expensive solution to the really good idea of providing national identification for over a billion Indians. My petition contends that UID in its current form violates the right to privacy of a citizen, guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution. This is because sensitive biometric and demographic information of citizens are with enrolment agencies, registrars and sub-registrars who have no legal liability for any misuse of this data. This petition has opened up the larger discussion on privacy rights for Indians. The current Article 21 interpretation by the Supreme Court was done decades ago, before the advent of internet and today’s technology and all the new privacy challenges that have arisen as a consequence.

Rajeev Chandrasekhar, MP Rajya Sabha

“What is Aadhaar? There is enormous confusion. That Aadhaar will identify people who are entitled for subsidy. No. Aadhaar doesn’t determine who is eligible and who isn’t,” Jairam Ramesh

But Aadhaar has been mythologised during the previous government by its creators into some technology super force that will transform governance in a miraculous manner. I even read an article recently that compared Aadhaar to some revolution and quoted a 1930s historian, Will Durant.Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Rajya Sabha MP

“I know you will say that it is not mandatory. But, it is compulsorily mandatorily voluntary,” Jairam Ramesh, Rajya Saba April 2017.

August 24, 2017: The nine-judge Constitution Bench rules that right to privacy is “intrinsic to life and liberty”and is inherently protected under the various fundamental freedoms enshrined under Part III of the Indian Constitution

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the World; indeed it's the only thing that ever has"

“Arguing that you don’t care about the right to privacy because you have nothing to hide is no different than saying you don’t care about free speech because you have nothing to say.” -Edward Snowden

In the Supreme Court, Meenakshi Arora, one of the senior counsel in the case, compared it to living under a general, perpetual, nation-wide criminal warrant.

Had never thought of it that way, but living in the Aadhaar universe is like living in a prison. All of us are treated like criminals with barely any rights or recourse and gatekeepers have absolute power on you and your life.

Announcing the launch of the # BreakAadhaarChainscampaign, culminating with events in multiple cities on 12th Jan. This is the last opportunity to make your voice heard before the Supreme Court hearings start on 17th Jan 2018. In collaboration with @no2uidand@rozi_roti.

UIDAI's security seems to be founded on four time tested pillars of security idiocy

1) Denial

2) Issue fiats and point finger

3) Shoot messenger

4) Bury head in sand.

God Save India

Saturday, August 6, 2011

1500 - Protest letter to Prime Minister against UID (Aadhaar Project)

Posted by: Prassoon Suryadas on: July 27, 2011



 Honorable Prime Minister,
This memo is with respect to the Aadhaar Project, issuance of UID, collection and centralization of personal data including biometric information of entire population. I recognize the fact that, to date, no bill has been passed in either houses of the parliament neither had done any study, research or public debate regarding the same. I strongly believe that it is an absolutely ungrateful and deceitful act by the Government of India, a gross violation of fundamental right to privacy of the respected citizenry and a monolithically ruthless step to undermine the very Constitution of India. Here are my arguments against UID project…
 
1. Unconstitutional
 
Article 21 of The Constitution of India states that
 
No person shall be deprived of his life or personal liberty except according to procedure established by law.
 
In the case of collection of highly sensitive personal data of the entire population without due parliamentary procedure is totally unacceptable and is outright violation of the above mentioned article. In fact, State has no right to pass such a law which invades the privacy of its citizenry.
 
As per Article 13(2)
The State shall not make any law which takes away or abridges the rights conferred by this Part and any law made in contravention of this clause shall, to the extent of the contravention, be void.
 
Although, Part III of the constitution stating fundamental rights does not expressly specify the privacy rights, honorable Apex court of India in its landmark judgment Unni Krishnan, J.P. & Ors. Etc. VS State Of Andhra Pradesh & Ors. on 4 February, 1993 ruled that
 
“This Court has held that several un-enumerated rights fall within Article 21 since personal liberty is of widest amplitude.
 
The right to privacy
 
Govinda v. State of U.P., [1975] 3 SCR 946 701
In this case reliance was placed on the American decision in Griswols v. Connecticut, 381 US 479 at 510
It is the fundamental right of everyone in this country, assured under the interpretation given to Article 21 by this Court in Francis Mullin’s case, to live with human dignity, free from exploitation. This right to live with human dignity enshrined in Article 21 derives its life breath from the directive Principles of State Policy and particularly clauses (e) and (f) of Article 39 and Article 41 and 42 and at the least, therefore, it must include protection of the health and strength of workers, men and women, and of the tender age of children against abuse, opportunities and facilities for children to develop in a healthy manner and in conditions of freedom and dignity, educational facilities, just and humane conditions of work and maternity relief. These are the minimum requirements which must exist in order to enable a person to live with human dignity and no State neither the Central Government nor any State Government has the right to take any action which will deprive a person of the enjoyment of these basic essentials.”
 
Please don’t get me wrong, I’m not trying to give lessons on The Constitution and its interpretations, but instead, I’m demanding those rights that are guaranteed by it and also to underscore my strongest protest against taking those rights away.
 
2. Huge risk of Unethical profiling
 
The data collected as part of providing ID cards, and the information stored in the cards, may be misused for a variety of purposes. The card can serve purposes other than its original intent. ID cards can be used to profile citizens in a country and initiate a process of racial/ethnic cleansing, same as the genocide done by Rwanda government of 1995.
Introduced in the 1930s by government of USA, as a way to track individuals for taxation purposes, Social Security numbers were never designed to be used for authentication, more over it doesn’t carry biometric data. Over time, however, private and public institutions began keeping tabs on consumers using the numbers, requiring people to present them as proof of identity, such as when applying for loans, new employment, or health insurance. The UID numbering scheme whitepaper itself says
 
“Since it is likely that increasingly the UID will be used by several service providers (government agencies, private institutions and NGOs) it is important for a resident to be able to remember it in the absence of a token such as a card.”
 
We do not want our tax money to be spent on building trade infrastructure for the undue benefit of domestic or foreign corporations taking away the bargain power of customers. There is no reason to disbelieve that the centralized database of citizens could be misused to profile citizens in undesirable and dangerous ways.
 
3. Unimaginable risk of Identity theft
 
Legislation on privacy cannot be a guarantee against the possibilities of misuse of ID cards. In USA even with adequate legislation, today, it amounts to over $50 billion worth identity theft. Survey conducted by Federal Trade Commission (http://www.ftc.gov) in 2006 estimates about 8.3 million lost/stolen identity victims in 2005 alone. Considering zero legislation towards identity protection, how will be the Indian scenario, is way beyond my imaginations!
 
4. Already rejected by governments of UK, USA, Australia etc
 
Two countries where the issue of national ID cards has been well debated are the United States and the United Kingdom. In both these countries, the project was shelved after public protests. Countries such as Australia have also shelved ID card schemes. Communist China, where there is no regard to personal liberties, declared its intention to introduce an ID card but later withdrew the clause to have biometric data stored in such cards.
 
Information Systems and Innovations Group at the London School of Economics (LSE) report identified key areas of concern with the Blair government’s plans, which included their high risk and likely high cost, coupled with technological and human rights issues. The report noted that the government’s proposals “are too complex, technically unsafe, overly prescriptive and lacks a foundation of public trust and confidence”. While accepting that preventing terrorism is the legitimate role of the state, the report expressed doubts on whether ID cards would prevent terror attacks through identity theft.
 
In conclusion, the LSE report noted that
“…identity systems may create a range of new and unforeseen problems. These include the failure of systems, unforeseen financial costs, increased security threats and unacceptable imposition on citizens. The success of a national identity system depends on a sensitive, cautious and cooperative approach involving all key stakeholder groups, including an independent and rolling risk assessment and a regular review of management practices. We are not confident that these conditions have been satisfied in the development of the Identity Cards Bill. The risk of failure in the current proposals is therefore magnified to the point where the scheme should be regarded as a potential danger to the public interest and to the legal rights of individuals.”

5. We do NOT want to re-live history
 
In the beginning of 20th century, Eugenics laws were prevalent in Germany and USA which allowed the government to forcefully sterilize handpicked ethnic groups. Government together with its so called “social workers” used to decide which newborn baby should live and which one should not! Biometric data coupled with Eugenics technology may end up in a Neo-Nazi era and we do NOT want that to happen in India.
 
6. Proclamation of Independence – Saying ‘NO’ to UID
 
In conclusion, I would like to proclaim my independence from this horrendously tyrannical government and I here by refuse and reject Aadhaar Card. At the same time, please consider this as my humble, sturdy and strongest appeal to shut down Unique Identification Authority of India with immediate effect and divert the allocated humongous funds towards productive and needful projects to uplift the poor so as to narrow down the gap between haves and have-nots.
 
NB: Readers are requested to take printouts and send it to the Prime Minister. Printer friendly files are available for download below. Not copy righted; feel free to post it in your blogs as yours or link back here, modify or use as is or with your name. Spread the message and defeat the evil.
 
Protest Letter to PM
UID Cartoon /Caricature PDF format
Public awareness notice in Malayalam.