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

Monday, September 5, 2011

1579 - Suprema Inc., 4G Identity Solutions Wins Supply of Biometric Devices for India’s NPR Project

Posted on August 31, 2011 by rac

Suprema Inc. and 4G Identity Solutions announced that they have been awarded the contract to supply 4-4-2 Fingerprint Slap Scanners for India’s National Population Register (NPR) project. This contract is one of the world’s largest orders for supply of biometric devices. 4G ID in partnership with Suprema executed this large order in record two weeks time to supply, install and commission 1540 numbers of Suprema’s Realscan-10 (UID) Fingerprint Slap scanners.

Realscan-10 (UID) is certified for deployment in India’s Unique ID (UID) project by Standardization Testing & Quality Certification (STQC) Directorate. The certification ensures that these devices are reliable, safe, secure and meet the technical specifications of Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI).

NPR Project is taken up by Consortium of Public Sector Undertakings (CPSUs) consisting of Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL), Electronic Corporation of India Limited (ECIL) and ITI Limited (ITI) in 9 Costal States. NPR is a comprehensive identity database to be maintained by the Registrar General and Census Commissioner India, Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India (RGI). NPR biometric enrolment will adopt standards formulated by UIDAI and shall use the biometric devices certified by STQC.

Suprema and 4G have partnered for providing Realscan-10 (UID) Fingerprint Slap scanners for India’s UID and NPR Project. Earlier in 2009, 4G ID and Suprema have also won the contract to supply Biometric hardware and software for the Coastal ID project to CPSUs. The Suprema fingerprint slap scanners supplied by 4G ID have been successfully deployed in this project and have outperformed the other fingerprint devices in terms of image quality, ruggedness, ease of capture and ability to operate in extreme climatic conditions.

Dr.Sreeni Tripuraneni CEO and Chairman of 4G ID said “We have the history of providing the best of breed biometric products and solutions that are best suited for Indian environmental conditions and at the most cost effective prices. For India’s UID/Aadhaar and NPR programme we have examined, evaluated and chosen the finest biometric products that produce best quality images and are field proven”.

“The India NPR project is one of the largest government-level projects in biometric industry at the moment and we are confident on our Real Scan fingerprint live scanners in its image quality, durability and practical usability in India’s environment,” said Young S. Moon, Vice President at Suprema. “Key competencies in our live scanners are based on our in-depth expertise in biometrics and image processing as well as our years of experience in large-scale government and public projects,” Young added.

About 4G

4G ID is a leader in unique ID research, development, products, solutions and consultancy. It is credited with creating the world’s largest citizen unique ID database, achieving over 6.2 quadrillion matches in a record two months. 4G ID’s projects, solutions and products are engineered for country-level scalability, accuracy, availability, usability, flexibility, inter-operability, cost-effectiveness, security and speed. 4G ID is trusted by governments, corporations and international bodies.

About Suprema Inc.

SUPREMA is a leading global provider of biometric and identity management solutions and systems. The company’s range of products include live-scanners, biometric access control systems, fingerprint modules and e-passport readers. In 2010, the company also won government projects in Brazil, China and EU countries in supplying biometrics and electronic passport solutions. SUPREMA has worldwide sales network over 100 countries and also a listed company in South Korea’s stock exchange (KOSDAQ).
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