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

Sunday, February 5, 2012

2338 - UID Aadhar: Why Aadhar needs to succeed - IBN Live

SRIRAM BALASUBRAMANIAM
Tuesday , January 31, 2012 at 12 : 13



The Aadhar debate has been settled for now. With an consensus emerging on the biometric data, there seems to be an agreement with the establishment on the way forward. While the recent criticism on Aadhar has been forthcoming, as a common apolitical citizen, I feel that Aadhar has to succeed and the success of it has important ramifications for us as a whole. Here are the reasons why:

Time and money spent:
The UID Aadhar scheme was started a couple of years ago and it had a steady start when the UID numbers were issued a couple of years ago. This month, the UID Aadhar is going to enroll its 200th million number. By the end of the year, it is expected to touch 400 million which accounts for almost 1/3 of the population of the second most populated country in the world. It costs us less than half a billion dollars over a period of 5 years. A significant portion of resources and energy has been spent on this project. The project has been also projected as the next big thing in our attempt to reach the poor of India. With so much money spent and so many resources spent, wont it be diabolical for us if we didn't succeed in it? Beyond the monetary resources involved in this project, the impact potential of the project is immense.

Immense Impact on Rural India:
This project has the ability to reshape the way the poor in the country receive their benefits. The biometric data makes the identity exclusive and it also ensures that migrants within the country can get the benefits. Most of todays workers or lower middle class people are migrant workers. By bypassing the middleman, this could ensure that the benefits reach the people with limited leakages in the system. Considering that most of the corruption in the country is at the lower middle man level, the potential of this impact is massive. Unfortunately, most of the intellectual discussion has been polarizing and not inclusive. For example, if there are issues with the biometric testing, why are people talking about scrapping the entire thing rather than discussing about how it can be improved or made more robust? Another major concern is about the lack of a data privacy act. Being an advocate of stringent privacy laws, I agree with this view point. The issue I have here is why is the discussion again being polarized? Why can't the critics come up with a draft of a data privacy law which can aid the functioning of the UID? The concerns voiced by critics are no doubt valid. These concerns need to be addressed at the respective forums but being an active civil society; I think we need to adopt an inclusive approach to make the implementation of the concept of UID better. The sheer potential for impact of Aadhar is so massive that it has the potential to reduce corruption by a significant margin. Besides the impact, it is also crucial that Aadhar succeeds due to the man at the helm.

Benchmark for Corporate India:
Mr Nandan Nilekani is a corporate czar beyond excellence. Having been at the helm of one of India's most successful corporate ventures, he has had immense exposure to the global technological trends. He has the knowledge that is second to none, a vision that has developed dreams and the integrity that no one questions. Most importantly, he sets a precedent by being one of the few corporate India icons who has crossed over to governance. The success of Aadhar would reflect how corporate excellence can integrate with governance in this country. It would be a benchmark for the corporate community to shift over and help in the governance of the country. Aadhar's success would be the impetus that most of Corporate India is looking for, the example of seamless integration of corporate governance into a bureaucratic organization. It is imperative that Aadhar succeeds so as to encourage fellow corporates to help in governance in various other capacities. It would also be an ideal stepping stone for bringing professionalism to governance in the country. Aadhar's success is very critical for this inflow of corporate might into helping the national cause.
Aadhar is a brilliant concept and has the power to cleanse a generation of woes. It is by no means perfect; it has its flaws like any implementation. The social dialogue should be constructive and not polarizing in bringing together the concept for the benefit of the nation. The inclusive idea influx can help to mitigate the potential of this massive project. More than all this, the success of Aadhar is imperative to bring about corporate India's professionalism into governance in various other initiatives.
Aadhar should succeed and hopefully will succeed; after all rural India, corporate India and the world are watching.
CLICK ON TITLE TO SEE ORIGINAL ARTICLE - Posted by