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

Friday, April 13, 2012

2502 - Ajit P Shah, Som Mittal to lead privacy law evaluation - Live Mint


Ajit P Shah, Som Mittal to lead privacy law evaluation

Panel to study privacy requirements in India and privacy laws abroad; likely to submit its report by June-end
Sahil Makkar, sahil.m@livemint.co

A committee headed by retired Delhi high court judge Ajit P. Shah will submit its report on the contentious Privacy Bill by June-end after a three-month delay.
The panel was formed in February by the Planning Commission and asked to submit its report by March-end, but is yet to hold its first official meeting.
Its members have been drawn from the private sector and ministries including the department of information technology, ministry of home affairs, department of telecommunication, law ministry and the department of personnel and training, or DoPT, which drafted the Bill.

“There were some procedural delays but we are meeting soon to start the proceedings. We have to give our recommendations by June,” Shah said.

The panel was formed after differences surfaced over the Privacy Bill between various ministries and concerns were voiced by civil rights activists about the impact of some government initiatives on the individual’s right to privacy.

The move to enact a privacy law came against the backdrop of Aadhaar, the project to provide unique identity numbers to all residents of the country, and the National Intelligence Grid (Natgrid), which will assist investigators in obtaining information tracked by 11 law enforcement and intelligence agencies. The agencies will have access to details of phone calls, credit card transactions, visa and immigration records, property records and driving licences of all citizens.

Rights activists warned that information collected by Aadhaar, a project headed by Infosys Ltd co-founder Nandan Nilekani, and Natgrid could compromise individual privacy. The home ministry wanted to keep law enforcement agencies out of the purview of the proposed Bill.

“Privacy is a very complex issue and ground realities in India are different from other countries,” said Shah, who also heads the Indian Broadcasting Foundation. “It is very difficult to frame privacy laws in India.”

The committee has been divided into two sub-groups, one headed by Shah and the other by Som Mittal, president of the information technology industry lobby Nasscom. The sub-groups have been asked to study privacy requirements in India and privacy laws abroad.

“Many issues are related to cyber privacy. That is why Nasscom has been involved,” Mittal said.

Officials in the Planning Commission said the Shah committee will take a call on the draft Bill prepared by the DoPT. Its recommendations could even become the basis for a second draft of the proposed law.

After the leakage of taped conversations among corporate lobbyist Niira Radia, business leaders and journalists, the government expanded the scope of the Bill to include provisions on lawful interception, surveillance and illegal commercial communication.

“Now there is a clamour about Google’s new privacy policy and there are requirements of law enforcement agencies,” said a member of the Shah panel who didn’t want to be named. “We also need to check what is going on the Internet. 

The panel will take a holistic approach towards the entire issue.”
Google Inc. has integrated its privacy policy across services such as Gmail, Google Search and YouTube, allowing them to share data.


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