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

Tuesday, April 2, 2013

3197 - The Cyber Security, Data Security And Civil Liberties Implications Of Aadhaar Project And Biometric Collection By UIDAI In India


The Cyber Security, Data Security And Civil Liberties Implications Of Aadhaar Project And Biometric Collection By UIDAI In India

n India there are many projects that are being implemented without any legal framework and parliamentary oversight. In fact, these projects are clear violation of the constitutional protections and fundamental rights conferred by Indian Constitution.
Surprisingly, these projects have not only survived constitutional scrutiny by our otherwise active and praiseworthy judiciary but they have actually grown in their impact and application.
One such project is Aadhaar project that is implemented in India in clear violation of constitutional norms. This unnecessary expenditure, that also on an unconstitutional project, could have been avoided. Fortunately, the illegality of Aadhaar project is questioned In India courts.
In all probability Aadhaar project would be declared to be unconstitutional unless it is supported by an already existing constitutionally sound legal framework. As on date, the parliament of India has not passed any law that can authorise the existence and continued functioning of Aadhaar project in India.
At Perry4Law Organisation and Perry4Law’s Techno Legal Base (PTLB)we believe that the Aadhaar project of India must be either suspended or scrapped till it is preceded by a constitutionally sound legal framework. Indian government is committing a big blinder by allowing the Aadhaar project to be continued in an unconstitutional manner.
Similar rules apply to projects like central monitoring system (CMS) project of India, national intelligence grid (Natgrid) project of India,national counter terrorism centre (NCTC) of India, etc.
In all these projects, including Aadhaar project, we are facing some common problems. The first and foremost has already been discussed, i.e. lack of legal framework and parliamentary oversight. The second on the list is lack of dedicated privacy rights and laws in India. Till date we have no dedicated data protection laws in India, privacy laws and rights in India, data security laws in India, cyber security laws in India, etc.
The third problem associated with projects like these is related to violation of civil liberties in India. The civil liberties and national security requirements must be reconciled by India. While national security and cyber security are important, they must not result in blatant and unnecessary violation of civil liberties like speech and expression and privacy rights.
The fourth problem with which Aadhaar project is suffering pertains to lack of cyber security infrastructure in India. Not only the biometrics collection in India is unconstitutional but the biometric database is also highly vulnerable to cyber attacks, cracking, data thefts and biometric data manipulations.
India is increasingly facing serious cyber attacks. Recently, thecomputer systems of DRDO and security officials were breached and sensitive files were leaked. Further, it is also well known that Internet is full of unprotected and unsafe devices, SCADA systems and computers. The cyber security infrastructure of India is also not in a good shape. The offensive and defensive cyber security capabilities of India have still to be developed.  In these circumstances managing the cyber security of biometric data collected by the Aadhaar project and UIDAI is next to impossible.
Neither UIDAI nor Indian government is ready for a project like Aadhaar that has been given such a long life span against all odds. It would be in larger interest of India if the Aadhaar project is put at rest immediately unless we are inviting some catastrophe to happen.

This entry was posted in Uncategorized on April 1, 2013.
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