AADHAAR RELATED ARTICLES: 4852 - Bloopers abound as updating proves tedious for Aadhaar

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, October 19, 2013

4852 - Bloopers abound as updating proves tedious for Aadhaar - The Hindu

BANGALORE, October 16, 2013

Bloopers abound as updating proves tedious for Aadhaar

DEEPA KURUP

According to a senior UIDAI official, the first level of check is at the enrolment centre, where the operator asks the resident to view the data entered and suggest corrections.— File photo V. Sreenivasa Murthy

People say attempts to correct errors online or by writing to UIDAI futile

Sarita (name changed), a 33-year-old resident of Koramangala, says she has been “extremely unlucky” with the Aadhaar enrolment process.

First, a tout took Rs. 300 from her and told her he would get her an Aadhaar appointment. Then, when the tout disappeared with her money, she applied at the local Aadhaar centre only to get a card with her age wrong and name misspelt.

Attempts to inquire with the enrolment centre had her running around in circles.

“Then, a few months ago they (enrolment centre personnel) said I could do this process online. The surprising part was that they said they could not help me with that!” she says.

Ms. Sarita says that she wasn’t able to go through the online process (which at the first look doesn’t appear too complicated) and that the system did not generate a one-time password.

Corrections tedious

Residents from across Bangalore, whom The Hindu spoke with, said the Aadhaar details were prone to errors, and worse, the system used to make corrections was largely inaccessible.

This is despite the fact that in recent months, the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has made attempts to remedy the system by setting up an online and offline procedure for corrections and updating.

“Yes, there is a provision to correct data online, but as a senior citizen I found it difficult to get through the process. The other option, which is sending it by post to the UIDAI office, has not yielded any response.

I’m yet to get even a simple acknowledgement,” says a septuagenarian resident of Jal Vayu Vihar.

In his case, he registered at the Chinnaswamy stadium enrolment centre. He says that while the data entered was error-free, the address was all jumbled up when they received the Aadhaar document.

“The flat number was affixed to the street name, which completely changes the address,” he points out. “What is funny is that those who enrolled with me did not have these errors,” he says, adding that at least 10 residents in his colony had got jumbled addresses.

Confusion

The confusion around whether or not the Aadhaar card was mandatory was not helping the situation.

“I did not complain earlier because we were told that the card was not mandatory. But now, we are being told that for getting LPG subsidy, we need to link the Aadhaar number to our bank accounts. Given it is being made mandatory for such crucial services, they must be doubly careful.”

SC order

Despite a Supreme Court order that said the Aadhaar cannot be made mandatory for any services or subsidies, oil and gas companies are yet to issue a fresh directive on the matter.

Another resident in the same colony got the Aadhaar document delivered to his address, but the document had his address printed as Mathikere. Oddly, the postal department got the address right and delivered it to the right address. A complaint was made in June and an acknowledgement for it was received three months later. But, the updated document is yet to reach him.

Options available

When contacted, a senior UIDAI official conceded that the updating process could do with some speeding up. The official explained that the authority was well aware of the problem and gave citizens two options to get the data corrected: online (by entering your Aadhaar number and getting a one-time password for verification) and offline (by downloading an application and posting it to the UIDAI regional office). Further, the UIDAI is also planning to start centres that will exclusively deal with updating citizen data.

“But, the first level of check is at the enrolment centre, where the operator asks the resident to view the data entered and suggest corrections. After this also, the resident can make corrections within 96 hours of enrolment. When so many opportunities are given, residents should be careful at this stage so no wrong data is entered.”