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, March 14, 2014

5308 - Indian ID card may be made mandatory for expatriates Embassy official says suggestions given to allow people to apply from abroad - Gulf News

Indian ID card may be made mandatory for expatriates
Embassy official says suggestions given to allow people to apply from abroad

  • By Sunita Menon,Senior Reporter
  • Published: 21:30 March 13, 2014

Dubai: It will soon be mandatory for Indian expatriates living in the UAE to obtain Aadhaar card — the Indian national identity card — a senior official from New Delhi has confirmed.

As of now, Indian nationals living in the UAE have to travel and personally apply to government offices to get the Aadhaar card.

But officials at the Indian Embassy in the UAE said that when cards are made mandatory, changes may allow Indian nationals to apply from abroad.

“A suggestion to make provision for Indian nationals (NRIs) to apply for card in UAE was made during the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas in January this year. The suggestions have been forwarded to the concerned department in India. But so far a decision is not yet taken. Now NRIs in UAE need to apply for the card in India,” said T.P. Seetharam, Indian Ambassador to the UAE.


According to the Unique Identification Authority of India, under the Planning Commission of India, Aadhaar (means support in Hindi) is a 12- digit individual identification number that will be unique to an individual and will remain valid for the remainder of their life. The number is linked to the person’s demographic and biographic information.
The scheme was launched in 2009.

Related Links
The data collected will help agencies and service providers across India to weed out fake identities. It is said that having an Aadhaar number will provide easy access to services like banking, mobile phone connections and other government and nongovernment services in the near future. This identification number will also serve as official proof of identity and address, anywhere in India.

Those non-resident Indians from UAE who had applied for the card said that they did so while they were in India for vacation. Many are yet to be aware of the scheme and do not want to bother unless it becomes mandatory to apply.

“There were special centres opened at my hometown in Kerala. I was there on vacation and thought why not apply for it. This was some eight months back. I have yet to receive it. I am told that in future this card is going to be mandatory. According to news reports the card will make life easier in dealing with government departments in India. It will be a great help if that happens,” Krishnadas Warrier, a Dubai-based accountant, said.
“I have yet to apply for it. As long as it is not mandatory, why should I bother to stand in queue and waste my time,” Abudulla Kutty N.P, a Dubai-based cashier, said.

Vivek Raghunathan is a Sharjah-based schoolteacher and is a holder of Aadhaar card. According to him the card should be made mandatory. “During the time of applying for the card one is needed to go through the finger tip and iris biometric scanning. In my opinion this is good because it will eradicate duplication in areas like banks, legal issues etc.
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