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, April 19, 2014

5462 - No govt can afford to scrap Aadhaar project, says Nilekani - Business Standard

BS Reporter/Bangalore 11 Apr 14 | 07:10 PM

Nandan Nilekani, Congress candidate for Lok Sabha elections from Bangalore South constituency, today said Aadhaar project would be continued irrespective of which party comes to power at the Centre. The project has proved to be an effective tool in saving government expenditure on subsidies and entitlements for the large population, he said.

"Aadhaar is a transformational project and the full value of that will be seen in the years to come. There are two big problems in India for the people. Many people do not have birth certificates and do not have any identity proof. Aadhaar is an identity and helps in opening a bank account, to get admission for children, travel on a train or even secure a job. It is a form of empowerment and it is very popular and that is why 600 million have taken the number," Nilekani said, here today.

Addressing members of Federation of Karnataka Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FKCCI), a premier trade body in the state, he said Aadhaar card ensures that only genuine people get the entitlement subsidy.

"I believe that at least 10 per cent improvement in the productivity of government expenditure on entitlement and subsidies could be brought in with the help of Aadhaar cards. Now, the annual budget of the government on such subsidies is Rs 300,000 crore a year. If 10 per cent improvement is done, we can save Rs 30,000 crore a year as a taxpayer to the government. So, this is a very very important project for both empowerment as well as for making government expenditure efficient," he said.

The former chairman of Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) said people are criticizing the Aadhaar project just because he is contesting elections. And many of those who are criticizing this project have already enrolled for Aadhaar card. They did not have any problems all these days, he said.

"Aadhaar had the budgetary allocation in five budgets and approved by Parliament. I think some of them who are desperate are making an issue out of it. The data collected from the people is safe and is stored in government controlled data centres within the country and no data has gone out of the country till now. This is a misconception and false allegations are made," he said.

He further assured the members of FKCII that whichever government comes to power would continue the project. "I am very confident that once the new government comes into place, Aadhaar will continue and in fact it will be the foundation for the fundamental reform of public delivery in India," Nilekani added.

Nilekani?s opponent in Bangalore South, BJP's H N Ananth Kumar had said that the BJP government, if voted to power, would scrap Aadhaar project "lock, stock and barrel". Even BJP president Rajnath Singh said yesterday that the NDA government would review the project.

Commenting on Congress party?s manifesto, which talked about creation of 100 million jobs, Nilekani, who was part of the manifesto committee, said, ?We have recognised the importance of job creation. India has such a large pool of young people who need to have employment. We have put the target of creating 100 million jobs. We will create an environment for job creation. A detailed roadmap will be announced for job creation once the UPA returns to power.?