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

Wednesday, June 25, 2014

5603 - HomeMin likely to take over Aadhaar biometric data - Business Stadard

HomeMin likely to take over Aadhaar biometric data

Nitin Sethi/New Delhi 20 Jun 14 | 12:58 AM

The home ministry is likely to move a Cabinet note asking for a takeover of the biometric data collected so far by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI). If the proposal is approved, it will go for physical verification of the 640 million Aadhaar card holders to set up the National Registration of Indian Citizens and distribute national citizenship cards.

Since the new system is meant to ascertain citizenship of individuals - and not only their identity - verification of data gathered by UIDAI will have to be carried out by sending enumerators to each Aadhaar number holder to match the information against the biometrics collected.

Home ministry sources told Business Standard the pilot project, 'Multipurpose National Identity Card', undertaken during the previous National Democratic Alliance (NDA) regime (1998-2004) would be used as template to build the protocols for the citizenship register programme. The project had used 19 different criteria to establish identity but these, too, would have to be looked at again to determine the proof an individual could provide for his 'citizenship'.

The NDA government will also need to approach the Supreme Court to get an order on sharing of biometric data reversed.

In an interim order in March this year, the apex court had held that UIDAI could not share biometric data with any authority or agency without the permission of individuals concerned. The previous government had appealed for relaxation in this order but failed to get any relief.

The citizenship register is also to be made a 'live register' by linking it with the birth and death registration process across the country through a tehsil-level electronic platform. According to regulations, it will require regular update of information, including citizens' addresses.

These steps, approved by Home Minister Rajnath Singh at a meeting on Thursday, will now require a series of Cabinet approvals. The ministry is expected to start work on background paperwork and modalities shortly.

At the meetings, Singh was apprised of security weaknesses in the Aadhaar enrolment process. The Intelligence Bureau's earlier concerns over safety of data and the ability of other countries to access data collected by foreign firms were also highlighted.

Home ministry officials expressed aversion to absorbing UIDAI within the home ministry, though it was understood the authority's set-up would practically grind to a standstill as the citizenship register took off. Questions still remain about what would happen to the schemes currently being undertaken on the direct benefits transfer programme and the safety of biometric and other databases already existing at different nodes involved in the Aadhaar programme.

The home ministry is not the coordinating agency for Aadhaar. During the previous government, it was driven by the Planning Commission and the Prime Minister's Office, and overseen by Rahul Gandhi's team in the Congress party.

DATA RETRIEVAL

* Home Minister Rajnath Singh has approved steps for the citizenship register plan; now, a series of Cabinet approvals will be needed

* 640mn

Aadhaar card holders who will have to be approached for physical verification

* Protocols

To be built on the template of an earlier citizenship programme undertaken during the previous NDA regime

* Hitch

The govt will need to approach the Supreme Court to get an order barring sharing of biometric data reversed
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