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, February 7, 2015

7316 - Govt plans to ‘link’ ration cards with Aadhaar - Indian Express

Govt plans to ‘link’ ration cards with Aadhaar

A group of women take out a rally against biometric system in ration cards in Ahmedabad. 
(Source: Express Photo by Javed Raja)

Written by Hiral Devrajbhai Dave | Ahmedabad | Posted: February 3, 2015 3:53 am

The Gujarat Government is mulling over linking public distribution system with Aadhaar cards or to introduce one-time password system to bar coded ration cards. However, the much ambitious project to curb corruption has been facing some technical glitches following reports of non-matching of biometrics data that blocks beneficiaries from procuring ration at very crucial times.

Of total 1.2 crore ration cards issued in Gujarat, the Department of Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs has 1.07 crore bar coded cards, with biometric details, along with multiple identity proofs including voter ID card and LPG connection number.
“However, we have been receiving complaints that thumb prints, at times when consumers visits gram panchayats to get coupons to be produced at fair price shop, often fail to match even in genuine cases. There are many technical reasons for that — the most common being wear and tear or changing texture of thumb skin,” said a top official from the department.

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As beneficiary exchanges coupon with commodity at shop, the owner submits the same coupon back to the department to redeem his quota while completing the whole cycle of PDS modernisation. The whole system has helped eradicate many bogus ration cards. “So there have been complaints that genuine beneficiaries have to go without ration at times,” he added.

The Supreme Court in one of its judgments in 2011 hailed the system as something to be emulated nation-wide, when the state governments across the country in the process to implement Food Security Act.

But the department is now mulling over on how to further strengthen the automated system. “One of the options is to link it with Aadhaar card. Or, like the net banking, we can go for one-time password every time, in cases where biometric data fails to match,” said an official.

The department officers maintained that from the very beginning, there was serious consideration of linking it with Aadhaar cards. But the idea was dropped and rather details of other identity cards, including voter ID cards and driving licence were fed in the bar coded card to make them foolproof.

The department also allows biometric details of more than one family members on the single card. So, in case one member is not available or data doesn’t match, the benefits can be availed using data of another member. However, not all issued cards have multiple records. Besides, the department can also add the multiple records, but then to maintain that data would be a huge task.

“For example, as of now, we are maintaining data of some 1 crore users. In case of multiple entries on the single card, it can touch 5 crore or even more, which is almost near to the total population of the state,” said a senior official.


As part of unique system, the related website of the department provides details on stock availability at fair price shop also on SMS. At any time of the day, the beneficiaries can get details of stock of particular commodity is available or not by an SMS.
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