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

Tuesday, June 9, 2015

8120 - HDFC Bank set to disburse auto loans in 30 minutes - Business Standard


An increased focus on using technology for loan approval and disbursal is in line with the bank's aim to become digitised in the future


Nupur Anand  |  Mumbai  June 8, 2015 Last Updated at 00:26 IST


HDFC Bank, second largest private sector lender in the country, will use biometrics technology to disburse automobile loans in 30 minutes. Earlier, the lender, whose loan book mostly consists of retail loans, had launched a loan product to disburse personal loans in 10 seconds.

The biometrics technology will be linked to applicants' Aadhaar card number, which will pull out the customer profile. The loan will then be approved with additional details. The product is available for HDFC Bank's depositors, as well as others.

With this technology, loans for two-wheelers can be approved within 10-15 minutes, whereas the time taken for car loans will be around 30 minutes.

"We believe this will be the next level in financing and addressing customer needs... If a customer walks in to a dealer, they can walk out with the vehicle the same day itself, which was not the case earlier. In competitive times like this, you need products that will give you a one-up," said Ashok Khanna, senior executive vice-president, business head (vehicle loans).

The lender has already deployed the biometric device across 60 two-wheeler dealerships and 200 car dealerships. By accessing a customer's fingerprint record, the lender can get the data linked to his or her Aadhaar card. After this, the bank will seek additional details such as income and job profile to check the loan eligibility. Once this is over, the loan can be approved. After submitting the documents and paying the margin money (over and above the loan), the customer can walk out with the vehicle.

The bank is planning to deploy this technology in 400-500 dealers across the country in the case of two-wheelers in the current financial year. In the same period, the target is to cover 300-400 car dealers. In the past two months, the lender has disbursed about 25,000 car and two-wheeler loans with this technology.

Khanna said, HDFC Bank has 31-32 per cent market share in the car loan segment, and 22-23 per cent in the two-wheeler segment. With this technology, the bank is confident of wresting more market share. Currently, the device has been deployed in dealership across urban areas. Going ahead, the bank plans to deploy it in semi-urban and rural areas, to expand the market in these.

Within the retail segment, auto loans make for the largest share with advances worth Rs 46,760 crore at the end of March. In FY15, the total retail advances stood at Rs 1,75,801 crore.

This increased focus on using technology for speedy loan approval and disbursal is in line with the bank's focus on the digital medium and with an aim to become a 'digital bank'.

According to Reserve Bank of India data, HDFC Bank recorded transactions worth Rs 6,031 crore at the end of March. The total value of transactions on the mobile banking platform in the sector stood at Rs 16,914 crore.