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, July 25, 2015

8303 - India's E-Vault to Store Documents on Cloud Draws Crowds - NDTV

India's E-Vault to Store Documents on Cloud Draws Crowds

All India | Press Trust of India | Updated: July 17, 2015 16:14 IST

File Photo PM Modi waves as Cyrus Mistry (R), chairman of Tata Group watches during the launch of -Digital India Week in New Delhi.

BENGALURU:  A key part of the "Digital India" initiative of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the free government scheme that provides a virtual vault in cyberspace for the safe-keep of documents like birth certificates and property papers has attracted 830,075 people.

As easy as opening an e-mail account, the free Digital Locker facility on a cloud, or cyberspace, allows any individual with an Adhaar card and a linked mobile phone to sign up. It's a personal storage space to securely store e-documents and links of such official certificates.

"One of the aims of 'Digital India' is that a person should have private space on a public cloud. It is one of the desirable deliverables of this initiative," Ram Sewak Sharma, secretary in the Department of Information Technology, told IANS in an interview.

"A Digital Locker account is a convenient way of storing certificates in a digitised format. A person can then conveniently see his/her certificates online. Various agencies will also be able to push documents into the locker. These can also be shared electronically," Sharma said.

A "cloud" in computer jargon can be described as a network of servers that is hosted on the Internet rather than on the local server of individuals or organisations, allowing a much larger space to store data, and higher speeds to manage and process the same, in a cost-effective manner.

Each Aadhaar-linked digital locker, which is hosted on such a cloud by the Indian government , comes with 1-GB of free memory space. The locker has five components: "My Certificates", "My Profile", "My Issuer", "My Requester" and "Directories".

"A person has a number of certificates issued to him -- for education, birth, property. When they are digitally stored, it decreases administrative overheads of the government. There will also be less fraud. Whatever you submit, you will be held responsible," Sharma said.

"If a document is found to be forged you cannot deny it," added Sharma.

"From a citizen's perspective, it reduces the hassle of carrying physical documents. Suppose I have a digital locker and there is an agency which has issued a certificate in my name. There is a provision to push that certificate into the digital locker of the individual."

Giving an example, the top official said: "If a Class XII certificate is issued to a person with a 'Digital Locker' it will have a link. This link can be shared. So wherever this certificate is submitted, it can be verified. One knows it is genuine. For the government, it is a great advantage.

"Since Aadhaar is unambiguous, the first stage of a person's authentication is already done."

This kind of infrastructure was unique to India and the government wanted to leverage that, said Sharma, adding that the potential could be guaged by the fact that more than 850 million unique identification numbers (Aadhaar) had thus far been issued to people.

So far, the 830,075 people who have signed up for the service have uploaded 430,324 documents. Maharashtra has the highest subscribers with Maharashtra 88,091 accounts, Uttar Pradesh is next with 79,499, followed by West Bengal with 74,453.

"Even the American social security number does not have a biometric database," he said. "Using the biometric authentication process, one can also link a mobile number to his/her identity. So my mobile number effectively becomes my digital identity."

Sharma said to cater to the large unlettered population of India, the government has also put an assisted mechanism in place to help open Digital Lockers. "One common service centre in each Panchayat of the country will be offering all kinds of digital services."

He explained that through these centres, one can do banking, get birth certificates and ration cards. "We have got 100,000 common service centres in the country which can basically provide assistance," said Sharma.

"This is the social inclusion aspect of a 'Digital Locker'."

Highlights of the scheme:

- Free space of 1 GB to securely store documents and links of official e-documents;

- eSign service to digitally sign documents online;

- Sharing of e-documents online with any registered requester;

- Secure access for requesters to documents in digital lockers;

- Documents will have authenticity to eliminate fakes;

- People will be held liable for veracity of documents uploaded;

- Options for several documents: Educational certificates, PAN card, Voter ID card;

- Can eventually be used in a host of domains: Passports, college admissions, driving licences.
Story First Published: July 17, 2015 16:14 IST
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