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, September 9, 2015

8668 - Privacy concerns multiply as govt cross-links massive databanks - Business Standard


Various arms of the government are busy collecting and storing all possible details of citizens, without any constitutional safeguard

Sahil Makkar  |  New Delhi 
September 8, 2015 Last Updated at 00:15 IST

Some time ago, an HIV-positive patient working with a multinational firm approached his lawyer, requesting him to file a suit against his employer for revealing his medical condition to other employees. His attorney turned down the request, despite a law prohibiting employers from making such disclosures. The lawyer opined as the victim didn't have proof, the case would not stand in a court of law.

Under the Information Technology Act, 2008, an employer is supposed to implement reasonable security practices to prevent misuse of sensitive data which might cause loss or gain to an individual.

An employer or a company can be fined up to Rs 50 million for failing to protect "sensitive information" about an employee, which includes passwords, bank accounts and physical, physiological and mental health conditions, sexual orientation. Another section of the Act says if a person, while providing services under the terms of lawful contract, gains access to material information about another and reveals without the latter's permission, he can face imprisonment up to three years or can be fined up to Rs 5,00,000.

"The IT Act provides limited relief. A corporate is only accountable for ensuring and maintaining safety procedures to protect data. The law becomes irrelevant if the information leaked is through word of mouth. Till date, not a single person has been compensated under this clause," says Pavan Duggal, a lawyer.

A person's privacy can be breached and he still cannot take any legal action, despite the Act. Whatever little reprieve was available to such persons through various Supreme Court judgments, too, has now come under attack from the Centre, after Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi argued that privacy was not a fundamental right and a larger Bench be set up to decide the issue.

Before this, privacy in India was considered a fundamental right after it was read with the right relating to life and liberty (Article 21) or the right to free speech, movement and peaceful association (Article 19). India does not have a stringent privacy or data protection Act like other countries.

Now, imagine a situation where a person's personal details such as pictures, videos, call records, bank details are leaked. The victim will have to first prove who leaked it. Even if he proves it, in no way can he seek compensation. This is when various arms of the government are busy collecting and storing all possible details of its residents, without any constitutional safeguard.

For instance, the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) is capturing biometric details of 1.2 billion residents, besides basic information. UIDAI has captured biometric details of around 900 million and generated a 12-digit unique identity number called Aadhaar for each resident from 2010. The purpose of this mammoth exercise is to weed out illegal beneficiaries of government-sponsored schemes.

The question is: How safe is the storage of personal and biometrics details? Are there any remedies available if secrecy is compromised?

Security experts argue that some countries, which feel threatened by the mere mention of a particular surname, will make covert attempts to access the sea of biometrics and personal data to profile individuals.

Many countries collect fingerprints of foreigners upon their arrivals in the country.

This threat of profiling is not restricted to one country. It would be a matter of concern when India completes the linkages of all databanks. Work is underway to develop a National Intelligence Grid (NATGRID), which would provide intelligence and investigating agencies real-time access to 21 databanks, including banking, credit card, income tax, election identity card, travel details, call records, PAN card, property, income tax and driving licence details of 1.2 billion people. The government's defence is that it can anyway get access to such information under the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) and NATGRID will expedite the process.

NATGRID will be hooked to biometric details and data collected under the National Population Register (NPR) and the 2011 Census. Then, there is a plan to link all police stations in the country through the Crime and Criminal Tracking Network System. It means a complaint registered in one part of the country will be available live across the country.

One of the most important aspects is interception of telephone calls and monitoring of social websites. On an average, the Union government monitors some 10,000 phone calls daily to fight terrorism and for investigation of sensitive cases. This data is for the consumption of 11 government agencies, including the Central Bureau of Investigation, Enforcement Directorate, Intelligence Bur- eau and the Research & Analysis Wing to thwart and investigate cases, but the system is not foolproof. In case of a leak, it would be difficult to pinpoint the faulting agency, as it happened in the Niira Radia case.

Governments have been dragging their feet on the privacy and data protection Bill, in the works for four years. One section in the government believes Rohatgi's argument for a larger Bench was to wriggle out of a legal dilemma. The government wants to buy more time till UIDAI and the NPR complete the process of capturing biometric data in the entire country.

"The UIDAI Bill was never tabled and there is no law which allows the government to collect biometric data. It cannot introduce a law with retrospective effect and scrapping of UIDAI will have large financial implications," said a senior official, requesting anonymity. "Officials in UIDAI and NPR have been asked to finish the work by December or face a reprimand."

Both agencies have spent billions of rupees and missed many deadlines.

A larger bench of the Supreme Court must find a solution to strike a balance between the needs of the state and privacy concerns of citizens.