AADHAAR RELATED ARTICLES: 8911 - Aadhar: To be or not to be!

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

Sunday, October 11, 2015

8911 - Aadhar: To be or not to be! - Business Standard

Aadhar: To be or not to be!

GUEST AUTHOR

In a major set of events, the Digital India mission particularly with respect to public distribution system and social schemes in the country, seems to be on a back foot.

With the Supreme Court referring all cases related to the petition challenging the validity of Aadhaar unique ID project to a larger bench, temperature around this issue has soared. In July this year itself, Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi, stirred up a debate by declaring that right to privacy is not a fundamental right at all. While experts advocating Aadhar scheme have strongly suggested the need for such a technology backed system for effective management of public distribution system and other welfare schemes, the other side also has many fundamental and logical concerns with respect to same. As they say 'Well begun is half done', in this case it never started off well!

Firstly, National Identification Authority of India Bill has still not got public consent in terms of being passed as a legislation in a democracy like India. Spending billions of rupees and enrolling close to 800 million people on a scheme that has not got legal backing is again a serious matter for a country like ours where every penny counts.

Secondly, sheer involvement of very personal data of individuals such as their finger prints and iris scans makes this issued further more complex. It is very logical assertion that private agencies collecting personal data of individuals at such large scale can easily misuse it in any unprecedented manner. Total absence of data handling and privacy related legal framework in India further creates a situation of legal ambiguity and complications for the enforcement agencies. Consider this when your email account is hacked or your debit card is stolen, the damage caused can still be contained, but if someone has unauthorised access to your iris scan and finger prints, the kind of havoc it can cause in your life is purely beyond imagination. Such a situation in a country where a cocktail of absence of privacy laws is being served with almost technical incapability of a major part of enforcement agencies to handle such complex matters is again a matter of deep introspection.

Apart from these, even the definitions and terminologies defined in the Bill are not yet clear and have the potential of further challenging the constitutionality of the legal framework on which it is being based. Be it definition of resident (not citizens) who can enrol in Aadhar scheme or explaining biometric information, there are innumerable loose ends in the Bill itself.

Besides, even if Aadhar project is considered essential for state welfare schemes, there are no restrictions, regulations and penalties on the government and handling authorities in handling the data that has already been collected by them. In such a situation authorities will be at will to use such data as they want. It wouldn't be totally fictitious then to imagine that, we will be in a state of lawlessness to the extent of legal issues arising out of such cases.

While close to 140 billion Indian population demands a reformative welfare scheme and system such as Aadhar ID, the wider interest lies in evolving it in true light of proper and tight worded legal system. Fact is, right now Aadhar project is a baby grown too fast in a lawless territory. It needs a proper legal guiding light and regulatory framework for letting it become a national winner and not a dark demon causing havoc in lives of very people for whose benefit it was conceptualised. Only then its benefits shall be reaped by the citizens even on last mile of the borders of this great country.

(Nishant Ahlawat, a Delhi Based technology and corporate law expert who guides and advises young entrepreneurs in legal aspects of their start-up ventures.)

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