AADHAAR RELATED ARTICLES: 9068 - India on cusp of 'Whatsapp moment in finance', says Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani

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

Friday, November 20, 2015

9068 - India on cusp of 'Whatsapp moment in finance', says Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani - DNA

India on cusp of 'Whatsapp moment in finance', says Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani

Monday, 16 November 2015 - 8:35am IST | Place: Bengaluru | Agency: dna | From the print edition

Shaili Chopra
Follow @shailichopra

These game-changing milestones include the working of existing technologies that are enabling access to people and reducing procedure, paperwork and time

Nandan Nilekani

India can take the lead in putting tech to use to make billions of people financially independent and capable, says Nandan Nilekani, in his new book Rebooting India. The Infosys co-founder and Aadhar creator believes India is at the cusp of a big financial revolution if it were to follow the route to a cashless (therefore corruption-free) economy. "A number of things have been set in motion since we started our work on using Aadhaar for direct benefit transfers and social security payments, and we think all these trends can culminate in a game-changing way."

These game-changing milestones include the working of existing technologies that are enabling access to people and reducing procedure, paperwork and time. "eKYC makes sure that anyone get a bank account without paperwork. The Jan Dhan scheme has opened bank accounts for millions of Indians in a big way. With Pahal, LPG subsidies are now credited into bank accounts of 120 million families. The microATM is deployed in thousands of villages providing banking facilities and remittances using Aadhaar and biometric authentication at the last mile without the presence of the bank."

The ability of using financial tech towards 'digital inclusion' is what excites Nilekani the most. The man who was the inspiration behind Thomas Friedman's 'World is Flat' today believes that India could lead this potential global revolution. Only that the story has shifted from being a software provider to a tech user and enabler. Nilekani insists that a developing nation like India must look for Indian solutions to Indian problems. And that our population offer a serious 'scale' play. Finance tech, he believes, is the most obvious and untapped space to see innovation. "We file our income-tax returns online, and can authenticate our identities online through Aadhaar. There is no doubt in our minds that India is at the head of the technology curve," Nilekani asserts as he believes these are good foundations before other payment and consumption driven services wrap around fintech. "Certainly, fintech will be the next big tech story. The use of biometric ID and authentication to build a next generation of products also has huge potential."

In India, we already have almost a billion people with Aadhaar who have digital ID and biometric authentication. "However, where we lag is in applications and adoption in the government and private sectors. We are sure that with the foundation now built, the rest will also happen as different ministries are speedily incorporating Aadhaar into their products." e-governance or putting websites is not sufficient, says the software visionary. Just like Uber and Ola redefined the taxi business, he believes the government can ride tech to fix systemic gaps. "We have outlined 12 such projects, of which two have been completed (Aadhaar and Pahal) and the ideas can be applied to 10 more projects eKYC, payments, health, education, justice, transparent government expenditure, etc." Nilekani does not put the onus of building everything on the government. He insists the country's vibrant start-up community should be included in this story. "Each of these projects can be implemented by start-ups within government with 10 teams of 10, working under the prime minister.

Nilekani calls this a 'Whatsapp moment in finance' outlining how Indians, as a result of all these trends, are now poised to join the banking system at the same rate at which Whatsapp was adopted. "We leapfrogged wired telephony with mobile phones. For many millions of Indians, smartphone is likely to be the bank, and we will leapfrog the branch. We are likely to leapfrog traditional organised retail with e-commerce." That technology is the greatest equaliser of our times is no longer a debate. Through the use of technology we can achieve change at speed and at scale. "By understanding incentives, providing convenience, and understanding the power of markets, we can root out corruption from all aspects of our society. It will not happen by appointing more Lokpals and more policing and more laws. It will happen through a systematic redesign of our processes"