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, December 11, 2015

9156 - A card that makes the population count - The Hindu

NEW DELHI, December 10, 2015

A card that makes the population count


The Central government’s ambitious UID scheme has been challenged over concerns of privacy since it uses biometric data like fingerprints and iris scans. Photo: Sushil Kumar Verma

The Aadhaar card, which was brought in to provide every citizen a social security number and a proof of identity, has enrolled over 900 million Indians

“It’s just another card that we carry around,” said Mohammed Hassen, a private taxi owner who lives and works in Central Delhi, when asked about his Aadhaar card and if he thought the multi-crore single number identification scheme was useful.
Haseen, however, hurriedly added that “he faced absolutely no problem in getting the card”.

“Unlike the PAN card or the voter ID card, getting an Aadhaar card was easy. A camp was organised where our identity was verified and documented. In a month, we got our unique identification number. We were told that this number would be all that is needed for filing tax returns, getting loans, booking tickets and getting facilities under government schemes. However, I am yet to use it exclusively anywhere,” he said.
Fast closing in on the billion mark, Aadhaar — brought in to provide every citizen a social security number and a proof of identity — has enrolled over 900 million Indians in the last seven years since its launch.

At present, the card can only be used for subsidies under the public distribution system and for purchasing kerosene and cooking gas — that too voluntarily.

The Aadhaar card cannot be used to avail services like opening bank accounts and getting phone connections for now, the Supreme Court had recently directed.

After the UID programme was dealt a slew of blows, the Centre, Reserve Bank of India, stock market watchdog SEBI, telecom regulator TRAI, and a number of States had moved the Supreme Court for extending the voluntary use of Aadhaar card to other services.

While Aadhaar may not have been able to accelerate to capacity, what can’t be denied is the fact that “it has made people count”.

“The invisible population of Delhi are finally numbered and accounted for. It has given them a voice and has brought them into the system. Aadhaar being a robust verification code doesn’t allow duplication, which cuts out corruption and eliminates exploitation,” said Sunil Kumar Aledia of Centre for Holistic Development.

But, the Central government’s ambitious unique identity (UID) scheme has been challenged over concerns of privacy since it uses biometric data like fingerprints and iris scan.
It has been accused of “invasion of privacy of the common citizen”.

Maintaining that whether it is for the poor or illiterate, privacy is sacrosanct, Gopal Krishna from the Citizens Forum for Civil Liberties, who has been writing on this issue, said: “Members of the Union Cabinet who are guilty for passing on data of Indians to foreign biometric and surveillance companies must be censured and held accountable by Parliament and State legislatures.”

According to senior government officials, work is under way to make the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) the sole agency for enrolment of residents and collection of biometric data. “There is also a move to discontinue enrolment under the National Population Register of the Home Ministry,” he explained.


CLICK ON TITLE TO SEE ORIGINAL ARTICLE - Posted by