AADHAAR RELATED ARTICLES: 9215 - FinTech firms say RBI's competition to build tech innovations will disrupt industry

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, January 8, 2016

9215 - FinTech firms say RBI's competition to build tech innovations will disrupt industry - Business Standard

FinTech firms say RBI's competition to build tech innovations will disrupt industry

The move is being welcomed by startups and experts who see it as a way for startups and specialised financial technology firms to be recognised

Alnoor Peermohamed | Bengaluru

December 24, 2015 Last Updated at 19:04 IST

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has launched a contest to find innovative technology solutions to prevent financial fraud, reduce cost of transactions and develop e-payment infrastructure in India. The move is being welcomed by startups and experts who see it as a way for startups and specialised financial technology firms to be recognised and included in the growing FinTech wave.

The contest, which will be organised by the Institute for Development and Research in Banking Technology (IDRBT), the technology arm of the RBI, will allow for participation of individuals, groups and startups in the space.

"I think it's a very good idea to do that. The central bank and regulator when they show interest in innovation in the FinTech space, it sends the right message that they want innovative solutions in financial services and banking and that's a very good message to send out to companies," Srikanth Nadhamuni, chairman of Novopay, a mobile payment firm that uses Aadhaar for paperless authentication.

India's banking system is undergoing a transformation due to government's focus to bring into fold the unbanked masses using mobile phones and Aadhaar, the unique identification programme for authenticating transactions. Since its launch, banks have enrolled 196 million people with zero balance accounts under the Jan Dhan Yojana. Infosys co-founder and former UIDAI chairman Nandan Nilekani has said that a "WhatsApp moment" is coming in India's banking sector due to the massive use of mobile and policies by the government. RBI has issued new licenses to 10 small banks and 11 payment banks that would use technology to disrupt banking.

While there are certain popular areas of innovation the RBI highlights, it is keeping the competition open to entrepreneurs building financial tech solutions for end-users, banks, payment service providers and other financial sector participants.

"The Reserve Bank acknowledges the role of innovations in developing a payment system which is affordable, interoperable, inclusive and secure," said the regulator in a statement.

Rajeev Yadav, Group CEO of Fincare, a company that recently received its small finance bank license, deems the move as a phenomenal one. "When we see RBI today, through various actions it's taking, through differentiated bank licenses and other things, it's clearly in the frame of helping financial innovation happen, albeit regulated, but with a very clear line of sight," he added.

Startups and others taking part in the contest will not only be rewarded with citations and a small cash prize, but will also be given a chance to pitch their ideas to industry representatives. The entries for the contest will be evaluated by a panel of financial experts.

"There is a lot of innovation opportunities in the financial, banking space at a technology level, at a business model level and I think it's very clear in India that everybody recognises that only technology can help scale these services," said Sanjay Swamy, partner at venture firm AngelPrime.

Nadhamuni of Novopay says that the move would encourage smaller firms to innovate and disrupt the fintech space. "It also encourages small companies to take part in that sector. Often there are large companies and large banks or established companies that innovate, but when they do something like this, it encourages small companies to participate," he said.