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, March 18, 2016

9550 - Crucial Aspects of the Aadhaar Bill 2016

Crucial Aspects of the Aadhaar Bill 2016

By SiliconIndia  |   Wednesday, 16 March 2016, 02:35 Hrs

BENGALURU: On 3rd March 2016, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, introduced the Aadhaar Bill which is all set to see the light of the day as an enforceable law for it has been passed by Lok Sabha, by voice vote, as a money bill. It is deemed to be passed in a couple of weeks after the Rajya Sabha holds a discussion over it given the fact that Rajya Sabha cannot make amendments in a Money Bill passed by Lok Sabha and transmitted to it. Here are the crucial aspects of the Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and Other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Bill 2016 cultivated from prsindia.org.

Banking upon Aadhaar’s Huge Repository

The Aadhaar Project is considered as the worlds largest of its kind; Arun Jaitley stated that 97 percent of Indian adults held Aadhaar cards.  Upon enacting the bill government can provide targeted services to beneficiaries using the 12 digit unique identity number called Aadhaar, to which the beneficiary’s bank account can be linked to. This would ensure transparency in the transaction while curbing possibilities of delays and corruption. Consequently Aadhaar number would be made mandatory for availing government subsidies.  The Aadhaar number has already been successfully employed for Direct Benefit Transfer and Public Distribution System and has also been in use by various other central as well as state government agencies.

Eligibility and Information Required

“Any person who has resided in India for 182 days in the one year preceding the date of application for enrolment for Aadhaar.” as the bill quotes is eligible for Aadhaar. The information required to avail an Aadhaar card would be his/her biometrics (photograph, finger print, iris scan) and demographics (name, date of birth, address). The bill also states that any public or private entity may accept the Aadhaar number as a proof of identity but specifically states that Aadhaar number cannot be treated as a proof of citizenship.

Authentication

The bill states that the authentication record would be maintained by the UID authority which would consist of a chairperson, two part-time members and a chief executive officer.  The chairperson and members are required to have experience of at least ten years in matters such as technology, governance, etc. As per the bill, the key functions of the UID Authority include (i) specifying demographic and biometric information to be collected during enrolment, (ii) assigning Aadhaar numbers to individuals, (iii) Authenticating Aadhaar numbers, and (iv) Specifying the usage of Aadhaar numbers for delivery of subsidies and services. 

Revealing the Information

Any entity (an agency or person) will require the consent of the individual before authenticating his/her information from the UID authority. The bill also states that the entity may use the disclosed information only for purposes for which the individual has given consent. The UID would respond to an authentication query with a positive, negative or other appropriate response. However, the UID is not permitted to share an individual’s finger print, iris scan and other biological attributes. The authority would also record the entity requesting verification along with time of request and response received while the purpose for which an individual's identity needs to be verified will not be maintained.

Biological Data to be Withheld

An individual’s biological attribute which includes, finger print, iris scan etc. would only be used for Aadhaar enrolment and authentication. The bill guarantees that the information would not be shared to anyone nor be displayed publicly, except in the interest of national security whereby if a Joint Secretary in the central government issues a direction for revealing the same. The bill quotes,” “Such a decision will be reviewed by an Oversight Committee (comprising Cabinet Secretary, Secretaries of Legal Affairs and Electronics and Information Technology) and will be valid for six months.”


Enforcing Privacy and Protection

The bill has also included provision for ensuring privacy and protection of this crucial data of the population. “A person may be punished with imprisonment up to three years and minimum fine of Rs 10 lakh for unauthorized access to the centralized data-base, including revealing any information stored in it.” it reads and also adds that “No court shall take cognizance of any offence except on a complaint made by the UID authority or a person authorized by it.” Lets us hope the digital security of the data is too good for hackers to break in.

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