AADHAAR RELATED ARTICLES: 9762 - Surveillance And Censorship Under Digital India And Aadhaar Regimes

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

Thursday, April 7, 2016

9762 - Surveillance And Censorship Under Digital India And Aadhaar Regimes

Surveillance And Censorship Under Digital India And Aadhaar Regimes

The recent big profile political drama that we witnessed in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha regarding Aadhaar has once again reminded us how vulnerable we are in India when it comes to Civil Liberties, especially the Civil Liberties Protection in Cyberspace.

Aadhaar Bill was imposed upon Indians by introducing it as a “Money Bill” and thereby shielding it from the “Rajya Sabha Scrutiny” and abdicating “Parliamentary Democracy”. The only thing more disturbing than this “Negative Precedent” is the inaction and silence on the part of Hon’Ble President of India and Supreme Court of India. There is no reason why Aadhaar Project has not been declared “Unconstitutional” by the Supreme Court of India so far. Further, there would be no reason why Supreme Court of India would not declare the Aadhaar Bill as Unconstitutional and Void now when the intentions of Indian Government are very clear.

In these turbulent times, it is imperative that we need “Public Discourses” and “Debates” rather than shunning the same. We have been managing few web resources where we discuss critical issues about Indian Politics. We have rejuvenated one such Blog with the new title Internet, Mobile And Social Media Censorship In India By Twitter, Facebook, Google, Etc. It is covering Censorship and E-Surveillance issues existing in India for long. With the changed Socio-Economic and Political situation in India, it is essential that critical debates about controversial issues like Digital India, Aadhaar, National Intelligence Grid (NATGRID),Central Monitoring System (CMS), Internet Spy System Network And Traffic Analysis System (NETRA), E-Surveillance by Secret Wires, etc are discussed at this platform.

The worst scenario has been adopted by Narendra Modi Government by combining the Digital India and Aadhaar Projects. This has made Digital India the biggest Digital Panopticon of Human history. Similarly, the Government has clubbed Aadhaar with virtually everything ranging from Digital Locker, Passports, Birth and Marriage Certificates, Property dealings, Employment related issues, Public Distribution System (PDS), LPG, Scholarships, Domicile Certificate, Income Certificates, seeding with Bank accounts for Pensions, etc. This is despite the fact that Supreme Court of India has specifically ordered that Aadhaar is not mandatory for availing Public Services.

There is no second opinion that successive Indian Government(s) have been engaging in Illegal and Unconstitutional E-Surveillance. India is one of the few Countries where Phone Tapping is done without a “Court Warrant”. Further, with the introduction of Central Monitoring System of India, the scope for Judicial intervention has been absolutely ruled out.Cell Site Location based E-Surveillance is rampant in India with no regard to Privacy of those affected by the same. There is no Constitutional Lawful Interception Law in India as on date. To make the matter worst, we have no dedicated Privacy Law and Data Protection Laws(PDF) in India as on date. Any E-Surveillance Disclosure by companies like Vodafone is dumped inside the so called “Investigation Files” that are either not conducted at all or are not made public.

However, despite this some public spirited Citizens share their critical views and suggestions upon news websites, Blogs, Social Media platforms, etc. At this stage, Indian Government engages in “Censorship” of online contents in collaboration and active support of such Social Media websites. Technology Companies like Google, Microsoft, Twitter, Facebook, etc have been complying with Indian Government’s demands for Censorship and Data details form time to time. This is the reason why we have redesigned this Blog on Censorship and E-Surveillance. We have also opened dedicated page titled Censorship under Digital India that would report Censorship incidences by Social Media websites and Technology Companies from time to time. We are also managing the exclusive Techno Legal Centre Of Excellence For Protection Of Human Rights In Cyberspace (CEPHRC) that would support this Blog and other Public Interest oriented issues. Please visit us again for more details and articles on E-Surveillance and Censorship in India from time to time.