AADHAAR RELATED ARTICLES: 9873 - Look forward to more banking products

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

Sunday, May 1, 2016

9873 - Look forward to more banking products - Live Mint

Last Modified: Thu, Apr 21 2016. 10 28 AM IST

Look forward to more banking products

Various banks are tying up with tech startups to offer advanced banking solutions to retail customers

Vivina Viswanathan

On Tuesday, 19 April, ICICI Bank Ltd concluded Appathon, a virtual app development challenge. The bank plans to incorporate the three winning mobile innovations in its digital road map. In March, HDFC Bank Ltd had held a digital innovation summit where the bank shortlisted five financial technology (fintech) startups and is currently working with them on pilot projects. In December 2015, Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd, along with Nasscom, had organised the Kotak Fintech Mobility Hackathon. Reserve Bank of India (RBI) backed National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) also concluded its Unified Payments Interface Hackathon in April.

The aim behind organising such technology-based competitions is to find solutions for banking services that can reduce cost and provide better customer service. Themes range from micro-transactions, gamification, real-time banking, wearables, conversational banking, and new digital payments to artificial intelligence. The ideas are either incorporated in existing products or are bought out. “Usually, there are some problems that need solutions. We are surprised by the outcome of these events. It is like using open source community rather than working in a single community,” said Amit Sethi, chief information officer, Axis Bank Ltd. The bank is set to announce the winners of its second hackathon on Friday.

Many of the solutions offered are set to be the next products that banks will roll out. Here is a look at some of them.

Biometric authentication

Banks have started using the Aadhaar number and biometric details for cashless and cardless payments. For instance, recently DCB Bank Ltd launched a service where you can withdraw cash from ATMs without your card and PIN. For this to work, your Aadhaar should be linked to your bank account. At the ATM, enter your Aadhaar number and authenticate it with your fingerprint to withdraw cash. HDFC Bank is working on similar product with Indore-based FingPay of Tapits Technologies Pvt. Ltd, on biometric authentication at point of sale terminals. With this service, you will have to enter you Aadhaar number and scan your fingerprint at the merchant’s outlet. FingPay was one of the winners at HDFC Bank’s event.

UPI-enabled products

Though NPCI’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI) has been launched, banks are yet to roll out UPI-enabled products. The platform is expected to make e-commerce transactions easier, and facilitate micropayments and person-to-person payments. As part of the launch, NPCI organised the hackathon in which startups built UPI-enabled apps. For instance, VSoft Nerds created the Jeb app which allows you to send and receive money. “This app is available in regional languages and enables quick response (QR) code payment. We are currently in talks with banks to offer this product,” said Murthy Veeraghanta, chairman and chief executive officer, VSoft Technologies Pvt. Ltd.

Eko Financial Services Pvt. Ltd, launched Fundu app. “This app will allow you to act as an ATM. Say, you have linked your UPI-enabled bank account to the app. Whenever a Fundu app user near you needs cash, you will get a notification. If you have cash and are willing to provide it, you can accept the request. The individual will transfer the money to your bank account using your virtual address,” said Abhishek Sinha, co-founder and chief executive officer, Eko Financial Services.

Chat and messaging

Today, if you want to contact your bank, you either have to visit a branch or go through the interactive voice response (IVR) system. However, the number of calls that can be addressed depends on the number of executives available. Banks are trying to solve this problem using artificial intelligence. For instance, the winner of ICICI Appathon, Mohit Talwadiya, used artificial intelligence and natural language processing to create a product where without manual intervention channels such as chat, speech commands and messages can be operated.

Senseforth Technologies Pvt. Ltd, which won at the HDFC Bank competition, also used artificial intelligence to chat with millions of customers simultaneously. So, for instance, if you have a query, the artificial intelligence technology can mimic a human being and create one-to-one conversations with people. Senseforth Tech is working with HDFC Bank on three pilot projects and is set to go live with its app in two to three months.

Mint Money take

Banks have realised the need to collaborate with fintech companies to provide solutions to customers. Most of the products mentioned above are expected to go live in two to six months. Thanks to such innovations, you can expect most banks to come out with upgraded versions of existing apps. However, it is still too early to estimate the kind of changes that you can expect.

Vivina Vishwanathan