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

Monday, January 16, 2017

10659 - Government gears up to facilitate Aadhar based financial transactions through mobile phone - Economic Times

Government gears up to facilitate Aadhar based financial transactions through mobile phone

By Yogima Seth Sharma, ET Bureau | Dec 02, 2016, 09.34 AM IST
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"We are asking mobile manufacturers to see if all mobiles made in India should be inbuilt with iris or thumb identification system to as to help Aadhaar-enabled transactions," NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant said.

NEW DELHI: The government is gearing up to facilitate Aadhaar number-enabled financial transactions through mobile phones as part of its drive to convert the country into a cashless economy. 

"Aadhaar-enabled transactions are card-less and pin-less. This would enable Android phones users to digitally transact using their Aadhaar number and fingerprint/iris authentication," said Ajay Pandey, director general of Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI). 

He said the government has already initiated efforts to implement Aadhaar-enabled transactions, which requires a multi-pronged strategy, including talking to mobile manufacturers, merchants and banks. The move, which is part of an allround approach towards enabling digital payments, is being driven by NITI Aayog. 

"We are asking mobile manufacturers to see if all mobiles made in India should be inbuilt with iris or thumb identification system to help Aadhaar-enabled transactions," NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant said. 

Kant said the government is simultaneously working on a policy to disincentivise cash transactions and incentivise digital transactions in the country. He refused to share any proposed measure under this plan. Kant is part of a chief ministers' committee which will lay out a roadmap for implementation of digital payments over the next one year. 

The first meeting of the committee was held on Thursday. After its massive demonetisation drive launched on November 8, the government had said that no additional charges will be levied on digital transaction until December 30. But most merchants continue to charge 2 per cent extra on card transactions. 

The government now looks to put in place a proper system to discontinue additional charges on a sustainable basis. UIDAI has planned to increase biometric authentication capacity through Aadhaar to 40 crore a day from 10 crore to encourage more use of the platform for realising a cashless society. 

The government is concurrently working on developing a common mobile phone app that can be used by shopkeepers and merchants for receiving Aadhaar-enabled payments, bypassing credit and debit cards, pin and password. Through this mobile application, the handset will be used for authenticating biometrics of customers making Aadhaar-enabled payment. 

Meanwhile, information technology secretary Aruna Sundarajan said the ministry has kept aside Rs 100 crore to incentivise enrolment of merchants on to the digital platform to help push the drive. "IT department is providing incentive of Rs 100 for every merchant enrolled through over two lakh common service centres across India," she said. 

"The ministry will undertake a major outreach communication campaign starting from Monday to ensure that every segment of population is enables to use one of other mode of digital payment," Sundarajan said. 

The 12-digit Aadhaar number has already been issued to 1.08 crore people in the country and 99per cent of adults have been covered. People can link their Aadhaar with their bank accounts and use Aadhaarenabled payment system (AEPS) for funds transfer, balance enquiry, cash deposits or withdrawals and inter-banking transactions. 


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