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

Tuesday, May 9, 2017

11282 - SC reserves order on Aadhaar: Privacy act is urgent requirement to save India from dangers of data breach - First Post

SC reserves order on Aadhaar: Privacy act is urgent requirement to save India from dangers of data breach
India
Sanjay Pandey
May, 04 2017 16:58:41 IST

The recent news about government websites leaking Aadhaar data has been unsettling for many supporters of the scheme. Details like users' names, addresses, and bank account details may have been disclosed. The fallout of this could be a possible misuse of the data leading to an eventual scam by ingenious criminals. As more and more schemes are being linked to Aadhaar, the question of it being used to hold the citizens on an electronic leash is being argued before the Supreme Court of India too. Besides the criminal angle, one of the central themes around the collection and collation of Aadhaar data is the issue of privacy.

With the personal data of citizens being held in a centralised database, the privacy concerns are indeed paramount. After over six decades of Independence, India does not yet have a privacy law. There have been various attempts of moving a bill in the Parliament but they have not yet been successful. This was not an issue till the data was not digitised. But the increasing usage of social media and electronic payments along with unique identity data, require protection.

Technology does provide a solution but this is not enough. The best technologies are known to have been broken into. Stronger encryption, etc, may help but it’s not enough. With better tools and increased computing power, encryption can only ensure security for a certain period of time. The technological safeguards need to be supported by legislative actions in the form of a privacy act. This is exactly how this issue is tackled internationally.

The European Union has been leading with enactments to protect the privacy of its citizens. In January 2012, EU proposed a comprehensive reform of data protection rules. The proposed regulation will come into force on 25 May 2018. The main emphasis in the EU regulation is that personal data can be collected as per the law but same has to be also protected as per EU law. Not limiting itself to the protection of personal data within EU, the regulation also envisages safeguards when data is to be exported outside EU. Penalties which will be imposed on violators from 25 May 2018 in EU as per the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) can be up to a maximum of €20 million or 4 percent of the annual global turnover of the violators. While the EU is the leader in this respect, other countries too have similar measures.

The United Kingdom has had Data protection Act since 1998. This act specifically provides for usage and storage of personal data strictly in accordance with law. Any personal data which is legally obtained has to be kept longer than the time required for the purposes the data was obtained. Similarly, in the US, where there may not be a federal law for ensuring privacy, there are specific enactments pertaining to financial data, health data, etc. Several states within the US have also formulated their own privacy laws. Each of these enactments provides for penalties in case of violations.

In India, the IT Act 2000 with the amendment in 2008 through section 43a, imposes a penalty on a company which holds sensitive personal data of citizens. On failure to protect sensitive personal data, the company can be penalised to compensate the person so affected to a maximum of Rs 5 crore. There is, however, no mention of whether the company had a right to store the data. And having stored the data what is the time limit till it can store the data is also not clearly defined.
The Aadhaar Act 2016 does provide for the protection of data and also punishments for the same. Cases of misuse can lead to punishment up to three years and also fine up to Rs 10 lakhs. But there are issues which need to be addressed to ensure proper enforcement. Though the investigation by an Inspector of Police is mentioned, there is no mention of cognisance of cases. This would mean that there cannot be any case unless this is initiated by the Aadhaar Authority. Similarly, there is no mention of any compensation to the person whose data might have been compromised. Though, a person could possibly seek compensation under the IT Act as per provisions of section 43a provided Aadhaar-related data is declared as sensitive personal data.

It is in this background that the need for a comprehensive privacy law in India is an urgent requirement. The Privacy Act needs to define personal data which is to be treated as private. The Specific purposes for which this data can be obtained need to be listed as well. Similarly, the time frame in which this data can be stored needs to be addressed. Any violation should necessarily provide compensation besides penal punishment to the violators. But for this legal protection, a misuse of personal data due to a possible breach may harm citizens much beyond their current predicament of being hinged to an electronic leash.



Published Date: May 04, 2017 04:51 pm | Updated Date: May 04, 2017 04:58 pm
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