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, May 22, 2017

11447 - [Weekend wrap] Security is a myth, they can come for you anywhere - Your Story.Com

[Weekend wrap] Security is a myth, they can come for you anywhere
The name of this week’s new ransomware attack in the cyber world is not lost on anybody. One does ‘wanna cry’ in the case of such grave theft.


The malicious hackers must have given out an evil laugh when they used something known as a ‘Wanna Decryptor’—a variant of the WannaCry ransomware, which encrypts data, locks one out of their system and demands a ransom to release it.
Termed the ‘atom bomb’ of cyber crimes, this new ransomware attack claimed more than 200,000 victims in 150 countries, including India.
The week also saw a data breach on food and restaurant search platform Zomato. Its 17 million user records, including email IDs and hashed passwords, were compromised from its database, and reportedly sold on the dark web where all sorts of nefarious activities go on. The company assured users that no payment information or credit card data were stolen in this leak.

Data security is an important aspect in today’s digital world. Yet, in India especially, we are so blasé about it even as we make purchases online using our credit cards or our mobile phones. The other day, I lost my house keys and was close to seeking police help. But it has been more than two months since the anti-virus software has expired on my laptop and I continue typing nonchalantly.


Which brings me to the security debate that is raging nationwide around Aadhaar and its implementation. The Aadhaar project by the UIDAI provides for a unique identity number for every Indian by storing their biometric details.
While there’s a group that believes the unique identification number empowers the people, opponents point out that there will be no stopping the state from becoming the Big Brother. 

The main cause for concern being the privacy issue.

We at YourStory have initiated the Aadhaar Debate so that we can have more discussions and conversations around this contentious issue. Whether you are pro- or anti-Aadhaar, come out with your data points in support of your theory and we will publish it here. You can write to dipti@yourstory.com.

In an unrelated case, a similar kind of battle lines is being drawn between the cab aggregator apps in the country–one desi and one videsi. In her in-depth article this week, titled, Is India going to be the battleground for global cab aggregators, Sindhu Kashyap, uncovers that India’s free market and a steady growth despite supply crunch has positioned it to host the battle of the cabs. Read the story here.


Image credit: Aditya Ranade
The other big news of the week was SoftBank’s $1.4 billion funding to Unicorn Paytm. Tarush Bhalla, who covers everything fintech, says in the report that “the funds raised were at a valuation of around $8 billion.” The news comes just a day after Paytm Payment Bank announced the launch of their operations from May 23.
Tarush is excited about the possibilities the events present and is working on different angles to bring insightful analysis on the subject.
Paytm was not the only one to have raised funding. There were many others this week. Find out which other fintech startups attracted investor attention here.
We will also have some exciting stories from the stables of Flipkart and Amazon, so stay tuned here as the new week promises to be storylicious.
Till next Sunday then.


Calling all Hyderabad startups! Unit economics and customer experience are key focus areas that can make or break your startup. Attend the YourStory Meetup on 'Building a Customer-Centric Business' and learn how your startup can gain that special edge. Limited seats available. Book now!
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