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

Wednesday, August 9, 2017

11733 - All you need to know about India's DNA profiling Bill - Money Control

All you need to know about India's DNA profiling Bill

It will enable the authorities to maintain records of unidentified and unclaimed dead bodies or missing persons.

Siddhesh Raut
Moneycontrol News

On Monday, the Indian government told Supreme Court that a legislative process is in progress to bring in a human DNA profiling bill.
In India, the bill was first proposed in 2007 and its drafting began in 2012. Worldwide, this bill is already a standard law in more than 25 countries.

What is DNA profiling and why do countries adopt it?

Deoxyribo Nucleic Acid (DNA) is the blueprint of the body composition. A human being’s DNA contains 3 billion characteristics that will define all aspects of his biology.
The technique first came up in 1986, when a British genetic researcher Alec Jeffreys, along with Britain’s Forensic Science Service members Peter Gill and David Werrett, managed to use 13 of these characteristics to create a DNA profile.
They used this technique to prove the innocence of a man being held for the rape/murder of two girls and catch the true criminal after attempting to match DNA samples from over 5,500 individuals.
Many countries use DNA profiles for crime investigations. The creation of a DNA database could be used for criminal investigation, disaster identification and forensic science.
A petition filed by NGO Lokniti Foundation stated that India does not have a national DNA database to address the issue of thousands of unclaimed dead bodies that are reported annually.
Thus, a bill on DNA profiling would possibly enable the authorities to maintain records of unidentified and unclaimed dead bodies or missing persons.

Why is it controversial?
A Wire report states that data rights issues are the main chinks in the bill. There is no clear action plan to safeguard the privacy and the safety of the DNA profiles against both thefts and contamination as well as the time period till availability to the stakeholders concerned, namely scientists, law enforcement and other agencies.

The bill has assumed relevance given the recent Supreme Court debates surrounding the right to privacy as a fundamental right.

How does the draft bill provide safe guards?
The Mint reported the PRS Legislative Research stating that the draft DNA Based Technology (Use and Regulation) Bill, 2017 has five important provisions to safeguard the citizen’s privacy, which include:

a) The DNA profiling would be used only for identification purposes and not for any other details.
b) No bodily substances will be taken without previous consent in writing. However, according to the Wire report, the consent clause is not applicable for people on the more serious end of the criminal justice system. For persons accused of a crime that is punishable either by death or by a sentence of more than seven years in prison, prior consent need not be sought.
c) A statutory body called the DNA Profiling Board will be responsible for supervision, inspection and assessment purposes.
d) People found guilty of flouting the norms proposed by the bill are liable to receive three years' imprisonment and a hefty fine. (up to Rs 3 lakh, according to the Wire report)
The Wire also pointed out that a person’s DNA profile can only be used for comparison in the index if the person has been suspected of a crime, or is a previous offender himself.
Also, if an individual is let go after a trial, there is no provision in the draft for the person to remove his records from the databank until a written letter is written to the director of the databank for the same.

Here are few of the countries that have implemented a national DNA database:

United States
The United States holds the largest DNA database, with the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) containing more than 150,000 DNA profiles contributed by 73 countries as of 2014.
According to information on the Federal Bureau of Investigation's website, anyone wishing to access this database needs clearance from the Interpol.

United Kingdom
The UK maintains the National DNA Database (NDNAD) that was set up in 1995. By 2015, they had profiles of 5.7 million individuals, most of the samples having been recovered from crime scenes and taken from police suspects.
The information is stored in the form of digital code, which is based on the nomenclature of each STR.

Australia
The Australian national DNA database is known as the National Criminal Investigation DNA Database (NCIDD). The database uses 9 STR locations and a sex gene for analysis.

Canada
The Canadian national DNA database is known as the National DNA Data Bank (NDDB) which was established in 1988 but first used in 2000.
NDDB consists of two indexes- the Convicted Offender Index (COI) and National Crime Scene Index (CSI-nat).

Israel
The Israeli national DNA database is called the Israel Police DNA Index System (IPDIS) which was established in 2007.
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