AADHAAR RELATED ARTICLES: 11996 - Aadhaar: What’s wrong with a national identity number? DHANANJAYA TAMBE | Updated: Sep 5, 2017, 10:26 PM IST, DNA The law can also lay down how this data would be protected from unauthorized use The Supreme Court verdict of 24th August 2017 pronouncing right of privacy as a fundamental right has been interpreted in some circles as a verdict against Aadhaar. In some quarters, it has immediately been concluded that Aadhaar violates privacy and that all those regulations which made obtaining of Aadhaar mandatory for certain services will now be struck down by the five-judge Constitution Bench, when it pronounces its verdict on Aadhaar related matters. But does Aadhaar really violate a person’s privacy? At a basic level, Aadhaar is nothing but a unique 12-digit number that is assigned to a person living in India. In this respect, it is no different from a passport number or a driving licence number. The difference arises in the methodology adopted for assigning the Aadhaar number to an individual. When an individual registers for Aadhaar, he needs to provide proofs of identity, address, relationship (to head of family) and date of birth, in addition to getting his countenance photographed. But this also does not differentiate Aadhaar, as some or all of these proofs are required to be provided at myriad other places such as getting a child admitted to a school, or obtaining a passport. What differentiates Aadhaar is that the individual also needs to provide his biometrics (fingerprint and iris scan), which is used initially for the purpose of deduplication and later, other systems could use it for authentication. All other forms of identification can be obtained by a person multiple times fraudulently, but not the Aadhaar number due to the feature of deduplication on biometrics. It could be argued that it is possible to fake identity even in the Aadhaar system, and that a Ram Kumar could register as a Dashrath Prasad by giving fake documents in the latter name. While this is possible, once he has been registered as Dashrath Prasad, he cannot again register as Ram Kumar, which will deter him from registering in any name other than his own. None of the other systems of identity have this feature. Elimination of multiple and fake identities is the greatest boon of Aadhaar, as the accuracy of any action based on Aadhaar number if far superior to that based on other IDs. Use of an identity number to record a transaction, such as opening a bank account, has never been questioned in any forum, on grounds of privacy or otherwise. So why is use of Aadhaar been called to question? For those who argue that Aadhaar is linked to the biometrics of the individual, may I ask in what way does this linkage by itself violate privacy? In other words, how does this linkage infringe upon personal autonomy, intimate personal choices or personal dignity, which are the key elements of privacy? Some have argued that making Aadhaar mandatory is violation of privacy? How? If it had not been Aadhaar, it would have been some other identity number, such as driving licence number or election ID number, that an individual would have had to provide? If providing any other identification number is not a violation of privacy, how does providing of Aadhaar number become so? Another variant of the above argument is that if Aadhaar is made mandatory for all types of transactions, then it will be possible for the State to know everything about an individual. Supporters of this argument have conjured up images of an Orwellian State which could have a tendency to wrest ownership of data away from individuals by expanding Aadhaar to every conceivable arena. Examples are given of how the Government would know everything from which school you went to, to where you bought your apartment, to where you did your last shopping. This argument presumes that data linked to Aadhaar would necessarily be aggregated by some agency. If this is the fear, then a law can brought regarding aggregation of Aadhaar-based data, clearly defining who may aggregate it, under what circumstances, with whose authority, and for what purpose. The law can also lay down how this data would be protected from unauthorized use. While on the subject, let me also clarify that the other use of Aadhaar, namely, biometric authentication, by itself does not result in generation of any personally identifiable data and is analogous to affixing of signature. In as much as that is concerned, there can be no breach of privacy associated with it, and while there can be arguments regarding whether biometrics is a failproof method of authentication, that would be a separate debate. The Aadhaar system is one of the finest identity management systems in the world, and is also one of the few Government initiatives where the implementation has been a success. While building safeguards and addressing the concerns regarding its misuse, I fervently hope that good sense will prevail and the baby will not be thrown out with the bath water. The writer is a Mumbai-based banker

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

Saturday, September 9, 2017

11996 - Aadhaar: What’s wrong with a national identity number? DHANANJAYA TAMBE | Updated: Sep 5, 2017, 10:26 PM IST, DNA The law can also lay down how this data would be protected from unauthorized use The Supreme Court verdict of 24th August 2017 pronouncing right of privacy as a fundamental right has been interpreted in some circles as a verdict against Aadhaar. In some quarters, it has immediately been concluded that Aadhaar violates privacy and that all those regulations which made obtaining of Aadhaar mandatory for certain services will now be struck down by the five-judge Constitution Bench, when it pronounces its verdict on Aadhaar related matters. But does Aadhaar really violate a person’s privacy? At a basic level, Aadhaar is nothing but a unique 12-digit number that is assigned to a person living in India. In this respect, it is no different from a passport number or a driving licence number. The difference arises in the methodology adopted for assigning the Aadhaar number to an individual. When an individual registers for Aadhaar, he needs to provide proofs of identity, address, relationship (to head of family) and date of birth, in addition to getting his countenance photographed. But this also does not differentiate Aadhaar, as some or all of these proofs are required to be provided at myriad other places such as getting a child admitted to a school, or obtaining a passport. What differentiates Aadhaar is that the individual also needs to provide his biometrics (fingerprint and iris scan), which is used initially for the purpose of deduplication and later, other systems could use it for authentication. All other forms of identification can be obtained by a person multiple times fraudulently, but not the Aadhaar number due to the feature of deduplication on biometrics. It could be argued that it is possible to fake identity even in the Aadhaar system, and that a Ram Kumar could register as a Dashrath Prasad by giving fake documents in the latter name. While this is possible, once he has been registered as Dashrath Prasad, he cannot again register as Ram Kumar, which will deter him from registering in any name other than his own. None of the other systems of identity have this feature. Elimination of multiple and fake identities is the greatest boon of Aadhaar, as the accuracy of any action based on Aadhaar number if far superior to that based on other IDs. Use of an identity number to record a transaction, such as opening a bank account, has never been questioned in any forum, on grounds of privacy or otherwise. So why is use of Aadhaar been called to question? For those who argue that Aadhaar is linked to the biometrics of the individual, may I ask in what way does this linkage by itself violate privacy? In other words, how does this linkage infringe upon personal autonomy, intimate personal choices or personal dignity, which are the key elements of privacy? Some have argued that making Aadhaar mandatory is violation of privacy? How? If it had not been Aadhaar, it would have been some other identity number, such as driving licence number or election ID number, that an individual would have had to provide? If providing any other identification number is not a violation of privacy, how does providing of Aadhaar number become so? Another variant of the above argument is that if Aadhaar is made mandatory for all types of transactions, then it will be possible for the State to know everything about an individual. Supporters of this argument have conjured up images of an Orwellian State which could have a tendency to wrest ownership of data away from individuals by expanding Aadhaar to every conceivable arena. Examples are given of how the Government would know everything from which school you went to, to where you bought your apartment, to where you did your last shopping. This argument presumes that data linked to Aadhaar would necessarily be aggregated by some agency. If this is the fear, then a law can brought regarding aggregation of Aadhaar-based data, clearly defining who may aggregate it, under what circumstances, with whose authority, and for what purpose. The law can also lay down how this data would be protected from unauthorized use. While on the subject, let me also clarify that the other use of Aadhaar, namely, biometric authentication, by itself does not result in generation of any personally identifiable data and is analogous to affixing of signature. In as much as that is concerned, there can be no breach of privacy associated with it, and while there can be arguments regarding whether biometrics is a failproof method of authentication, that would be a separate debate. The Aadhaar system is one of the finest identity management systems in the world, and is also one of the few Government initiatives where the implementation has been a success. While building safeguards and addressing the concerns regarding its misuse, I fervently hope that good sense will prevail and the baby will not be thrown out with the bath water. The writer is a Mumbai-based banker - DNA

Aadhaar: What’s wrong with a national identity number?

DHANANJAYA TAMBE

Updated: Sep 5, 2017, 10:26 PM IST, DNA

The law can also lay down how this data would be protected from unauthorized use

The Supreme Court verdict of 24th August 2017 pronouncing right of privacy as a fundamental right has been interpreted in some circles as a verdict against Aadhaar. In some quarters, it has immediately been concluded that Aadhaar violates privacy and that all those regulations which made obtaining of Aadhaar mandatory for certain services will now be struck down by the five-judge Constitution Bench, when it pronounces its verdict on Aadhaar related matters.

But does Aadhaar really violate a person’s privacy? At a basic level, Aadhaar is nothing but a unique 12-digit number that is assigned to a person living in India. In this respect, it is no different from a passport number or a driving licence number.

The difference arises in the methodology adopted for assigning the Aadhaar number to an individual. When an individual registers for Aadhaar, he needs to provide proofs of identity, address, relationship (to head of family) and date of birth, in addition to getting his countenance photographed. But this also does not differentiate Aadhaar, as some or all of these proofs are required to be provided at myriad other places such as getting a child admitted to a school, or obtaining a passport.

What differentiates Aadhaar is that the individual also needs to provide his biometrics (fingerprint and iris scan), which is used initially for the purpose of deduplication and later, other systems could use it for authentication. All other forms of identification can be obtained by a person multiple times fraudulently, but not the Aadhaar number due to the feature of deduplication on biometrics.

It could be argued that it is possible to fake identity even in the Aadhaar system, and that a Ram Kumar could register as a Dashrath Prasad by giving fake documents in the latter name. While this is possible, once he has been registered as Dashrath Prasad, he cannot again register as Ram Kumar, which will deter him from registering in any name other than his own.

None of the other systems of identity have this feature.

Elimination of multiple and fake identities is the greatest boon of Aadhaar, as the accuracy of any action based on Aadhaar number if far superior to that based on other IDs.

Use of an identity number to record a transaction, such as opening a bank account, has never been questioned in any forum, on grounds of privacy or otherwise. So why is use of Aadhaar been called to question? For those who argue that Aadhaar is linked to the biometrics of the individual, may I ask in what way does this linkage by itself violate privacy? In other words, how does this linkage infringe upon personal autonomy, intimate personal choices or personal dignity, which are the key elements of privacy?

Some have argued that making Aadhaar mandatory is violation of privacy? How? If it had not been Aadhaar, it would have been some other identity number, such as driving licence number or election ID number, that an individual would have had to provide? If providing any other identification number is not a violation of privacy, how does providing of Aadhaar number become so?

Another variant of the above argument is that if Aadhaar is made mandatory for all types of transactions, then it will be possible for the State to know everything about an individual.

Supporters of this argument have conjured up images of an Orwellian State which could have a tendency to wrest ownership of data away from individuals by expanding Aadhaar to every conceivable arena. Examples are given of how the Government would know everything from which school you went to, to where you bought your apartment, to where you did your last shopping. This argument presumes that data linked to Aadhaar would necessarily be aggregated by some agency. If this is the fear, then a law can brought regarding aggregation of Aadhaar-based data, clearly defining who may aggregate it, under what circumstances, with whose authority, and for what purpose. The law can also lay down how this data would be protected from unauthorized use.

While on the subject, let me also clarify that the other use of Aadhaar, namely, biometric authentication, by itself does not result in generation of any personally identifiable data and is analogous to affixing of signature. In as much as that is concerned, there can be no breach of privacy associated with it, and while there can be arguments regarding whether biometrics is a failproof method of authentication, that would be a separate debate.

The Aadhaar system is one of the finest identity management systems in the world, and is also one of the few Government initiatives where the implementation has been a success. While building safeguards and addressing the concerns regarding its misuse, I fervently hope that good sense will prevail and the baby will not be thrown out with the bath water.

The writer is a Mumbai-based banker