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

Thursday, September 21, 2017

12089 - Don't misread Supreme Court order, Aadhaar not a must- Rediff

Don't misread Supreme Court order, Aadhaar not a must
September 18, 2017 11:54 IST

The DoT is wrongly asking subscribers to link their mobile numbers to Aadhaar in order to keep them active.
Under no situation can the ministry of communications establish that the two-judge bench's order will prevail over the five-judge Constitution Bench's order, says Gopal Krishna.


           Photograph: Mansi Thapliyal/Reuters

A recent newspaper report misrepresented an observation made by the Supreme Court in an order by a two-judge bench (external link) delivered on February 6.

The report appeared to be a part of the barrage of messages sent to mobile subscribers, asking them to mandatorily link their Aadhaar to their phone numbers to keep the latter active, as per the Government of India's directions.

However, while referring to the government order, the reporter failed to examine the consistency of the letter (external link) from the department of telecommunications with the law and an October 15, 2015 order (external link) by the Supreme Court's five-judge Constitution Bench.

The DoT issued the letter on March 23, 2017, with the subject 'Implementation of Hon'ble Supreme Court orders regarding 100% E-KYC based re-verification of all existing subscribers', wherein it partially refers to the observation made by the two-judge bench in the February order.

The observation of the two-judge bench which the DoT letter referred to is in para 5 of the order.

It reads: 'In view of the factual position brought to our notice during the course of hearing, we are satisfied that the prayers made in the writ petition have been substantially dealt with, and an effective process has been evolved to ensure identity verification, as well as, the addresses of all mobile phone subscribers for new subscribers.'
'In the near future, and more particularly, within one year from today, a similar verification will be completed, in the case of existing subscribers.'

After citing this part of the court's order, the letter would have us believe that 'this amounts to a direction which is to be completed within a time frame of one year'.

Having reached this inference, the DoT has sought Unique Identification/Aadhaar-based verification of new mobile subscribers and re-verification of all existing subscribers.

The fact is that the DoT has drawn a flawed inference with regard to whether or not the Supreme Court observation 'amounts to a direction' or not because under no situation can the ministry of communications establish that the two-judge bench's order will prevail over the five-judge Constitution Bench's order.

After the June 9, 2017 verdict (external link) of the Supreme Court bench, headed by Justice A K Sikri, on the 12-digit biometric Aadhaar, DoT's letter has become invalid on three grounds.

One, the letter is illegal as it is in violation of the five-judge bench order.
Two, the letter is inconsistent with the Aadhaar Act, 2016 (external link), and three, the Supreme Court's order of June 9, 2017 will prevail over the DoT letter dated March 23.
Notably, nowhere does the Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and Other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Act, 2016 provide for and authorise 'seeding' of UID/Aadhaar numbers in databases.

The Act provides for only two uses:
1. Authentication, which means that biometric or demographic data can be sent to the Unique Identification Authority of India's Central Identities Data Repository to return a 'yes/no' reply to the question whether you are who you say you are; and,
2. eKYC, which does something they had said they would never do -- give the data on their database (except core biometric data -- although they have no means to stop any agency from collecting and keeping biometrics when it is given for authentication) to an authorised service agency.

It is germane to note that Section 8(2)(b) of the Act is categorical in stating that an agency requesting authentication 'ensure(s) that the identity information of an individual is only used for submission' to the CIDR of 12-digit biometric UID/Aadhaar numbers 'for authentication'.

It does not authorise anyone to hold onto the number.
As per the order of the five-judge bench of the Supreme Court dated October 15, 2015, Aadhaar cannot be made mandatory for the purposes of linking to mobile phones.
This has been reiterated by the court on June 9 and June 27, 2017 (external link).

The use of Aadhaar for linking to other databases, retention, storage or publishing is prohibited and is a punishable offence under the the Aadhaar Act 2016.

Apart from the foregoing, the following should be noted clearly:

1. Aadhaar cannot be made compulsory because of the orders of the Supreme Court.
2. The Aadhaar Act 2016 does not make it compulsory.
3. The CIDR of Aadhaar numbers is not a verified or audited database. Neither the UIDAI nor any other government authority certifies it as a proof of identity, address, resident status or even the existence of any person.
4. The linkage of Aadhaar to mobiles will encourage imposters to obtain SIMs.
5. In its counter-affidavit in the Supreme Court in the Lokniti Foundation v Union of India case, the Centre, through the then attorney general, stated that 'currently Aadhaar card or biometric authentication is not mandatory for obtaining a new telephone connection'.

The proper wording of the submission of the attorney general and the Supreme Court's order are important in light of the misreporting of the case. (The headline of the above mentioned news report, for instance, was 'SC asks Centre to link all mobile numbers to Aadhaar within one year'.)

In its petition, the Lokniti Foundation, had prayed that 'the Aadhar card or such other biometric identification may be made compulsory for verification of the mobile phone subscribers that can ensure 100 per cent verification of mobile phones', but pursuant to the attorney general's submission, the two-judge bench of the court decided not to purposefully violate the orders of a three-judge bench and the five-judge Constitution Bench, which assert that getting a biometric Aadhaar number is voluntary.

But the DoT chose to misinterpret the order.

6. It is germane to note that the August 11, 2015, order of a three-judge bench of Justices Chelameswar, S A Bobde and Nagappan observed, 'The Union of India shall give wide publicity in the electronic and print media including radio and television networks that it is not mandatory for a citizen to obtain an Aadhaar card; The production of an Aadhaar card will not be condition for obtaining any benefits otherwise due to a citizen'.

7. The order passed by the five-judge Constitution Bench in the 'UID/Aadhaar' matter, reads: 'We impress upon the Union of India that it shall strictly follow all the earlier orders passed by this court commencing from September 23, 2013. We will also make it clear that the Aadhaar card scheme is purely voluntary and it cannot be made mandatory till the matter is finally decided by this court one way or the other'.

8. This 'Aadhaar is voluntary' position has been repeated by the high courts of Kerala, Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.

9. In a significant case, a Punjab and Haryana high court bench, headed by then Chief Justice A K Sikri (currently a Supreme Court judge), heard a matter challenging a circular making Aadhaar mandatory.
The moment the court raised questions of laws, the circular making Aadhaar mandatory was withdrawn by the central government.

10. It must be noted that in keeping with court's order, the West Bengal assembly passed a unanimous resolution against Aadhaar number-related schemes in the public interest.

11. In a related case, the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) vs Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), the apex court passed an order dated March 24, 2014, which reads as follows:

'More so, no person shall be deprived of any service for want of Aadhaar number in case he/she is otherwise eligible/entitled.'

'All the authorities are directed to modify their forms/circulars/likes so as to not compulsorily require the Aadhaar number.'

This order in the case is a part of the 'all the earlier orders passed by this court' which is required to be followed 'strictly'.
It is quite evident that repeated orders issued by the Supreme Court till June 27, 2017, make it clear that Aadhaar remains voluntary.

Therefore, no one can be mandatorily asked to produce or link biometric Aadhaar for anything.

12. The then attorney general had admitted in an affidavit filed on behalf of the Centre that Aadhaar is not mandatory.
13. On June 9, 2017, the court observed that even the Aadhaar Act, 2016 does not make UID/Aadhaar mandatory. This was reiterated on June 27, 2017.
14. A three judge-bench headed by the then Chief Justice of India on January 5, 2017, expressed concern about the collection of biometric data by private and foreign agencies.
15. The UID/Aadhaar enrolment process continues to promise Indian residents that 'Aadhaar enrolment is free and voluntary'.
It must be noted that the existing legal provisions as per the Supreme Court's order and the Aadhaar Act, 2016 do not provide for seeding of Aadhaar with any scheme or project.
16. The views of the National Human Rights Commission reveal that the biometric authentication scheme has a number of dangerous ramifications.

The National Human Rights Commission's view on the 'need for protection of information', 'the possibility of tampering with stored biometric information' and 'disclosure of information in the interest of national security' has been ignored.
It is evident that following the attorney general's submission in the Supreme Court recorded in the February 6, 2017, order stating that UID/Aadhaar is not mandatory for telephone connections and keeping the orders of several high courts and apex court in mind, there is a logical legal obligation for the government and non-governmental agencies who are implementing UID/Aadhaar-related schemes and systems to revise their orders and circulars to comply with the court's order in letter and spirit.

In the aftermath of the verdict of the nine-judge Constitution Bench declaring the Right to Privacy as a Fundamental Right, it is high time editors chastened their reporters to refrain from irresponsible and untruthful reporting.

Gopal Krishna