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, January 9, 2018

12648 - ‘Open-ended’ FIR filed in Aadhaar leak case - TNN

‘Open-ended’ FIR filed in Aadhaar leak case


TNN | Updated: Jan 8, 2018, 09:11 IST

HIGHLIGHTS
  • The FIR has been lodged on the complaint of a senior UIDAI official.
  • The police denied they were targeting the newspaper or reporter.
  • Reacting to the FIR, the reporter said it was a case of shooting the messenger.
NEW DELHI/JALANDHAR: Delhi Police has registered an "open-ended" FIR in connection with the alleged leak of Aadhaar data for a fee+ . 

The FIR has been lodged on the complaint of a senior UIDAI official under Sections 36 and 37 of the Aadhaar Act, apart from Indian Penal Code sections on cheating, forgery and impersonation, and Section 66 of the Information Technology Act. 

Read also: Editors Guild slam 'attack' on freedom of press 

On January 3, a report in The Tribune newspaper had claimed that an agent running the racket created a gateway and provided a user ID and password through which the reporter could enter any Aadhaar number and get its details+ for just Rs 500. 

The police denied they were targeting the newspaper or reporter. "We have not named anyone as an accused yet," a police spokesperson said. The first page of the FIR, accessed by TOI, says "unknown" under the column 'accused'. 

In a statement issued on Sunday, Delhi Police said, "On 5.1.18, UIDAI lodged a complaint in the cyber cell that an input had been received through the newspaper Tribune regarding violation of the Grievance Redressal System of UIDAI. Accordingly, the complaint given by UIDAI has been converted into an FIR which is "open ended"... The complaint given by UIDAI has only mentioned the name of the reporter who was purportedly given access. Investigation has been initiated with the present focus on tracing and booking the person who has shared the password." 

Tribune editor-in-chief Harish Khare said on Sunday night, "We regret very much that the authorities have misconceived an honest journalistic enterprise and have proceeded to institute criminal proceedings against the whistleblower. We shall explore all legal options open to us to defend our freedom to undertake serious investigative journalism," he added. 

In a statement, UIDAI said it was "duty bound to disclose all details of the case and name everyone who is an active participant in the chain of the events leading to commission of the crime... so that police can conduct proper investigation and bring the real culprit to justice".
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"It does not mean that all those who are named in the report are necessarily guilty or being targeted. Whether one is guilty or not will be decided after police investigations and trial," the statement added.



However, in the statement, UIDAI did say that it had filed a complaint on January 4 with full details of everyone involved in the incident on which an FIR no. 9/a8 of PS crime branch dated 5/1/2018 has been registered in the cyber cell of Delhi Police against Anil Kumar, Sunil Kumar, Raj, the reporter Rachna Khaira, the Tribune and other unknown persons.
TOP COMMENT
Arrest the FM and PM for giving such stupid suggestions without having the proper infrastructure. The flaw is in the idea and implementation which has become the trademark of this Govt.
protesters





UIDAI had earlier asked the Tribune to inform if its correspondent was able to view or obtain the fingerprints and iris scan of any person through the access to UIDAI portal and how many "Aadhaar numbers did the correspondent actually enter through the said login user id and password and whom did those Aadhaar numbers belong to". The letter asked for these details to be sent by January 6, failing which UIDAI said it would presume that there was no access to any fingerprints or iris scan.




Reacting to the registration of the FIR, the reporter, Rachna Khaira said it was a case of shooting the messenger. "I did the story to expose the loophole and it is clear that it was done with bonafide intention. It is after our story that UIDAI found that there was a loophole which could be exploited by unscrupulous elements, but now the authority is shooting the messenger," she said. 

In Video: Aadhaar data leak: UIDAI says all information safe
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