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, January 20, 2018

12680 - UIDAI will issue 16-digit virtual ID to secure Aadhaar privacy - New Burgh Gazette


UIDAI will issue 16-digit virtual ID to secure Aadhaar privacy Jacquelyn Byrd14 January 2018, 03:28 

While "global authentication user agencies" will get to access the entire KYC gamut and the Aadhaar number, smaller, local authentication agencies will be given the virtual IDs. 

210 government published at least 13 crore Aadhaar numbers in the past and the risk of people having these numbers already is very high. 

UIDAI has been under the scanner over the past few months over allegations of access of personal information by random entities without the consent of individual Aadhaar holders. 

It will not be possible to derive Aadhaar number from VID. The UIDAI on Wednesday introduced a new security layer to address the privacy concerns related to Aadhaar. 

A day after the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) introduced a new concept of 'Virtual ID' for Aadhaar card holders, former finance minister and Congress leader P Chidambaram hinted that it was too late an attempt. 

The flaw, according to a Hindustan Times report, is based on the USSD (Unstructured Supplementary Service Data) that was publically shared by UIDAI in December and tells the user if their bank account has been linked with their Aadhaaar number or not. VIDs being temporary can not be de-duplicated and as an added precaution, agencies that undertake authentication will not be allowed to generate VIDs on behalf of Aadhaar holders. 

The VID will be a temporary, revocable 16-digit random number mapped with the Aadhaar number. Read also: Should We Link Aadhaar or Not? "I think, everybody has to accept Aadhaar is here to stay", The former UIDAI chief said. However, the new system of KYC does not require the Aadhaar Number. The details of this new virtual ID that UIDAI is creating are still coming in so for now it is not clear how it will work. 

The first relates to the report by Buzzfeed News that the creator of Aadhaar, and the head of UIDAI from 2009 to 2014, Nandan Nilekani, himself had tweeted out his Aadhaar number, with the first 8 digits redacted. The Aadhaar-issuing body will offer means to generate the VID via the resident portal, at an Aadhaar Kendra (Aadhaar centre) or via mobile app mAadhaar. 

This will allow Aadhaar holders to generate a 16-digit temporary number that can be shared with a bank, insurance company and telecom service providers instead of the 12-digit Aadhaar number. UIDAI will categorize all AUAs into two categories - "Global AUAs" and "Local AUAs". Only name, photograph and address of the person can be accessed via this Virtual ID. This will also reduce the ability to merge databases across agencies thus enhancing privacy substantially. When will the limited KYC and UID Tokens be in place? The second kind, would get limited access as per requirement, therefore better safe-guarding the Aadhaar-card holders. The UIDAI's and the government's cavalier attitude towards security in Aadhaar has been exposed many times over. VID launch is on March 1, so you won't have to wait for long. All of these service providers will have to advance their systems to compulsorily allow for the new instrument from June. Any non-compliance will invite action in the form of financial disincentives and termination of the said Agreement. 

Newburgh Gazette http://newburghgazette.com/2018/01/14/uidai-will-issue-16-digit-virtual-id-to-secure-aadhaar/
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