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

Sunday, January 21, 2018

12706 - Virtual Id, Limited KYC, face recognition: New security features to help strengthen Aadhaar - Business Today

Virtual Id, Limited KYC, face recognition: New security features to help strengthen Aadhaar

BusinessToday.in New Delhi Last Updated: January 16, 2018 | 18:02 IST

Virtual Id, Limited KYC, face recognition: New security features to help strengthen Aadhaar

In the past week UIDAI has introduced three new features to improve the security of Aadhaar database amid concerns over the safety of the world's biggest online database. Both the government and the UIDAI, which administers Aadhaar database, are confident about the safety of data. Some government officials have dismissed the criticisms over Aadhaar saying it's a foolproof system.

Trai (Telecom Regulatory Authority of India) chairman RS Sharma, in a recent interview with ET, said there's never been a breach of data, saying it's just "breach of trust". He went to justify his claim giving an example about how out of total 15 billion biometrics, not even a single biometric information had been stolen since the Aadhaar service was launched seven years back.

UIDAI architect Nandan Nilekani also hailed the Aadhaar security structure recently saying the newly introduced security features like Virtual Ids and Limited KYC were significant to protect the Aadhaar system. About the recent incident of data breach, Nilekani said the incident was not a data leak but a "privileged leak", which the UIDAI was able to stop.

After a media report last month alleged a major data leak of Aadhaar Card holders' information on paying just Rs 500, UIDAI Chief Executive Ajay Bhushan Pandey strongly defended the system, rubbishing the claim before launching an inquiry into the incident.

A few days later, Virtual Id (VID) system and Limited KYC services were introduced as part of the added security measures. The VID is a 16-digit temporary random number that an Aadhaar holder can use for authentication or KYC services with fingerprint instead of the original Aadhaar number. Under limited KYC, authentication user agencies will neither get access to full KYC nor will they be able to store the Aadhaar number on their systems. Instead, they will get a tokenised number issued by UIDAI to identify their customers.

The UIDAI also came up with face recognition feature for Aadhaar authentication on Monday. This is the second layer of verification to ensure that those having difficulty with their fingerprints/iris authentication are no longer excluded. Pandey tweeted Tuesday said, "UIDAI introduces yet another landmark technology for authentication - Face Authentication. #AadhaarFaceAuth will help all elderly or others facing issues with fingerprint authentication. Service to be launched by 1 July 2018."

The move will improve inclusion and benefit the people whose fingerprints no longer match to their original biometrics due to age. Since residents are already photographed at the time of Aadhaar enrolment, this new measure does not require any additional effort from the existing Aadhaar holders. However, the circular specifies that this new measure will only be allowed in "fusion mode along with one more authentication factor", be it fingerprints, iris scan or OTP (one-time-password).