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

Monday, January 22, 2018

12733 - Telecom Operator Deactivates UIDAI Project Director’s SIM For Not Linking It To Aadhaar - Outlook India

19 JANUARY 2018

Telecom Operator Deactivates UIDAI Project Director’s SIM For Not Linking It To Aadhaar

Prabhakar alleged that five days ago, the telecom operator deactivated his SIM saying he had not linked the SIM card to his Aadhaar.


REPRESENTATIVE IMAGE

After bombarding customers with messages to link their SIM cards with Aadhaar, a telecom major in Bengaluru has been accused of deactivating a man’s SIM card under the guise of not linking it to his Aadhaar card.

Interestingly, the consumer, Prabhakar HL, is the project director for Aadhaar (UID) in Karnataka and works at the Centre for e-Governance.

Prabhakar alleged that five days ago, the telecom operator deactivated his SIM saying he had not linked the SIM card to his Aadhaar. The customer, however, told the service provider that he had linked his Aadhaar through OTP authentication. But the telecom operator insisted that he give his fingerprints to restore the connection, reported Bengalore Mirror.

“On Monday morning, my phone stopped working and I had no clue what could have gone wrong. I called up the customer care and, initially, they said it was a technical glitch. After repeated calls, I was asked to go to a customer care outlet and give my fingerprints for Aadhaar linking. I told them that my Aadhaar verification process is done and I know the rules,” Prabhakar said.

“The irony is that I head the division that gives identity cards to people and the cell phone service provider is trying to fool me, he added.

Prabhakar also alleged that the customer care asked the officer to submit any document to prove his identity for SIM activation.

“This is absolutely ridiculous. Why should I prove my identity to them all over again? I had given my documents when I got the connection and I have also done the Aadhaar authentication. The irony is that I head the division that gives identity cards to people and the cell phone service provider is trying to fool me,” Prabhakar added.

A spokesperson from the company told the newspaper that they are not disconnecting any SIM cards right now.

After a government mandate last year over a notice from the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), telecom operators began sending multiple messages to subscribers reminding them to re-verify mobile numbers using Aadhaar cards.

According to the information available on the UIDAI website, “the Aadhaar holder should provide this OTP along with his Aadhaar number during authentication and the same shall be matched with the OTP generated by the Authority.’’
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Last month, in the wake of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) temporarily suspending Aadhaar-related e-KYC verification by Bharti Airtel, Airtel Payments Bank managing director and CEO Shashi Arora stepped down from his position.

Bharti Airtel was allegedly using the aforementioned verification process to open payments bank accounts of its customers without their knowledge or consent.

This month, the UIDAI, however, extended the conditional permission given to Airtel to resume Aadhaar-based e-KYC verification of telecom subscribers till March 31, from the initial date of January 10.

The move is aimed at facilitating the linking of Aadhaar with mobile SIMs. Coincidentally, the new deadline for this is also 31 March, as directed by the Supreme Court.
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(With PTI inputs)
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