AADHAAR RELATED ARTICLES: 12812 - Aadhaar can transform financial services industry, needs to address security concerns: IAMAI

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

Wednesday, January 31, 2018

12812 - Aadhaar can transform financial services industry, needs to address security concerns: IAMAI - Money Copntrol

Jan 29, 2018 03:57 PM IST | Source: Moneycontrol.com

Aadhaar can transform financial services industry, needs to address security concerns: IAMAI

The IAMAI is an industry association that counts companies such as Google, Facebook, Microsoft and a host of other Internet- based Indian and foreign companies

Moneycontrol News

@moneycontrolcom

Aadhaar has the potential to transform the financial services industry including banking, insurance, lending, payments, led by services such as e-know your customer and e-Sign, said the Internet and Mobile Association of India, but added that the scheme needs to address the possible misuse of Aadhaar data.

“Conventional paper-based KYC or authentication is a resource intensive process; in terms of time, manpower and operational expenses. For start-ups looking to provide pan-India services, such a compliance burden can be cumbersome and a bottleneck. Estimates suggest that in a paperless platform, financial institutions can reduce costs by 2-3% in banking products and 20-30 percent in insurance products,” said the industry association in a statement on Monday.

The IAMAI is an industry association that counts companies such as Google, Facebook, Microsoft and a host of other Internet-based Indian and foreign companies.

With Aadhaar-based e-KYC and e-Sign, financial service providers will be able to help millions of Indians instantly open savings accounts and give them access to various other financial services like investment, insurance, formal credit, etc, IAMAI said.

“The association is of the view that the biggest impediment to 10X growth of the industry is paper-based verification and authentication process. The association would like to highlight that even a powerful regulator like RBI has shown its lack of confidence on 100 percent e-KYC by mandating paper-based KYC a year after OTP based e-KYC,” said IAMAI.

However, IAMAI also acknowledged the perceived security threats around Aadhaar and the potential misuse of the Aadhaar data.

“IAMAI urges UIDAI (Unique Identification Authority of India) to initiate multi-stakeholder consultation involving the entire digital ecosystem as soon as possible to discuss the issues pertaining to Aadhaar. The association expresses optimism over a collective approach that can help iron out the creases in the near future,” said IAMAI.

Aadhaar, India’s proof of identity project, has been embroiled in controversies ever since its inception. Over the past few months, reports of misuse and unauthorised use of Aadhaar data have surfaced. These claims have been denied by the UIDAI, the agency that administers Aadhaar.

The Supreme Court is also hearing a batch of petitions, some dating back to 2012, that claim that the Aadhaar project scheme violates an individual's fundamental right to privacy.

TAGS #Aadhaar #India #Technology