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, February 28, 2018

12883 - SC Refuses to Extend Aadhaar Deadline; Here’s All You Need to Link by March 31 - Better India


Link your Aadhaar card, and continue life as usual.

February 23, 2018, 1:02 pm

You order food via your phone; you pay for things online using your card. Well, all the essential services that form your bed of comfort and complacency will go, if you don’t link your Aadhaar card to them!

The Supreme Court has rejected a plea which sought an extension of the deadline for linking it to other services. Which means it needs to be done as soon as possible.

The Supreme Court has mandated linking the Aadhaar Card by the 31st of March 2018. 

The Supreme Court’s 5-judge bench, led by India’s Chief Justice Dipak Misra, on Thursday, rejected the petition filed by senior advocate Shyam Divan, who has been at the forefront of this battle. The bench argued that hearing into the many petitions challenging the mandatory linkage of the 12-digit number, would not be completed by the end of next month.

The opponents of Aadhaar maintain that the state cannot mandate biometrics, sans any criminality, especially since the apex court had ruled that no one would be forced to part with such information, even when they were accused of involvement in criminal offences.

However, according to its proponents, the Aadhaar card provides a layer of security. They also believe that the recent scams that have shaken the country could have probably been averted if Aadhaar card linkages had been introduced earlier, and the appropriate authorities were watching.

So, here’s the list of mandatory Aadhaar linkages:-

1) Bank Account:-
Log into net banking, and click on the link, ‘Update Aadhaar Card Details’ or ‘Aadhaar Card Seeding.’
Enter the details, verify, and submit.
Your bank will email or call you, to confirm or verify your details.

2) PAN Card:-
To link your PAN Card to your Aadhaar number, visit here and click on ‘Link Aadhaar tab’.
Enter your PAN and Aadhaar number or SMS UIDPAN and send it to 567678 or 56161.
Learn how to do this here.

3) Voter ID:-
This is a fairly easy procedure. Visit the official NVSP website here.
or
Send the SMS ECILINK < EPIC_Number > < Aadhaar_Number > to 166 or 51969
or
Call 1950 on weekdays, and provide your Aadhaar details and Voter ID number.


4) LPG:-
Download the subsidy form here or go to the official websites of Bharat Gas, HP Gas or Indane.
Fill up the details, and submit it to the closest LPG distributor, with an application.
Or, just call 18000-2333-555, and follow the instructions.

5) Ration Card:-
This needs to be done from the Aadhaar seeding website here. 
Click on ‘Start Now’, and enter all the details.
An OTP will be sent to your phone.
Enter this number and your application will start getting processed, and you will get a notification.
To do this offline, take photocopies of your ration card, and Aadhaar copies of family members, a passport photo of the head of the family, a photocopy of your bank passbook (if the bank is not linked to Aadhaar.)Submit all these to the ration office, and await a confirmation SMS or email.

6) Mobile Number:-
This is important if you want to keep ordering food and using cabs, as your phone needs to be added to your Aadhaar, to enable OTP transactions. To do this, follow these steps:
Download, and print the Aadhaar Update/Correction form, from the provider’s website.
Tick ‘Mobile’, in the ‘Field for Update/Correction’ Mentioned at the top.
Fill in the necessary details in the form, as per your card.
Enter your phone number, and Aadhaar card numbers, in the required fields.
Sign or give your thumb impression.
Mail the application to the Aadhaar office.



So, whether you agree or not, like it or not, link the Aadhaar card to the services mentioned above, to ensure that they keep working smoothly.