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, March 21, 2018

13029 - Vehicles likely to be linked to Aadhaar in attempt to boost highway safety - Hindustan Times

Vehicles likely to be linked to Aadhaar in attempt to boost highway safety

The recommendations are aimed at reinforcing security against incidents such as Maoist and other militant attacks on highways, reducing crimes such as robberies and attacks on women as well as road accidents.

INDIA Updated: Mar 19, 2018 11:00 Ist
Azaan Javaid 
New Delhi

An Indian visitor gives a thumb impression to withdraw money from his bank account with his Aadhaar or Unique Identification (UID) card during a Digi Dhan Mela, held to promote digital payment, in Hyderabad on January 18, 2017. The Digi Dhan mela is a government initiative aimed at digital transformation in the country following the recent demonetization. / AFP PHOTO / Noah SEELAM(AFP)

A ministry of home affairs (MHA) panel tasked with drafting a comprehensive policy for securing Indian highways has suggested that a central body be set up to maintain data on motor vehicles by linking their registration numbers to the Aadhaar numbers of their owners.

It is one among several recommendation made by MHA’s Working Group on Highway Security, which was formed in July 2017 and is headed by AP Maheshwari, director general of the Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPR&D).
The recommendations are aimed at reinforcing security against incidents such as Maoist and other militant attacks on highways, reducing crimes such as robberies and attacks on women as well as road accidents.

The group comprises representatives from the ministry of road transport and highways and MHA as well as the director generals of police (DGPs) from six states — Punjab, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Tamil Nadu and Assam.

The panel hasn’t directly recommended linking motor vehicles to Aadhaar, but suggested the creation of a Central Repository Body (CRB) at the central government level. This body, the working group has suggested, will create a country-wide database of motor vehicles after they are linked with the 12-digit unique identity number, according to a senior government official familiar with the development.

“ As of now, creation of a CRB is only of the many recommendations. Members of the working group will discuss and scrutinise all the recommendations after which they will be taken up at the central and state level. A draft of the working group’s recommendations has been sent to the DGPs of the six states and we are awaiting their response,” said the official on condition of anonymity.

If the recommendation is accepted by the central and state governments, vehicle owners will be required to link motor vehicles’ registration certificates to Aadhaar.

The recommendation found some support from Delhi transport minister Kailash Gahlot who said that while the idea of linking vehicle registrations to Aadhaar may be beneficial, current laws raise questions on making it mandatory.

“The linking of Aadhaar with motor vehicles can help in many things like hit-and-run cases or tracing vehicles but at the same time we are not sure if the current laws will permit mandatory linking of Aadhaar to vehicles,” Gahlot said.

“We had in fact issued the new permit system for auto rickshaws in Delhi for which the Aadhaar number was required to be produced by interested individuals,” he added.
According to official documents, MHA requested BPR&D to constitute the working group after the need for it was raised at the annual conference of director generals and inspector generals of police in 2016. The group was supposed to evolve an action plan in three months and its implementation was to start within a year, the documents accessed by Hindustan Times show.

Among other recommendations is real-time surveillance of highways using drones and dome cameras that could be installed along the highways. This recommendation has been made after taking into consideration the law and order situation in sensitive zones such as Jammu and Kashmir and areas vulnerable to Maoist attacks, the senior government official cited above added.

The drones, according to the official, could be operated by the office of the local superintendent of police (SP).
The working group has also recommended that the states conduct a comprehensive dark spot analysis -- an assessment of accident-prone areas, an exercise first undertaken by the Tamil Nadu government to reduce road accidents, said another senior government official.

“Till now state governments have list s of accident-prone areas that is based on data of incidents. The dark spot analysis will be a comprehensive study of why accidents take place, areas vulnerable to accidents and possible measures to avoid such incidents,” the official said, requesting anonymity.
The working group will also recommend introduction of a “safety and security component” in the annual budget for roads and highways.

Rohit Baluja,president of the Institute of Road Traffic Education and an expert on road safety, says that technological advancements, including linking of Aadhaar, can only prove useful if coupled with strong enforcement.

“Around 64% road accidents in India take place on highways and we continue not to have a standard policy to deal with them. There is need for a strong highway patrol system and an enforcing agency which knows how to react and respond to road safety issues. I train Indian Police officers who do not have a great understanding of traffic law enforcement,” Baluja said.
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