AADHAAR RELATED ARTICLES: 13040 - Aadhaar data leak of Andhra Pradesh women raises security concerns

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

13040 - Aadhaar data leak of Andhra Pradesh women raises security concerns - Indian Express

Home States Andhra Pradesh

Aadhaar data leak of Andhra Pradesh women raises security concerns

By Kiranmai Tutika | Express News Service | Published: 20th March 2018 02:29 AM |

VIJAYAWADA: The Aadhaar details of many people, especially women, from Andhra Pradesh are available in the public domain, increasing fears of their misuse. The details of woman beneficiaries in the Bangaru Talli scheme, which was launched in 2013 in the united AP, has been hacked and the details of women enrolled under the scheme are available in various websites. In fact, pdf files of hundreds of Aadhaar cards can be downloaded through the site of Bangaru Talli scheme.

French security researcher Elliot Alderson has tweeted some of the Google search queries, where thousands of Aadhaar cards have been displayed in the public domain, which can be downloaded by any internet user.

When New Indian Express tried with one of the google query ‘Aam aadmi ka Adhikar filetype:pdf’, hundreds of links surfaced in the portal and majority of them belong to the Bangaru Talli website. The Bangaru Talli scheme was launched to take care of the girl child in every household from her birth till she completes her graduation. If a mother gives birth to a baby girl, Rs 2,500 will be deposited into her account under the scheme. As the baby grows, for the first two years, Rs 1,000 will be given for various vaccinations.

From 3rd year till the age of 5, Rs 1,500 will be given to the family every year through Anganwadi centres. Similarly, from schooling to graduation, the girl child will be given Rs 2,000 to Rs 4000 every year. For this, the Aadhaar card details of the mother were taken. After the bifurcation of the State, the scheme was active in 2014 and 2015. However, after 2015, the scheme was suspended by the AP government. However, the website is still active and the details of the beneficiaries are still on the server.

Interestingly, the officials of both the Women and Child Welfare Department and Society for Elimination of Rural Poverty (SERP) are completely unaware of the developments. Commissioner of Women and Child Welfare Department W Arun Kumar told Express, “The scheme was initiated by the SERP and they transferred the scheme to our department. By that time, it was stopped. So, we didn’t include that in our database and still it is with SERP and we are not dealing with it.”Similarly, when Express contacted the officials of SERP, the are completely unaware of the Bangaru Talli website and the Aadhaar details in the website.

“I am not aware of the scheme or the subject. As Saturday and Sunday are government holidays, the concerned officials are not available. Soon, we will take up the issue to the concerned officials and take suitable action,” said Johnson, Joint Commissioner of SERP. Rama Devi of All India Democratic Women’s Association (AIDWA) said, “The website hosts the details of women, with their residential addresses and other personal details. If such details reach the public through government sites, it will create a lot of safety issues. The government should take strict action for protecting the personal data of the public, especially women.”

The Aadhaar security: What UIDAI said
The security of Aadhaar has been questioned on various instances. A few months ago, reports emerged about a few people selling Aadhaar data for a fee. The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) , however, maintained there had not been any breach of the biometric database, which remained totally secure, with the highest encryption. Mere display of demographic information could not be misused without biometrics, UIDAI had said. UIDAI said Aadhaar was like any other identity document and therefore, never to be treated as a confidential document. If anybody publishes someone’s personal information such as Aadhaar card, passport, mobile number, bank account number or photograph without authorisation, he can be sued for civil damages by the person whose privacy right is infringed.