AADHAAR RELATED ARTICLES: 13130 - You must not share Aadhaar and its OTP with anybody

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

Thursday, March 29, 2018

13130 - You must not share Aadhaar and its OTP with anybody - Live Mint

You must not share Aadhaar and its OTP with anybody

Fraudsters are trying to take advantage of the earlier deadline of 31 March to call individuals and extract data from them, which can further be used to commit fraud

Last Published: Tue, Mar 27 2018. 08 23 AM IST

Shaikh Zoaib Saleem

Photo: Pradeep Gaur/Mint

LATEST NEWS »

The deadline to link Aadhaar with various financial services like bank accounts, mutual funds, insurance, mobile phone connections as well as your permanent account number has been indefinitely extended by the Supreme Court recently. But there are still some places where you will need to submit Aadhaar, like when opening a new bank account or getting a subsidy.

While the deadlines have been extended, fraudsters are trying to take advantage of the earlier deadline of 31 March to call individuals and extract data from them, which can further be used to commit fraud. If you get a call asking for any bank-related details, do not disclose anything.

How the fraud works

The entire effort of the fraudster would be to get hold of crucial details that can enable her to make a transaction, from, say, your bank account or e-wallet. In many cases, cyber security experts say, they would already have some details about an individual, which can be used to partially get through a transaction. Usually, the last leg of a transaction is the OTP that you receive on your phone or mail. The fraudster would insist that you share that OTP, which will then allow her to complete the transaction.

For the past many years, fraudsters have been using the method of convincingly calling individuals to get bank account, and debit or credit card details. In the past few days, many people have complained of threatening calls during which the caller claims that their bank account, debit or credit card, or mobile connection would be disconnected if the instructions of the caller are not followed. The person being called is first asked to share their Aadhaar number. Then the fraudster claims that an OTP has been sent to complete the linking process. Using an individual’s Aadhaar number and the subsequent OTP, the fraudster can take a print of your Aadhaar online and also change some demographic details, such as mobile phone number, in the Aadhaar database. This, of course, will happen if the phone you are using is the one that is linked to Aadhaar.

If the fraudster changes your registered mobile number in the database, then all the Aadhaar-based authentication OTPs would land in that mobile phone instead of yours.

It is also possible that Aadhaar linking is being used to just get the OTP from you to complete a transaction through your bank account.

Another possibility is getting the call from the fraudster claiming to be from a telecom company. This is most likely an attempt at either getting an OTP to complete a transaction, or to get some of your SIM details so that they can get another SIM card for the same number. In such cases, it is likely that the fraudster already has some information about your finances and wants to get control of your mobile phone number.

Never share details over a call

Fraudsters keep changing their approach to get details from people over calls. You should be aware that no bank or financial institution would ask for sensitive details like your debit or credit card number, bank account number, card expiry, CVV or ATM PIN or an OTP.

If you get an OTP, you must physically enter this on the Web interface yourself. When linking Aadhaar, always use official channels like the bank’s or financial institution’s website or mobile app, even though the deadline has been extended indefinitely for now.

First Published: Mon, Mar 26 2018. 07 03 PM IST