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

Sunday, April 1, 2018

13161 - Aadhaar Articles Dated 31st March 2018



Times of India
New Delhi, Mar 30 () The UIDAI has restored Bharti Airtel's authorisation to conduct Aadhaar-based verification of its mobile subscribers subject to riders, sources said. The Unique Identification Authority of India has not lifted the ongoing suspension on Airtel Payments Bank's eKYC licence, sources privy ...






Business Standard
The Supreme Court's interim order of March 13 appears incongruous to the earlier unanimous verdict on the right to privacy and the Constitutional right to equality. The deadline to link Aadhaar with bank accounts and phones have been indefinitely extended while they aren't extended for notifications of ...






Economic Times (blog)
Contradictions are of the essence in dialectics, but no good in government policy. After telling the Supreme Court that the last date for linking income-tax payers' Permanent Account Number (PAN) with their Unique Identity number, Aadhaar, is being extended from March 31to end-June, the government ...






THE WEEK
What is the problem with Aadhaar? Why are so many liberals up in arms against what was once seen as a scheme to benefit the masses, and not threaten the public? Aadhaar was initiated in 2009 as a project to link a biometric-based unique identity with eligible beneficiaries of government schemes.






Business Standard
The statement of a model, who was spotted in a hotel room booked by providing fake Aadhaar card details of actor Urvashi Rautela, was recorded today, police said. "We have identified the model as Parul Choudhary, who spent around two hours on March 27 in the room of a five star hotel in Bandra, ...






The New Indian Express
BENGALURU: Despite the matter of linking the Aadhaar to one's bank account and mobile connection being in the court for a while now, companies who offer such services insist on the same in clear violation of the laws. The Supreme Court judgment on March 13, extending the dates for linking such ...






The Tribune
New Delhi: The UIDAI has restored Airtel's authorisation to conduct Aadhaar-based verification of its mobile subscribers subject to specific conditions, sources said. It will have to submit quarterly reports on compliance with the Aadhaar Act and adhere to directions issued by the UIDAI. Sources privy to ...



Mumbai Mirror
The statement of a model, who was spotted in a hotel room booked by providing fake Aadhaar card details of actor Urvashi Rautela, was recorded yesterday. “We have identified the model as Parul Choudhary, who spent around two hours on March 27 in the room of a five star hotel in Bandra, which was ...






Free Press Journal
Bhayandar: To end overcharging and to ensure that all enrolments, even those by private agencies, come under direct supervision of the authorities, Aadhaar-issuing authority Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) had directed states to accommodate external sites to government or municipal ...






Deccan Herald
Gultoo comes in the wake of data privacy concerns gripping the world. It has Aadhaar security as its plot. The timing couldn't have been better for debutant director Janardhan Chikkanna. But does the film add to the debate or help us understand the problem better? Sadly, it only banks on newspaper ...






Odisha Television Ltd.
The decision came a day after the government also extended the deadline for linking Aadhaar with PAN for the fourth time till June 30. Last week, the government had also extended the last date for re-verification of mobile connections through Aadhaar based E-KYC process till the Supreme Court's ...






Clipper28 (satire) (press release) (blog)
Unique Identification Authority of India provides several facilities related to Aadhaar card online, through its self-service portal- uidai.gov.in.The UIDAI-the issuer of the 12-digit Aadhaar number as well as Aadhaar card has classified these online facilities broadly into three categories, according to its ...






The Wire
And yet, you say that hacking threats (from domestic and foreign entities) give you sleepless nights. Perhaps a bug-reporting policy would give you an extra couple of hours each night? “There are attempts almost every day to hack [the] Aadhaar system, but none has succeeded,” you said recently.






CSO Online
Similarly, in India, the entire population was pushed into the digital economy when its unified ID program, Aadhaar was implemented, and not everyone is tech savvy. Aadhaar links every citizen to every type of service and documentation, from driver's licenses, insurance and medical records, to mobile ...






Entrackr
After a temporary ban and penalty, UIDAI has restored Bharti Airtel's authorisation to conduct Aadhaar-based e-KYC verification with certain terms and conditions. According to latest circulation by the biometric regulator, the telecom operator will have to submit quarterly reports on compliance with ...