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

Monday, April 2, 2018

13165 - Aadhaar Articles Dated 1st April 2018



UIDAI Lifts Ban From Airtel For Aadhaar-Based eKYC Verification
Inc42 Media
Taking another step regarding Aadhaar, UIDAI (Unique Identification Authority of India) has reportedly restored the ban on Airtel to conduct Aadhaar-based eKYC verification of its users, but subject to specific conditions. A report by the PTI quoted sources close to the development to reveal that Airtel will ...

UIDAI Allows Airtel to Use Aadhaar eKYC but Payments Bank Stays Suspended - Beebom (blog)

When 'vanity' is a phone number - Hindustan Times


Govt amends PMLA rules to extend Aadhaar linking date for all financial accounts till after SC order
Economic Times
The finance ministry has amended the Prevention of Money Laundering (Maintenance of Records) Rules, 2005, via a issued notification yesterday, extending the date for submitting Aadhaar by existing account holders to financial entities till a date to be notified after the final judgement in the petition ...





CVC to take Aadhaar route to detect bureaucratic corruption
Economic Times
The idea is to prepare some kind of an operational procedure and if possible some kind of software so that once it is decided to investigate X, Y or Z, we can connect in a seamless manner with other departments to get the necessary details (regarding the person) using Aadhaar," Central Vigilance ...





Aadhaar hurdle for filing icome tax returns
The Hindu
On Saturday, as the deadline for the filing of income tax returns for the previous assessment years closed in, there was panic and helplessness among those without Aadhaar. The filing of return was not possible without linking PAN to Aadhaar despite the recent Supreme Court order, a High Court ...

Living with the incoming tide: Aadhaar, Facebook and the end of privacy - Scroll.in


Aadhaar a must to play cricket in Bhopal
Times of India
BHOPAL: In order to curb age fraud organisers of U-15 cricket tournament the organisers have made Aadhaar mandatory for the players. This is the first time in the state that Aadhaar has been made mandatory for any sport event. Top 10 teams of Bhopal will contest in the 50-over limited Netlink Dilip ...





Government extends date for linking PAN, Aadhaar with accounts for an indefinite period
The New Indian Express
NEW DELHI: Government has extended the dates for an indefinite period for linking Aadhaar and Permanent Account number (PAN) with bank accounts of account holders. According to a notification issued by the Finance Ministry, this has been done in accordance with the Supreme Court Order.

Govt extends date for linking PAN, Aadhaar with accounts for indefinite period - United News of India

Centre extends date for linking PAN, Aadhaar with accounts - Pragativadi


Aadhaar helps weed out ghost beneficiaries in child services plan
The Sunday Guardian
The Centre has been able to weed out over one crore “ghost beneficiaries” registered with the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS), with the linking of beneficiary accounts to Aadhaar numbers. According to sources in the Ministry of Women and Child Development (WCD), statistics show that ...





Reporter's Diary: Aadhaar, Judges' Assets and their Right to Privacy
Bar & Bench
Reporter's Diary is a series that brings you interesting snippets from court hearings across the country. It attempts to offer our readers a glimpse into casual interactions between judges and lawyers appearing in cases. The hearings in the Aadhaar case before the Supreme Court are drawing to a close, ...





If not Aadhaar, a consent form will get parents ration for their children
India Today
A 'consent form' will now allow parents who have not yet got their Aadhaar cards made to take ration for their children under Poshan Abhiyaan. The government has stressed on making Aadhaar mandatory for people to avail ration from Anganwadis, despite constitutional validity of Aadhaar being ...





On My Radar: J&K departments not accepting Aadhaar
The Sunday Guardian
The Aadhaar card is not being considered as a valid proof of identity by the Jammu and Kashmir government departments. In J&K, which enjoys “special status”, no state government department is accepting the Aadhaar card as an identity or address proof. Instead, they are asking for the ration card or ...





How safe is your Aadhaar data?
Deccan Chronicle
Chennai :The state governments vested with the role of collecting personal details from public for Aadhaar purpose had failed to understand the seriousness of data leak and most of the outsourced portals and websites that deal with Aadhaar, lack adequate cyber security measures, making Aadhaar ...





CVC says Aadhaar could be used to crack down on corruption by combining its data with ...
Firstpost
With Aadhaar being made mandatory for some financial transactions, Chowdary said it would be in a position to get data from a few centralised agencies and use the information for the purpose of determining a transaction made by an individual and to probe Disproportionate Assets (DA). The CVC said ...





UIDAI database defective in targeting subsidies and benefits
The Sunday Guardian
The UIDAI has been making the claim of Aadhaar being a unique ID. However, when asked, in an RTI query, to indicate the number of unique names and biometrics in its database, the UIDAI has no information. Furthermore, the UIDAI also indicates that they cannot retrieve a unique record using ...





State of the Union: 'Tis the season of leaks, peep and squeaks
Deccan Chronicle
That is primarily the entire problem with the Aadhaar programme. When it was launched there was hardly any worthwhile thought given to the doctrine of informed consent. People were offered a stark black and white utopia of an identity traded off against handing over to the state the most intimate of ...





You want my data? Take it!
The Hindu
I shall erase my humanity, crumple my personhood, and reduce myself to bits and bytes so you can hoard me in your omnivorous database. I shall link everything, including my own mother, to Aadhaar, if that's what it takes to make India the greatest data farm in the history of the universe. But please stop ...
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