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

Friday, April 6, 2018

13208 - Aadhaar Articles Dated 6th April 2018



Times of India
NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court stopped the Centre on Thursday from projecting Aadhaar as panacea for all systemic ills, including bank frauds worth billions of rupees, and said the unique number as a tool for authentication of identity could not stop bank scams even if it might be useful in uplifting the ...






The News Minute
Is Aadhaar linking mandatory in order to be the beneficiary of social security and welfare pensions in Kerala? Well, the state Finance Minister Thomas Isaac made it clear that Aadhaar is not mandatory to get social security, social welfare pensions. The minister's explanation came in the wake of a news ...






MediaNama.com
The AG said Aadhaar will last for a long time in the future. It has been ... Aadhaar is an ongoing process and the technology and security will be updated as and when required. ... Justice Chandrachud said that perhaps Aadhaar passes the test of legitimate state interest, but proportionality is in question.






NewsClick
On day 25 of the Aadhaar hearings the Attorney General (AG) continued his submissions. The AG responded to the issues raised by the Supreme Court as well as petitioners. The first pertained to the open and wide definition accorded to 'biometric information' under section 2(g) of the Aadhaar Act. The ...





Financial Chronicle (press release) (blog)
Collection of biometric and demographic data including fingerprints under the Aadhaar identity programme does not violate the right to privacy of an individual, the Centre asserted in the Supreme Court on Wednesday. Attorney General KK Venugopal made this assertion before a five-judge Constitution ...






Times of India
MUMBAI: You can now provide Aadhaar as a proof of age and address while applying for a driving licence at any regional transport office in the state. The transport department issued a circular on Thursday allowing Aadhaar as proof of age and address for new licences as well as for change in address ...






Scroll.in
The Western Railways' Mumbai division published the Aadhaar numbers, addresses and phone numbers of 20 people injured in a stampede on Elphinstone Bridge in central Mumbai in September in response to a Right to Information query asking for proof that they had received compensation, ...






Moneylife
They contended that the I-T Department was not permitting e-filing of their tax returns without quoting Aadhaar number. While the Supreme Court had extended deadline to link Aadhaar with permanent account number (PAN), the I-T Department has not yet implemented this on its e-filing website. Due to ...






Telangana Today
Hyderabad: Much before Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) asked States to ensure that all prisoners had Aadhaar cards, the Telangana Prisons department has already ensured that most of the prisoners, including convicts, in its jails, have the crucial identity document. In case of remand prisoners who ...






Daily News & Analysis
In a move that could affect mobile phone operators who are demanding Aadhaar details from their customers, the Supreme Court on Thursday asked the Centre how legitimate would it be to ask 120 crore people of the country to link their mobile phones to Aadhaar just to get hold of a few terrorists.






Nagpur Today
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday observed that Aadhaar can't stop bank frauds and it is the bank officials who are hand in glove with the fraudsters. “Aadhaar can do little to stop bank frauds,” the apex court said. It added that the bank knows who is it giving loans to and the bank […] Show Full ...