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 13, 2018

13278 - Aadhaar Articles Dated 13th April 2018



Aadhaar-based paperless boarding to take off soon
Times of India
NEW DELHI: Aadhaar-based biometric authentication and a smart phone will be all you'll need to board domestic flights in India soon. The government will issue the all-approved template of this paperless and hassle-free "digi yatra" by the end of this month after which airports will be free to adopt the ...





Supreme Court refers to Cambridge Analytica breach in Aadhaar hearing, raises concerns
Economic Times
Supreme Court refers to Cambridge Analytica breach in Aadhaar hearing, raises concerns ... Justice Chandrachud is part of a five-judge bench led by Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra that is hearing a challenge to the Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and Other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) ...

SC: Aadhaar data a gold mine, safeguards needed - Times of India

Aadhaar linking must to prevent impersonation, UIDAI tells SC - Livemint

Aadhaar Hearings: SC Now Refers To Cambridge Analytica Fiasco On Aadhaar Leakage - Inc42 Media


Aadhaar [Day-28]There Is No Surveillance Under The Aadhaar Scheme: Senior Advocate Rakesh ...
Live Law
As the hearing in the string of writ petitions challenging the constitutionality of the Aadhaar project resumed on Thursday, Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Tushar Mehta continued his submissions on the mandate of linking Aadhaar number with bank accounts under the Prevention of Money ...





Aadhaar Now Mandatory for Nutrition Schemes in Maharashtra
The Wire
The Maharashtra women and child development department made it “necessary” for beneficiaries to register their Aadhaar numbers in a notification dated April 6, the Indian Express reported. “If a beneficiary is found with no registered Aadhaar number or has not followed the procedure to apply for ...

Maharashtra makes Aadhaar must for free nutrition schemes - The Indian Express

Maharashtra makes Aadhaar 'necessary' for women, children to access nutrition schemes - Scroll.in

For 65 lakh people availing Maharashtra's free nutrition scheme, Aadhaar now made compulsory - Daily News & Analysis


Aadhaar Act, 'A Badly Drafted One', SC Identifies Legal Loopholes; UIDAI Defends
Inc42 Media
In legal purview, the merits of Aadhaar can't be used as a defence against the demerits of it. While Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad terms Aadhaar a 'digital identity' that supplements one's 'physical identity' the Supreme Court of India, hearing AG KK Venugopal and ASG Tushar Mehta's arguments ...





Aadhaar: India should take steps to ensure privacy in biometric identification programmes, says IMF
Financial Express
The IMF today said India should take necessary measures to ensure privacy and security controls while implementing large identification programmes like the Aadhaar, as the global financial body identified India as a leader in the biometric identification system. The International Monetary Fund in its ...

India should take steps to ensure privacy in biometric identification programmes: IMF - Economic Times
India should take steps to ensure privacy in biometric identification programmes: IMF (Eds ... - India.com


Government denies data breaches and leaks, describes security of Aadhaar database
MediaNama.com
In response to unstarred question 4589 in the Rajya Sabha, by Derek O'Brien about “Incidents of breach of Aadhaar data”, Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology, K. J. Alphons has denied any leaks and breaches of the Aadhaar database and provided information about how the ...





India should take steps to ensure privacy in Aadhaar programmes: IMF
Business Standard
The IMF has said India should take necessary measures to ensure privacy and security controls while implementing large identification programmes like the Aadhaar, as the global financial body identified India as a leader in the biometric identification system. The International Monetary Fund in its fiscal ...
India should ensure privacy and security controls while implementing Aadhaar: IMF report - Scroll.in


Soon, TTD to use virtual Aadhaar ID
Times of India
Virtual ID will be a 16-digit number mapped to Aadhaar number. Once citizens generate a Virtual ID, they can provide that number for authentication. If a devotee provides Virtual ID to TTD, they will enter it into the system and receive a token that authenticates it, and provides a limited set of demographic ...





International Monetary Fund On Aadhaar: India Should Take Steps To Ensure Privacy
NDTV
Washington: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) today said India should take necessary measures to ensure privacy and security controls while implementing large identification programmes like the Aadhaar, as the global financial body identified India as a leader in the biometric identification system ...

India must ensure privacy for biometric identification programmes: IMF - Business Standard


Digi Yatra: Aadhaar based paperless boarding for domestic flights at airports soon
MediaNama.com
The government will be issuing an “all approved” template for “paperless and hassle free” Digi Yatra by the end of the month, reports ToI. According to the report, all it will take to board a domestic flight would be a smart phone for e-Aadhaar and biometric based authentication. Once the template is ...

Aadhaar-Based Paperless Air Travel Soon To Be A Reality In India: Reports - NDTV

DigiYatra: Link flight tickets with Aadhaar, bypass showing ID at airport security check - NewsX

Aadhaar-based paperless air travel may soon become a reality: aviation expert - Onmanorama


Constitutional Validity of Aadhaar, Day 28: "Perceived Privacy"
MediaNama.com
This is a record of the proceedings in the Supreme Court bench hearings on the Constitutional validity of Aadhaar, which began on Feb 13, 2018. You may read the previous days' proceedings here: Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, Day 5, Day 6, Day 7, Day 8, Day 9, Day 10, Day 11, Day 12, Day 13, Day 14, ...





Aadhaar linkages case: ASG Mehta says Aadhaar could prove helpful in…
India Legal
The Supreme Court Constitution Bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices AK Sikri, AM Khanwilkar, DY Chandrachud and Ashok Bhushan resumed hearing on the batch of petitions challenging the validity of Aadhaar Act and Aadhaar linkages on Thursday (April 12) with Additional Solicitor ...





Individual data goldmine of commercial information, says SC
Business Standard
During the course of the hearing, when Dwivedi told the bench that the UIDAI only knew about the request of authentication of identity and nothing about the transactions being undertaken by the Aadhaar holder, Justice Sikri said: "You may not have details of transactions but you have the details of ...





Supreme Court questions govt on bank acct suspension for failure of Aadhaar number
Clipper28 (satire) (press release) (blog)
The top court has questioned the government as to how it can suspend bank accounts merely because of failure to link it with Aadhaar number. Hearing the case, a five-judge constitution bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra also questioned certain provisions of the Prevention of Money ...





No more boarding passes and ID proof needed? Paperless biometrics-based travel may soon be ...
Financial Express
Even as Aadhaar's credibility is being questioned, paperless travel could soon become a reality, according to a top aviation expert. “Our research shows that 70 per cent of passengers in India said they would definitely use biometrics if given the option, removing the need to show a passport or boarding ...
Travel: Open Sesame! - BW Businessworld




QBullet: Rahul Gandhi Leads Candlelight Vigil in Delhi & More
The Quint
In a notification dated 6 April, the Maharashtra Women and Child Development (WCD) department made it “necessary” to start registering Aadhaar card numbers of the beneficiaries. The notification in Marathi follows the Centre's direction on 6 February this year. The state WCD stated: “If a beneficiary is ...





Paperless air travel coming to India soon
The Tribune
Even as Aadhaar's credibility is being questioned, paperless travel could soon become a reality, according to a top aviation expert. ... Leveraging India's national Aadhaar biometric identity system, together with SITA's Smart Path technology, would be able to provide secure and efficient journey through ...







QBullet: Day 2 of Zuckerberg's Hearing; 4 Civilians Killed in J&K
The Quint
Seeding Aadhaar with PAN and bank accounts and other facilities would help authorities in effectively dealing with the global threat of money laundering, Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) told the Supreme Court on 11 April. Appearing for UIDAI, Additional Solicitor General Tushar Mehta ...





In bad form: Haryana should stop prying into personal data of schoolchildren and their parents
Economic Times (blog)
How can we target you best, leaving you with no shred of privacy? The Haryana government is still counting the ways. As if Aadhaar and the routine citizen data collection by a variety of state agencies weren't enough, now the education board has demanded more information from all schoolchildren in ...





Cashbacks & incentives: Govt to take cues from rivals to popularise BHIM
Economic Times
For this, the incentives for merchants for using BHIM-Aadhaar platform will be significantly increased to 0.5% of the transaction value upto Rs 10,000 against the earlier 0.25% of the transaction value of just Rs 2,000. The government admits that the offtake of the earlier scheme for merchants has been ...
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