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, April 19, 2018

13311 - e-Aadhaar can be used as a proof of identity - Live Mint


It also carries your name, date of birth, address and photograph, and 12-digit unique Aadhaar number

Last Published: Tue, Apr 17 2018. 08 06 PM IST

If you want to use your Aadhaar card as proof of identity or address, but have misplaced it or have simply forgotten to carry it, you can use e-Aadhaar instead. Just like your printed Aadhaar, popularly known as Aadhaar card, e-Aadhaar also carries your name, date of birth, address and photograph, along with the 12-digit unique Aadhaar number, and acts as a proof of identity, date of birth as well as address. 

When can you use e-Aadhaar?
It is possible that you misplace the copy of the printed Aadhaar, also called the Aadhaar letter, which you originally received from the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI). Or that your original printed Aadhaar had some errors, which you rectified online or at an enrolment centre but have not received an updated Aadhaar letter from UIDAI. 

In either case or even otherwise, you can download a copy of your Aadhaar from UIDAI’s website. It works like the Aadhaar letter that UIDAI sends, except that it also has the download date and Aadhaar generation date for the Aadhaar number printed on it. 

UIDAI had clarified in April last year that this downloaded Aadhaar or e-Aadhaar is a valid proof of identity. The Authority had issued this clarification in response to complaints that e-Aadhaar was not being accepted by various authorities. 

“An Aadhaar number, in physical or electronic form subject to authentication and other conditions, as may be specified by regulations, may be accepted as proof of identity of the Aadhaar number holder for any purpose,” states Section 4(3) of Aadhaar Act, 2016.

“It is informed that downloaded Aadhaar (e-Aadhaar) carries name, address, gender, photo and date of birth details of the Aadhaar holder in similar form as in printed Aadhaar letter. The downloaded Aadhaar also contains date of Aadhaar generation and date of Aadhaar download. The downloaded Aadhaar (e-Aadhaar) is a digitally signed document by UIDAI as per IT Act, 2000 which provides for legal recognition of electronic records with digital signatures,” the UIDAI circular states. 

The circular further clarified that e-Aadhaar is a valid and secure electronic document which should be treated same as a printed Aadhaar letter. “Ministries/Departments/State Governments/agencies accepting printed Aadhaar as proof of identity are hereby required to accept downloaded Aadhaar (e-Aadhaar) also as a proof of identity and not to discriminate it vis-a-vis printed Aadhaar,” the circular further stated. 

You can access the UIDAI circular here: bit.ly/2HGzmaT.

How to download  
The download Aadhaar option is available under the Aadhaar enrolment section of UIDAI website: eaadhaar.uidai. gov.in/. You have to enter your Aadhaar number or enrolment ID, name as with UIDAI, pincode of registered address and a security code. Like most other online Aadhaar services, this too requires access to your registered mobile number for OTP (one-time password). You can download your password-protected e-Aadhaar after entering the OTP. 

If you do not remember your Aadhaar number, you can still download it. For that, you will first have to retrieve your Aadhaar number by going to a link: resident.uidai.gov.in/find-uid-eid.

An OTP will be sent. Once you enter the OTP, your Aadhaar number will be sent to your email or mobile number. After that, follow the process mentioned above to download e-Aadhaar.

First Published: Tue, Apr 17 2018. 05 55 PM IST