AADHAAR RELATED ARTICLES: 13549 - Data breach is shameful, very dangerous, says Swara Bhasker

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, May 20, 2018

13549 - Data breach is shameful, very dangerous, says Swara Bhasker - India Today

Data breach is shameful, very dangerous, says Swara Bhasker

Vidya S.
May 15, 2018
UPDATED 16:17 IST

HIGHLIGHTS

In India too, the data leak had its impact with Facebook
Close to 5.2 lakh Indians were "potentially affected"
There was an outrage that ensued #DeleteFacebook witnessed in US

Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg arrives to testify before the US Congress over data leak.

It may well be a tale of two democracies in the era of social media. Earlier this year, when scandal rocked Facebook in the form of Cambridge Analytica, hundreds of users in the US quit the social media platform accusing it of parting away personal information to a political consulting firm without their consent.

In India too, the data leak had its impact with Facebook admitting that close to 5.2 lakh Indians were "potentially affected" by the breach. While perfunctory verbal outrage ensued, there was no hashtag #DeleteFacebook campaign in India on a scale that witnessed the US, with many users dismissing privacy woes over obvious benefits such as reach, popularity and influence.

MAIL TODAY spoke to a section of social media enthusiasts and celebrities to find out what data privacy means to them.

"Privacy as a concept is still new to Indians. It's relatively a rich man's problem," says Deepak Manohar, a 33-year-old advertising professional. "It has gained some prominence with Aadhaar. But if you tell people that their data can be accessed any time, most of them would say, 'so what?'".

With 240 million users on Facebook, 10 million on Twitter (Twitter too had admitted, recently that it sold data to the same Cambridge researcher who improperly harvested private information from Facebook profiles.) and around 40 million on Instagram, India has one of the largest user bases for social media in the world.

Actor Swara Bhasker while expressing concern over the data scandal said that she has been contemplating to quit social media for a long time.

"Data breach is shameful and very dangerous. This is also my problem with Aadhaar," she says adding that as users we are trusting entities with zero accountability with all manner of personal and precious information. But then what prevents her from quitting? The fact that it helps her connect with her audience, hear their opinions and build across-mediaa reach, identity and brand.

The popularity of social media has also spawned career options for many. Prajakta Koli, a 24-year-old YouTube sensation who makes short videos on everyday problems, says, "Social media is one of the best mediums to connect to your audience directly." Gurpreet Singh's firm One Digital Entertainment helps artiste build a strong digital presence. His clientele includes the likes of rapper Badshah and singer Armaan Malik. Singh says some of his clients have sought advice about the safety of personal data after the Facebook scandal.

"But nobody has said they want to quit social media completely for these reasons."

Interestingly, even people who have abstained from social media, say that privacy concerns are not going to be a deterrent if they decide to get back on social networking sites. Indian's by nature, voluntarily give away so much information online, says 25-year-old Aishwarya, a tax consultant in Delhi who decided to quit social media several years ago after realising that it is a waste of time. "I am quite happy now," she says.

To compound things, India doesn't have a strong cyber security law. A committee has now been set up under former Supreme Court Justice BN Srikrishna to recommend a framework on data privacy laws.