AADHAAR RELATED ARTICLES: 13693 - ID4Africa survey shows identity authorities want physical credentials for biometric systems

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, June 22, 2018

13693 - ID4Africa survey shows identity authorities want physical credentials for biometric systems - Biometric Update

ID4Africa survey shows identity authorities want physical credentials for biometric systems

This is the last of a four-part series summarizing the most important lessons from ID4Africa's 2018 survey.

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

Jun 14, 2018 | Chris Burt

CATEGORIES Biometrics News | Civil / National ID

Every year ID4Africa conducts an extensive survey of professionals at African identity authorities about topics such as their priorities and challenges, the technologies they use, and how successful they are. The results of the 2018 survey were presented on the third day of the conference in Abuja, Nigeria.

African identity authorities will choose physical credentials to use with biometric systems, rather than Aadhaar style purely digital and biometrics-based IDs, according to ID4Africa 2018 survey. Roughly 86 percent of those surveyed want physical credentials, and providing an affordable, secure ID card with a chip that can be used to access an identity database for various applications was selected as the top priority for 2018.

More than two-thirds of respondents want online identification for e-services, and 59 percent want their system to include mobile ID. While there are significant differences from country to country in priorities and preferences, there is broad consensus that African countries want identity documents to be dual or contact-readable, rather than contactless, which less than 10 percent selected. Likewise, nearly 80 percent want identity documents to be printed in color.

The top uses cases for identity in Africa are financial inclusion, democracy and travel. More than 98 percent of those surveyed said biometrics are needed for elections. In countries where the survey was taken in English, identity is also generally needed more to receive government aid and services than in countries where it was taken in French.

When asked what elements of identity management are most important to them, anglophone respondents answered verification, whereas enrollment is the highest priority for francophones in Africa. Francophones are also more likely to prioritize validation of data, which ID4Africa Executive Chairman Dr. Joseph Atick notes is consistent with the further need for enrollment, and suggests that some francophone countries in Africa are lagging behind their anglophone counterparts in the process of establishing identity systems. Harmonization of systems was in the top five identity management priorities for both anglophone and francophone respondents.

The top development priority for African identity authorities is capacity building, according to the survey, followed by knowledge exchange, technical manuals, and technical assistance, ahead of financing assistance. ID4Africa published an Almanac for the first time in 2018 to address the demand for knowledge and technical manuals, and the post-event feedback indicated a commonly held desire for more to printed for 2019, so that each identity authority delegate can return with a copy for a co-worker, Atick says.

The survey also includes insights into a range of other issues, such as e-voting, ownership of identity data, and sectoral interest in using biometrics. How well the identity authorities surveyed, as well as development agencies and industry stakeholders respond to the realities of the identity ecosystem in Africa will go a long way toward determining the success of United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 16.9.