AADHAAR RELATED ARTICLES: 13789 - Law on privacy, data protection should apply to everyone, says Nandan Nilekani

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, July 27, 2018

13789 - Law on privacy, data protection should apply to everyone, says Nandan Nilekani - Live Mint

Law on privacy, data protection should apply to everyone, says Nandan Nilekani

Nandan Nilekani emphasized the need to address key issues, including data collection, consent and the need for accountability in cases of misuse of data

Last Published: Wed, Jul 25 2018. 09 45 AM IST

Anirban Sen

Nandan Nilekani said Aadhaar ushered in a modern data privacy regime in India. Photo: Mint

Bengaluru: Concerns over online data and user privacy have been growing and a government-appointed committee, led by justice B.N. Srikrishna, is preparing a data protection framework for India. Ahead of the submission of the panel’s report, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India has released a set of recommendations on data privacy that favour giving users control of their data and personal information.

In an interview on Tuesday, Nandan Nilekani, a former Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) chairman and architect of the biometric-based Aadhaar identification number, emphasized the need for the committee to address key issues, including data collection, consent and the need for accountability in cases of misuse of data. “The Srikrishna committee report... will lay out the framework for data collection, what is the responsibility of the people who collect data, how do they take consent, what is the accountability of these organizations if they misuse the data, and so on and so forth,” said Nilekani, who is also chairman of Infosys Ltd.

Nilekani also spoke about how India’s data empowerment policies are far more progressive than those of other countries such as the US and China, the need for a broader law for both government and private agencies, and whether Aadhaar should be part of the new data privacy framework.

Edited excerpts:

Should the new data privacy law apply to both government and private agencies?

I think there should be a broader law on data protection and privacy, which applies to everyone. That’s my view.

Should that include Aadhaar?

Aadhaar will definitely be a part of this. I am sure if something needs to be modified in the Aadhaar law, it will be done. The fact is that we have to thank Aadhaar for bringing in a modern data privacy regime in India. Eight years ago, in May 2010, I wrote to the prime minister, saying that we should have a data privacy law. And I’m glad that eight years later, it looks like it’s going to come. I think the fundamental right to privacy has laid down a very brilliant conceptual framework—the argument is that there is a fundamental right to privacy, but the state in the pursuit of certain social and national objectives, can circumscribe it... I think Aadhaar fits squarely in that matrix (fundamental right to privacy).

You say that Aadhaar has facilitated a data privacy regime, but there has been considerable debate on that point, especially on whether it has been misused.

The fact of the matter is that if you go back and see the history of data privacy in India... in some sense, it began with my letter in May 2010. And then as you know, the department of personnel and training took up the matter of drafting a privacy law. Then there was the A.P. Shah committee, Ashok Pal Singh of UIDAI was a member of that committee. So, we have been involved in this thing for a long time. Then, the Aadhaar case led to the government saying that there was no fundamental right to privacy, which went to the Supreme Court (SC) nine-judge bench. That bench happened because there was an Aadhaar case. The arguments on Aadhaar led to the impetus to first of all define privacy as a fundamental right, and under what conditions privacy can be circumscribed. The Aadhaar bill was passed by the government, and then the SC upheld the decision of mandatory linkage of PAN cards with Aadhaar. Now, we’ll have two important things—the draft law from the Srikrishna committee and the SC judgement. All of this will happen in the next two months. All this wouldn’t have happened, but for Aadhaar.

How can Aadhaar be regulated to stop misuse?

I think Aadhaar has very strong privacy protection. It’s designed for privacy. It’s not a data collection mechanism. It’s an ID verification mechanism. The database is federated, the data is there in different databases... Now, with additional safeguards that have come with virtual ID, tokenization and face authentication, I think it’s really designed for privacy.

What are your expectations from the Srikrishna committee report?

There are two things: fundamental right to privacy and data protection law. The Srikrishna committee report will lay out the framework for data collection, the responsibilities of the people who collect data, how do they take consent, what is the accountability of these organizations if they misuse the data, and so on and so forth. To me, the real story is about the data empowerment that is happening in India.

First Published: Wed, Jul 25 2018. 09 44 AM IST