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Times of India
NEW DELHI: Leading telecom companies are using Aadhaar-based eKYC for issuing mobile SIM cards almost a month after the Supreme Court ...
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Economic Times
The telecom department has barred telcos from Aadhaar-based digital authentication in line with a Supreme Court order, dealing a big blow to the ...
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Economic Times
NEW DELHI: Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) chairman, R S Sharma rebuked debates around theft of identity due to Aadhaar while ...
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Economic Times
I was educated on locking and unlocking the biometrics of Aadhaar. When I stepped in to a mobile store few months ago to get a prepaid card for my ...
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findBIOMETRICS
“…with this latest certification from the UIDAI, which administrates Aadhaar, NEXT's fingerprint sensors can be used with modules and readers in the ...
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THE WEEK
The Haryana Police managed to reunite a five-year-old girl, who was missing for over three months, with her family in Panchkula using her Aadhaar ...
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Times of India
Sources said the recent scam across the state was the first instance of unauthorised Aadhaar cards being used to pilfer ration from the accounts of ...
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Biometric Update
Android devices are currently used extensively throughout India for Aadhaar transactions. Registered devices have unique identifiers so that each ...
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NewsBytes
The Supreme Court, on September 26, struck down some provisions relating to the authentication of Aadhaar, and the Section 57 of Aadhaar Act.
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Times of India (blog)
massive fire has broken out in multiple electronic shops in Vasundhara Market at Station Malgodam Road: ANI. 11:08 PM (IST) ...
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DATAQUEST
Though data sharing APIs are widely adopted in Europe and the U.K., India started its journey through key initiatives such as Aadhaar, e-KYC, e-Sign, ...
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Devdiscourse
Govt directs telcos to report compliance of order barring use of Aadhaar authentication for issuing phone connections ...
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Devdiscourse
Devdiscourse News Desk new delhi Last Updated at 26-10-2018 21:08:49 IST India. UIDAI allows use of physical Aadhaar card for issue of new ...
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MediaNama.com
In the SC upheld the constitutional validity of Aadhaar, though it struck down Section 57 of the Aadhaar Act, which enabled private entities (like Yes ...
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Rising Kashmir
The meeting discussed threadbare various issues relating to Aadhaar Linkage, census of households and shops, profile of blocks, role of financial ...
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Free Press Journal
Following the seizure, a case of fake Aadhaar cards and human trafficking have also come to light where 2 minor girls were accompanied by the ...
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The Hindu
Party city president Malla Vijay Prasad said that the TDP went back on its promise of implementing reimbursement for BCs without the Aadhaar ...
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The Hindu
They discussed the progress of various schemes like — implementation of Direct Benefit Transfer scheme, collection of Aadhaar and bank details for ...
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Deccan Herald
After Aadhaar, The DNA Technology (Use and Application) Regulation Bill, 2018, has re-ignited fears regarding data privacy and potential abuse by ...
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Zee Business
Are you a National Pension System (NPS) subscriber? Here's good news for you. Now, you can track details of your account and investment on your ...
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The New Indian Express
When asked about the Aadhaar verdict and the new data privacy law, she said regulation was evolving in the country and will take its own time.
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Swarajya
A recent case pertains to the Aadhaar judgment, which restricted the use of Aadhaar by private companies, thus dealing a blow to the entire FinTech ...
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Why this Blog ? News articles in the Wide World of Web, quite often disappear with time, when they are relocated as archives with a different url. Archives in this blog serve as a library for those who are interested in doing Research on Aadhaar Related Topics. Articles are published with details of original publication date and the url.
Thursday, November 22, 2018
13940 - Aadhaar Articles Dated 27th October 2018
R.K
13939 - Aadhaar Articles dated 25th October 2018
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Economic Times
Mutual fund advisors offering direct plans on their online platforms do not believe that curbing Aadhaar based e-KYC would hit their business in a big ...
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Economic Times
MUMBAI: Private sector leader Kotak Mahindra Bank Wednesday said it has stopped new account openings under a popular route that relied on a ...
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The Tribune
Farmers reaching the Ambala Cantonment Grain Market to sell their paddy stock have been asked to submit their Aadhaar card numbers with the ...
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Planet Biometrics
Android devices, such as Android-based point-of-sale (POS) terminals, are currently used extensively throughout India for Aadhaar transactions.
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OpIndia
The Aam Aadmi Party-led Delhi government had sought the Voter ID and Aadhaar details of all the 87 lakh students in Delhi's schools along with ...
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The Quint
A glaring attempt by the central government to turn the tables in its favour in the prolonged Aadhaar debate was its order ensuring mandatory linking of ...
Four men held outside house of Alok Verma, who was stripped of charge as CBI chief - Hindustan Times
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Moneycontrol.com
The insurance regulator had said that individuals can either use PAN or Aadhaar card as KYC for opening a digital insurance account. With the ...
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Moneycontrol.com
On September 26, the Supreme Court had struck down Section 57 of the Aadhaar Act, barring private companies to insist on Aadhaar details of ...
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Gadgets Now
Earlier KYC process mandatorily required Aadhaar and PAN details. However, the Supreme Court in its recent landmark judgement on use of ...
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Daily News & Analysis
That was not immediately available, so we checked if Aadhaar card would do, but the agent refused, saying that would not help him trace the person, ...
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The Quint
He is a reputed lawyer with a clutch of high-profile civil and constitutional cases on his resume – from the Aadhaar privacy case to being secretary to ...
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Times of India
The collaboration will also lead to integration of RuPay-Network for Electronic Transfers (NETS), UPI-FAST payment link, Aadhaar Stack and e-KYC in ...
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Morung Express
He also asked the bank to at least open account for 1000 account and assured that the District Administration will see to it that the Aadhaar machine is ...
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Times of India
Police seized nine laptops, four mobile phones, one Apple iPad, Aadhaar card, PAN card, hard disk, 128 Saudi Arabian riyals and three gold rings, ...
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The Indian Express
The candidates should have all the required details like class 10 certificate, Aadhaar card while filling up the online form. On submission of details, ...
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The Hindu
... 3 to educate them against indulging in unlawful practices for obtaining official documents like EPIC, Aadhaar and PAN cards and driving licence.
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League Of India
The joint statement clarifies that the Hon'ble Supreme Court in its judgement in Aadhaar case has nowhere directed that the mobile number which has ...
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R.K
13938 - Aadhaar Articles Dated 24th October 2018
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Economic Times
The view is that if mobile phone companies are allowed to offer Aadhaar-based verification as a voluntary option to customers, then they do not need ...
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Inc42 Media
Telcos have suggested to approach Supreme Court for making Aadhaar use in e-KYC process voluntary. The companies had said that with this, they ...
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Moneycontrol.com
The EPFO is yet to put out a formal notice withdrawing its earlier order of mandatory linking of PF accounts with Aadhaar. This comes a month after the ...
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Moneylife
With the five-judge Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court terming Section 57 of the Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and Other Subsidies, ...
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Hindustan Times
There is uncertainty over whether telcos will delete all biometric data and Aadhaar details of subscribers following the Supreme Court's September 26 ...
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Moneylife
The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) claims that it had enrolled over a billion residents for its Aadhaar number scheme. If you have an ...
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Times of India
Visakhapatnam: India's Aadhaar model is going to be adopted by other countries, especially in the United Kingdom and the United States of America, ..
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The Hindu BusinessLine
The Election Commission's reported move to get voters to link their Aadhaar number to the electoral identity card is uncalled for. It can even become ...
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Moneylife
Earlier in August, after the challenge from RS Sharma, chairman of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) to harm him through his Aadhaar ...
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Moneycontrol.com
The Aadhaar Effect, written by NS Ramnath and Charles Assisi, almost personifies the Aadhaar — if it were to tell its own story from birth to a ...
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Daily News & Analysis
Though the government-owned PF firm has not yet put out a notice on withdrawal of its orders on the mandatory linking of PF accounts with Aadhaar.
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thenortheasttoday.com
TNT News | Oct 24, 2018: During the past couple of months, fresh reports on linking of aadhaar with various schemes and mobile numbers and the ...
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India Legal
It circulated a form seeking various details, including Aadhaar card and other documents and singled out Kashmiri students for the exercise.
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Tech Observer
Under tremendous pressure from Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), Gemalto has backtracked from its finding of 1.2 billion Aadhaar data ...
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Economic Times
Earlier KYC process mandatorily required Aadhaar and PAN details. ... Queries as to how the e-commerce companies were asking for Aadhaar post ...
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Hindustan Times
Some cardholders could not authenticate themselves at the Aadhaar based ... else's bank account linked to their Aadhaar without their knowledge.
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Livemint
Besides, the drive to link all PF accounts with Aadhaar needs a relook after the Supreme Court last month ruled that the biometric ID can be mandatory ...
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Livemint
Aadhaar, which was used by fintech companies to fulfil know-your-customer (KYC) norms, can no longer be used by private companies. As fintech ...
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The Hindu BusinessLine
On the issue of aadhaar linkage, speakers said though the recent Supreme Court judgment had made it clear that aadhaar linkage is not mandatory ...
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Careers360 (press release) (blog)
As per the directives of the Supreme Court of India on September 26, the Aadhaar card is not mandatory to apply for NEET UG. The notification by NTA ...
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The Hindu
The Supreme Court today declared the Centre's flagship Aadhaar scheme as constitutionally valid but struck down some of its provisions including its ...
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Gadgets Now
When someone calls this number, the person asks for ATM card, PAN card, Aadhaar card details for 'processing' PF withdrawal/ updation, KYC and ...
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Livemint
A five-member Constitution bench of the Supreme Court on 26 September barred private companies from accessing Aadhaar details of consumers, ...
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Trak.in (blog)
After the Supreme Court ordered that all private companies must stop using Aadhaar as KYC tool, things have changed. Rumors of 'inconvenience' ...
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E&T Magazine
To date, approximately 121 crore (1.21 billion) individuals have been issued an Aadhaar card based on biometrics de-duplication. “Biometrics is the ...
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R.K
13937 - Aadhaar Articles Dated 22nd October 2018
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NEWS
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Times of India
TIRUPUR: Two men from Bihar, who were arrested here recently for producing Aadhaar cards for illegal migrant labourers, had worked in the Aadhaar ...
Aadhaar racket: 2 accused involved in enrolment project, had access to govt's registration platform - NYOOOZ
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The New Indian Express
While retail outlets of TSPs in cities are giving an option of activating sim cards through other identity proofs, in villages, Aadhaar continues to be the ...
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The New Indian Express
Aadhaar had a narrow escape from being gutted to the dustbin of history. In a majority verdict, the Supreme Court found it to be an effective instrument ...
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Times of India
Nagpur: Following last month's Supreme Court ruling, Nagpur University (NU) has made Aadhaar linking optional for 1.33 lakh students from the ...
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EO India (blog)
In the wake of Supreme Court's verdict on Aadhaar in September 2018, the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has told banks to continue ...
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CPO Magazine
In part the problem with the Aadhaar digital ID initiative was in its ambitious scope – the ID would have touched almost every aspect of the day-to-day ...
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Free Press Journal
Upon entering the correct Aadhaar number, you will be provided with a PMAY application form. Fill it with accurate personal, contact, bank account, ...
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Mumbai Mirror
They also want that the bookings should be made only from the Aadhaar-verified numbers of the customers and a check on hiring of new cabs by the ...
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Times of India
... for digital players to operate in the wake of the Supreme Court (SC) order denying Aadhaar-based authentication for onboarding customers.
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Times of India
Usually these cash bags contain driving licence, Aadhaar card or any other documents which give us some details. I could only find an examination ...
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AglaSem News
Valid and non expired photo IDs that are aceptable are PAN card, driving license, voter ID, passport, aadhaar card with photograph, Aadhaar ...
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The Hindu
The Aadhaar card produced by the woman showed her age as 46 and a 1000-strong mob assembled there to block her entry to the Nadappanthal ...
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News Today
The Post Master said on fifth day (13 October), there was a free Aadhaar enrolment camp that happened from 8 am to 5 pm,” she said. Amudha said ...
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R.K
13936 - Aadhaar Articles Dated 17th October 2018
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Economic Times
“Since your organisation can no longer use Aadhaar-based authentication services… you may cease all operations with respect to Aadhaar-based ...
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The News Minute
The worst fears expressed after the Supreme Court delivered its Aadhar judgement was on the use of Aadhaar for KYC verification by the mobile ...
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Moneycontrol.com
1.2 billion data Aadhaar records were compromised in the first half of 2018, according to Breach Level Index, a global database of public data ...
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Times of India
TIRUPUR: A special police team from Tirupur has detained a 26-year-old man from Bihar for allegedly producing fake Aadhaar cards for illegal ...
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Hindustan Times
The New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) opened its first “common service kiosk” at Minto Road where it said residents can apply for facilities such as ...
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The Shillong Times
SHILLONG: The Meghalaya Peoples' Committee on Aadhaar asserted that the Government should put on hold Aadhaar enrolment and requirement of ...
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The Indian Express
This requires updating Aadhaar. It doesn't happen in a single attempt. We have to travel several times to get the details updated. Even a simple thing ...
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India TV
At this kiosk, the residents can apply for facilities such as passport, Aadhaar card, air and railway tickets. Kiosk is a part of NDMC's smart city project ...
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Times of India
They are also seeking Aadhaar details, leading to fears among many ... SC in its September 26 order had struck down the provision in the Aadhaar ...
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Times of India
They are also seeking Aadhaar details, leading to fears among many Kashmiri students that the police is singling them out. Many are also asking if this ...
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Times of India
The biggest blow was the government denying them access to the Aadhaar database, which enabled remote customer acquisition and authentication.
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The Indian Express
... be eligible to play as local players on submission of their respective parent's transfer order and the Aadhaar card of the player with the new address.
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PaymentsSource
Payments companies asked to stop Aadhaar-based services ... companies asking them to stop offering any Aadhaar-based service on their platform, ...
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Business Standard
Police is learnt to have sought information, including Aadhaar number, contact details and latest photograph, about students from other states studying ...
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Hindustan Times
The members said that the water supply should take into account the city's increased population as per the Aadhaar data available with Unique ...
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The Hindu
At least one woman Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) official was caught on camera showing her Aadhaar Card to the protestors to prove her age ...
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The Tribune
Those who are in the possession of the land had produced copies of the electricity bill, telephone connection, Aadhaar card, voter ID card, water ...
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Devdiscourse
Police are learnt to have sought information, including Aadhaar number, contact details and latest photograph, about students from other states ...
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R.K
13935 - Did SC Re-Affirm that Aadhaar Database Could Be Used for Criminal Investigations? - The Wire
Did SC Re-Affirm that Aadhaar Database Could Be Used for Criminal Investigations?
There will likely be more pressure on the UIDAI to co-operate with investigative agencies.
Theoretically, if the police find fingerprints at a crime scene, they could run those through the Aadhaar database, matching them against the entire database of citizens in the hope of identifying the culprit. Credit: Reuters/Illustration by The Wire
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interactions
16/OCT/2018
The opposition against Aadhaar for the last few years has been primarily based on concerns of surveillance, with the concerns regarding exclusion getting little media space. The surveillance potential of Aadhaar was first flagged by Usha Ramanathan around eight years ago in an article published by the Economic & Political Weekly when few others were giving the UID project a hard look.
In that article, which was the first warning shot fired against Aadhaar, Ramanathan warned that the creation of a unique identifier like Aadhaar would eventually lead to the convergence of different databases that were otherwise maintained in separate silos, thereby giving the Indian state an unprecedented capacity to monitor the lives of its citizens and their activities.
The proponents of Aadhaar, have rejected this portrayal of Aadhaar and have pointed out that Aadhaar’s architecture allows it to collect only very limited information. For example, if an Aadhaar authentication is carried out by a bank to open an account or by a telecom service provider, the Aadhaar centralised database will only collect information regarding the entity which has requested the authentication but will not know the purpose of the authentication, i.e. the details of the transaction at the bank or the telecom service provider.
Also read: Aadhaar Verdict: Does the Mere Collection of Biometrics Violate Bodily Integrity and Privacy?
If an investigation agency wants to collect evidence related to the transactions conducted by the account holder, it will still have to seek a court order under The Bankers’ Books Evidence Act, 1891. The concerns about convergence may thus be overblown because each silo of information is usually governed by an in-built privacy regime.
The second concern with relation to Aadhaar’s surveillance potential was the possibility of its database of a billion biometrics being used for the purposes of criminal investigation. Since Aadhaar is designed in a manner to carry out de-duplication of each set of biometrics, the system can match the fingerprints of one individual against all 1 billion biometrics to check if the person has already been allotted an Aadhaar number. Its ability to carry out de-duplication goes to the heart of the UIDAI’s claim that Aadhaar is unique.
Theoretically, this means that if the police find fingerprints at a crime scene they could run those through the Aadhaar database, matching them against the entire database of citizens in the hope of identifying the culprit.
In fact, there is an actual instance of the Bombay high court directing the UIDAI to match fingerprints, collected by the CBI in a rape case, against its own database. The SC stayed the Bombay high court’s order in 2014 after it was approached by the UIDAI on the grounds that its database was not meant to be used for criminal investigations. Since that stay order of the SC, high-ranking officials such as the chief of the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) have made public comments about using the Aadhaar database for the purpose of criminal investigation. The UIDAI has repeatedly rejected such demands. The fear is that such power in the hands of the police is susceptible to misuse.
Section 33 of the Aadhaar Act, 2016
The main provision of the Aadhaar Act, 2016 meant to curb the state’s potential to conduct surveillance is Section 33 which regulates the manner in which the identity information or the authentication information contained in the Aadhaar database can be shared by the UIDAI. This provision, whose constitutionality was challenged before the Supreme Court, has two parts.
The first part of the provision, S. 33(1), allows the sharing of identity information and authentication information pursuant to the orders made by a district judge. At no point, can a district judge order the sharing of core biometric information i.e. fingerprints or iris scans. The provision isn’t quite clear whether a district judge can order the UIDAI to run fingerprints, provided by an investigating agency, through its database to locate a possible suspect. Technically the UIDAI can conduct the exercise and share the identity information without sharing the biometric information. An additional issue with the wording of this provision is that it gives no guidance to a district judge as to the scenarios in which a request for accessing identity or authentication information may be accepted or denied.
The second part of the provision, S. 33(2), allows for the sharing of identity information, core biometric information and authentication information, for the purposes of national security pursuant to the orders of a joint secretary to the government of India, whose orders will subject to post-facto review by an oversight committee consisting of the Cabinet Secretary and two other secretaries.
The constitutional challenge against Section 33
The challenge against Section 33 was three-fold.
The first ground of challenge was that the provision violated Article 20(3) which is the fundamental right against self-incrimination i.e. no person can be made to stand witness against oneself when accused of a crime. This was a weak argument because an earlier decision of the Supreme Court in 1962 has ruled that the collection of fingerprints and handwriting samples is only the collection of evidence and that it does not amount to giving testimony against one self and is thus not self-incrimination.
The second ground of challenge, was that ‘national security’ was a vague phrase and that the oversight committee was not independent enough. ‘National security’ is generally seen as a policy issue which is within the realm of the executive and courts rarely interfere with such clauses.
The third ground of challenge was that the oversight committee was not independent enough. There is really no constitutional principle requiring the oversight committee to be independent. As for the composition of the Oversight Committee it should be remembered that it adopts a formula laid down by the Supreme Court in the mid-nineties, in PUCL v. Union of India, where the court ordered the government to setup a review mechanism to monitor phone tapping.
The majority opinion
The majority opinion by Justice Sikri is quite disappointing because of its weak analysis. His honour makes no attempt to engage with the arguments in relation to self-incrimination, instead preferring to dispose the issue by stating that the district judge may consider the issue of Article 20(3) at the time of deciding applications for allowing access to the identity information or authentication information. The only concession made by the judgment is that the person whose information is being sought is required to be given a hearing along with the UIDAI prior to a decision being made by the district judge. But how exactly does this work when an investigating agency wants to run the fingerprints of an unknown person against the Aadhaar database in the hope of tracing an accused or perhaps trace the identity of a John Doe? The judgment is silent on the issue.
On the issue of Section 33(2) and ‘national security’, Justice Sikri refers to relevant precedent to declare that ‘national security’ is a not a question of law but a matter of policy and held that the state could access information held by the UIDAI in the interests of national security. However, with the regard to the person who can order access to be provided in the interest of national security, Justice Sikri declares, at page 424, that joint secretary is too junior a rank and that the power should be granted to a higher ranking official. On this basis he strikes down Section 33(2) of the Aadhaar Act. His honour does not even attempt to explain the legal basis of such a conclusion.
By the time Justice Sikri arrives at the conclusion of his judgment at page 559, where he summarises his holdings, he states that a judicial officer should be associated with process of passing an order to access information.
He states in relevant part:
“However, for determination of such an eventuality, an officer higher than the rank of a Joint Secretary should be given such a power. Further, in order to avoid any possible misuse, a Judicial Officer (preferably a sitting High Court Judge) should also be associated with. We may point out that such provisions of application of judicial mind for arriving at the conclusion that disclosure of information is in the interest of national security, are prevalent in some jurisdictions.”
Like much of this judgment, there is simply no legal reasoning to back this conclusion or engage with the court’s own precedents. The Supreme Court in the PUCL case had rejected a request for phone tapping to be authorised only on the basis of warrants issued by judges rather than bureaucrats.
If Justice Sikri is diverging from this viewpoint, as appears to be the case, it is only reasonable to expect reasons for this conclusion. More puzzling is the formulation that he suggests. What exactly does his honour mean when he states that a judicial mind should be associated with the process of passing such an order? Does it mean that a judge should be sitting with a bureaucrat to pass an order? This would be an extraordinary setup because there is simply no precedent for such an arrangement.
The concurring opinion
The concurring opinion by Justice Bhushan upholds Section 33 without making any recommendations on the lines made by Justice Sikri. Unlike the majority opinion, Justice Bhushan’s conclusions are backed by cogent reasoning and precedent.
On the issue of whether Aadhaar violates the right against self-incrimination under Article 20(3), he refers to the precedent of the Supreme Court from 1962, in the case of State of Bombay v. Kathi Kalu Oghad, where the Court drew a distinction between collection of evidence and standing witness against oneself, noting that collection of biometrics fell within the former, which is not the same as self-incrimination.
On the issue of ‘national security’, Justice Bhushan found in favour of the government because of the precedent that has declared national security to be a policy issue that can be determined by the government and not the judiciary.
In addition, Justice Bhushan also referred to a number of Indian and international judgments where it was held that national security was a valid ground to access personal information.
The dissent
The dissent by Justice Chandrachud does not really analyse the arguments regarding Section 33, and understandably so, because he concludes that the entire Aadhaar project violates the fundamental right to privacy when tested on the proportionality touchstone.
Once he concludes that the Aadhaar project itself is unconstitutional, there is little to be gained by analysing Section 33.
More pressure
As things stand now, Section 33(1) is constitutional, and it is constitutional to use the Aadhaar database for criminal investigation. Neither the majority nor the concurring opinion prohibits such usage.
In fact, the concurring opinion is quite lucid on this point when it concludes as follows:
“Section 33 cannot be said to be unconstitutional as it provides for the use of Aadhaar data base for police investigation nor it can be said to violate protection granted under Article 20(3).”
The implications of this conclusion are significant because there will now be more pressure on the UIDAI to co-operate with investigative agencies.
While Section 33(2) has been struck down as unconstitutional, the formulation specified by Justice Sikri is so bizarre that it is not possible to implement. It is now up to the government to recommend a new formulation of Section 33(2).
Prashant Reddy T. is an assistant professor at NALSAR University of Law, Hyderabad.
R.K