AADHAAR RELATED ARTICLES: 13984 - Govt plans new route to ensure Aadhaar linking with bank account, mobile phone

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, December 20, 2018

13984 - Govt plans new route to ensure Aadhaar linking with bank account, mobile phone - Business Today

Govt plans new route to ensure Aadhaar linking with bank account, mobile phone

The government is likely to introduce amendments to the Telegraph Act and the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. If the amendments are introduced, people will have an option to choose Aadhaar as KYC verification for these services.

BusinessToday.In New Delhi Last Updated: December 17, 2018 | 14:59 IST

The government is likely to introduce amendments to the Telegraph Act and the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), making Aadhaar linking with a bank account or mobile phone voluntary. This would provide legal backing for the voluntary use of Aadhaar for these services, which will allow you to link Aadhaar with these services. The government also wants to bring in an amendment to legally recognise 'virtual token', which was introduced by the UIDAI (Unique Identification Authority of India) to stop the Aadhaar misuse. The proposal in this regard has been moved by the Electronic and IT Ministry.

If the amendments are introduced, people will have an option to choose Aadhaar as KYC verification for these two services.

The decision to introduce amendments to the Aadhaar Act was taken after thoroughly deliberating on the Supreme Court's September 26 verdict, a report published in the Economic Times said. While pronouncing the judgment on the constitutional validity of the Aadhaar, the five-judge bench, headed by CJI Dipak Misra, had struck down Section 57 of the Aadhaar Act on September 26. The section essentially allowed not only the state but also anybody corporate or person or private entity to demand Aadhaar.

This provision allowed statutory support to mobile companies, private service providers, banks, payments services to seek an individual's Aadhaar card for identification.

Also read: Aadhaar-Voter ID linking to be made mandatory? Election Commission mulls taking legal route

The SC order, however, had left room for the government to legally back specific services that it wants to link with Aadhaar. As per the report, the government didn't want to bring back Section 57 of the Act, which is why the amendments are now being introduced.

Both the Telegraph Act and the PMLA already allow the government to access services during a public emergency or in case of money laundering for terror activities. After the SC verdict, the government is also expected to bring in changes around the Aadhaar database and civil liabilities for its misuse, the report adds.

The government is also in the process of moving Data Protection Bill, recently submitted by Justice Srikrishna Commission, which would address the 'privacy' concern about the Aadhaar usage. The Justice Srikrishna panel on data protection had recommended sweeping changes to this framework to make data collectors liable for harm caused to an individual "as if the consent form were a product". Making consent the touchstone and "lawful basis" of processing personal data, the panel had suggested a revamp in the consent mechanism under the new data protection framework, asserting that consent has to be free, informed, specific, clear and capable of being withdrawn, for it to be valid.

Edited by Manoj Sharma

Watch video:

Govt plans new route to ensure Aadhaar linking with bank account, mobile phone