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

Showing posts with label Linking Bank Accounts. Show all posts

Friday, April 13, 2018

13269 - Govt to SC: Aadhaar in bank account, PAN to help check laundering - Indian Express

Govt to SC: Aadhaar in bank account, PAN to help check laundering

Appearing for UIDAI, Additional Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told a five-judge Constitution bench of Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra that requiring people to link Aadhaar to various services does not mean that the “entire population is guilty”.

By: Express News Service | New Delhi | Published: April 12, 2018 5:45:47 am

The senior advocate said that putting Aadhaar to use had helped save Rs 33,000 crore, which was not being taxed earlier.

Seeding Aadhaar with PAN and bank accounts and other facilities would help authorities in effectively dealing with the global threat of money laundering, Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) told the Supreme Court on Wednesday.

Stating that there is “no presumption of guilt”, Mehta said, “When you are applying a particular methodology to weed out people accused of financial crimes, etc in public interest, there is neither a presumption of guilt nor criminality on everybody.”

The ASG was countering arguments by the petitioners that insisting Aadhaar from everyone for everything makes people feel that all of them were doubted by the government.

The bench also comprises Justices A K Sikri, A M Khanwilkar, D Y Chandrachud and Ashok Bhushan.

Justice Chandrachud pointed out that the level of intrusion would vary from case to case and there cannot be any uniform threshold level for all instances.

Mehta replied this is “only an administrative measure”, and that “wherever there is a statutorily permitted intrusion, there is no presumption of guilt”. He added, “There is no stigma that the entire population will be treated as tax evaders” or money launderers.

The senior advocate said that putting Aadhaar to use had helped save Rs 33,000 crore, which was not being taxed earlier.

Mehta also said that banks are now mandated to verify identity of customers, and the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) has become stringent since 2013. Justifying the seeding, he said, “It is meant to achieve a proper purpose like preventing money laundering…”

For all the latest India News, download Indian Express App

Thursday, December 21, 2017

12528 - UIDAI tightens norms for Aadhaar-bank account linking - The Hindu

UIDAI tightens norms for Aadhaar-bank account linking

Vikas Dhoot

DECEMBER 19, 2017 20:10 IST

According to the latest rules, ‘explicitly informed consent’ from customers has been made compulsory.

Following the Airtel India-Aadhaar subsidy fiasco, the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) on Tuesday has tightened the norms for mapping Aadhaar number to a different bank account.

According to the latest rules, ‘explicitly informed consent’ from customers has been made compulsory.

The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) will disable the override feature that UIDAI said was being misused by many banks while seeding Aadhaar to accounts without informed consent of residents.

As a result subsidy from the government was being credited to new accounts without their knowledge

The UIDAI further said that there have been complaints pertaining to customer verification. “When an Aadhaar holder visits the telecom service provider for verifying his mobile number, as per Supreme Court's Feb 6, 2017 order, the telecom firm is opening the customer’s payment bank account and puts that bank account on NPCI's Aadhaar Payment Bridge, overriding the existing bank account. The mapping was done without the informed consent of the Aadhaar holder, UIDAI said.

Similar problem was being faced when Aadhaar holders verified their bank accounts to comply with Prevention of Money Laundering rules (the last date for which is now March 31, 2018).

People, particularly in rural and remote areas, were being put to inconvenience as they were clueless about receipt of subsidy and also unable to withdraw the subsidy amount credited in payment bank accounts as payment banks are not having branches or cash out points in sufficient number in these areas, the UIDAI said.

The UIDAI has notified changes to its rules to avoid further inconvenience to Aadhaar holders and to ensure that the Aadhaar collected for a purpose is not used for any other purpose without informed consent of the Aadhaar holders.

Sunday, November 12, 2017

12359 - TMC MLA’s plea against linking Aadhaar with bank accounts rejected - The Hindu

TMC MLA’s plea against linking Aadhaar with bank accounts rejected

PTI

NEW DELHI, NOVEMBER 10, 2017 12:56 IST

A Supreme Court Bench asked Mahua Moitra to file an impleadment application instead.

The Supreme Court on Friday refused to entertain a plea filed by a Trinamool Congress MLA challenging the linking of bank accounts with Aadhaar saying it cannot entertain thousands of pleas raising similar issue.

“Why should we entertain thousands of petitions on the same issue? These issues have already been raised in other petitions. We will permit you to raise these issues through impleadment application before the Constitution Bench,” a Bench comprising Justices A K Sikri and Ashok Bhushan said.

The Bench, however, permitted TMC MLA Mahua Moitra to file an application for impleadment as a party in the pending matters which are scheduled to come up before a Constitution Bench in the last week of this month.

Advocate Zoheb Hossain, representing the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), told the Bench that 27 petitions related to Aadhaar are already pending consideration before the apex court.

When Mr. Moitra’s counsel requested the Bench to hear the matter, Justice Sikri observed, “I think each and every aspect of Aadhaar has already been challenged in court.”

“Since so many petitions are pending consideration before the court, it may not be appropriate to entertain this PIL,” the Bench said.

The apex court had on November 3 made it clear that banks and telecom service providers will have to indicate the last date of linking bank accounts and mobile numbers with Aadhaar in their communications with customers.

Currently, the last date to link Aadhaar with bank accounts is December 31 this year while for mobile numbers, it is February 6, 2018.

However, the top court did not pass any interim order on the pleas challenging the constitutional validity of the Aadhaar Act as well as linking of 12-digit unique biometric identification number with bank accounts and mobile numbers.

Earlier, the court had issued notice to the Centre on four separate pleas and tagged them with the main petition which would come up for final hearing before a constitution bench.

On October 30, a Bench headed by the CJI had said that a Constitution Bench would be constituted and Aadhaar-related matters would come up for hearing before it in November last.

Thursday, November 9, 2017

12347 - Linking Aadhaar Card With Bank Account: UIDAI Answers Your Queries - NDTV

Linking Aadhaar Card With Bank Account: UIDAI Answers Your Queries

The government has made quoting of the biometric identity number - Aadhaar - mandatory for opening of bank accounts as well as for financial transactions of Rs. 50,000 and above.

Business | NDTV Profit Team | Updated: October 01, 2017 18:57 IST

The Supreme Court is yet to take a decision on the validity of Aadhaar and whether the State can compulsorily link Aadhaar to various programs and all financial transactions. On 24 August 2017, a nine-judge Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court ruled against the Central Government to declare that privacy is a fundamental right under the Constitution of India. The Supreme Court is set to hear petitions challenging the validity and other aspects of Aadhaar in the first week of November 2017. Therefore, just wait for the verdict.

A centralized and inter-linked biometric database like Aadhaar will lead to profiling and self-censorship, endangering freedom. Personal data gathered under the Aadhaar program is prone to misuse and surveillance. A centralized and interlinked database can lead to commercial abuse. Aadhaar project has created a vulnerability to identity fraud, even identity theft. Easy harvesting of biometrics traits and publicly-available Aadhaar numbers increase the risk of impersonation, especially online and banking fraud. Centralized databases can be hacked. Biometrics can be cloned, copied and reused. Thus, biometrics can be faked. High-resolution cameras can capture fingerprints and iris information from a distance. You can change your password if it is compromised. But if someone gets a copy of your biometric data, which can be used for authentication, what would you do?

UK's Biometric ID Database was dismantled. Why the United Kingdom's biometrics-linked National Identity Card project to create a centralized register of sensitive information about residents similar to Aadhaar was scrapped in 2010? The reasons were the massive threat posed to the privacy of people, the possibility of a surveillance state, the dangers of maintaining such a huge centralized repository of personal information, and the purposes it could be used for, and the dangers of such a centralized database being hacked. The other reasons were the unreliability of such a large-scale biometric verification processes, and the ethics of using biometric identification.

The US Social Security Number (SSN) card has no biometric details, no photograph, no physical description and no birth date. All it does is confirm that a particular number has been issued to a particular name. Instead, a driving license or state ID card is used as an identification for adults. The US government does not collect the biometric details of its own citizens for issuing Social Security Number.