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

Wednesday, July 26, 2017

11632 - Aadhaar Articles dated 23rd July 2017



Economic Times
It is de rigueur to advocate right to privacy and ridicule the state and its instrumentalities. Aadhaar, too, has become a victim of this neoliberalism as it ...






Times of India
CHENNAI: If you are one of those yet to link your PAN card with Aadhaar as directed by the Income Tax department, you are among the majority.



The Hindu
Owing to lack of awareness, Mr Singh has not linked his bank account to his Aadhaar number, which is mandatory to avail of the scheme. “I had no ...






Economic Times
The AP Shah report got lost in the melee as the Central government changed, as did the mood related to Aadhaar, the nationwide unique identification ...






findBIOMETRICS
Uber, India-based ride-hailing service Ola, and Airbnb are considering implementing Aadhaar authentication for their service providers, reports ...



Economic Times
“The world has much to learn about from the Aadhaar project,” he said, calling it a remarkable technological accomplishment with huge benefits.



Economic Times
The answer to that can be found in a series of hearings in the Aadhaar case that began in 2012. Justice KS Puttaswamy, a former Karnataka High ...



The Hindu
Andhra Pradesh has registered 97% Aadhaar enrolment so far. While the population is 5,25,78,407, the Aadhaar enrolment stood at 5,12,50,387.






BloombergQuint
Only about a third of individuals who hold permanent account numbers (PAN) have linked them with Aadhaar so far, even as the government made it ...






Times of India
Ward offices directed to double as Aadhaar enrolment centres ... Meanwhile, the postal department too started operating Aadhaar centres on their ...






DailyO
The other case being heard in the apex court pertains to the Aadhaar scheme, and the Modi government at the Centre questioning the existence of the ...
Privacy concerns - Hindu Business Line



NewsBytes
They're shunning Aadhaar and going for the laborious method of filing returns manually via snail-mail to show their dissent. To avoid it, some have ...






Business Standard (press release) (registration) (blog)
The work and work space could not have been more typical of a start-up. The core team of UIDAI [Unique Identification Authority of India] operated in ...






Zee News
Aadhaar card is likely to be made compulsory for pursuing all online courses. Also, only those universities which have been existing for at least five ...






Times of India
PF claims, like advances for personal needs or withdrawal of the amount on retirement, can now be made online using Aadhaar number. However ...






The Hindu
Asserting that this excludes sensitive information like Aadhaar details or PAN numbers, Mr. Doshi said it was possible to obtain an RJio subscriber's ...






Times of India
Diwe also directed officials to ensure issuance of Aadhaar card to all students along with opening individual bank accounts. "Grant of school uniforms ...






The Indian Express
Nilekani said that data from tools such as Aadhaar is fundamental for putting the economy on a cycle of growth, and could empower users with data, ...






BFSI Post Magazine | Elets
The introduction of Aadhaar card and Aadhaar authentication through UIDAI has been a game changer in the Indian banking Technology in the last ...






Times of India
The key features of this scheme are direct benefit transfer of fertilizer subsidy to farmers with bank accounts linked to Aadhaar, direct fertilizer ...






The Quint
Aadhaar is slowly becoming a vital part of our lives. You're expected to link Aadhaar with your mobile number, and by the end of 2017, you must link it ...