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

Saturday, August 12, 2017

11741 - Tata Communications to hire 400 people to combat cyber crime and data theft - Economic Times


BY MEGHA MANDAVIA, ET BUREAU | UPDATED: AUG 07, 2017, 01.01 PM IST


MUMBAI: Tata Communications, the provider of telecommunications solutions and services, will hire 400 people and invest $50 million in its cyber security services business in the next three years, as companies look to combat the rise in cybercrime and data theft in India. 

Tata Communications puts software, appliances, hardware together to make a solution for enterprises to protect their information from cyber security risks. 

“Lot of companies generate a lot more data. All of them are on social media, run marketing, digital campaigns. There is a lot more thrust for companies to be online. They have the same cyber security challenges than individuals have,” Srinivasan CR, Senior Vice President of Global Data Center Services & CDN business, Tata Communications. 

Its managed security division currently accounts for less than 10 percent of revenue but is growing at more than 50 percent a year. The company expects revenue contribution from the division will be in the double digits by 2020. 

“Indian market is fairly nascent because cyber security awareness is growing. It is beginning to be seen an important thing in India. Earlier it used to be after thought or was ignored. It is now being taken seriously with all the discussions happening around Aadhaar, privacy and right to data, ownership of data” said Srinivasan. 

The Indian market is about $200 million comprising of hardware and software applications versus the global market of $130 billion, according to Srinivasan. Addressable market in India would be about $40-$50 million at present but is growing fast. 

“Banking, financial and insurance companies are a big spender on security because banking data is the most critical data we ought to protect. Their budget allocation for security is very high. It is a big focus are for us,” he added. 

Tata Communications will invest in building capability in risk and compliance, cloud security, identity and access management, analytics to predict cyber-attacks and network and infrastructure security. 

It will hire cyber security talent with expertise and experience in application, software development, analytics, big data and cyber security consultants. 80 percent of the 400 new hires will be based in India while the rest will help the company expand geographic footprint in Middle East, Singapore, the United States and the United Kingdom. At present the company has about a workforce of 100 cyber security experts in the division. 

India was one of the many countries severely hit by global cyber-attacks like WannaCry and Petya ransomware recently. The cost of cyber-attacks in India currently stands in excess of $4billion. The losses are a result of leakage of sensitive information, operational disruption, impact on brand image and possible legal proceedings. 

More than 50,300 cyber security incidents like phishing, website intrusions and defacements, virus and denial of service attacks were observed in India last year, according to Indian Computer Emergency Response Team. 

More than 60 per cent of the software used by companies in India is unregulated which poses a threat of cyber attacks, according to business practices firm EY. 

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