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, October 5, 2017

12137 - Aadhaar Articles Dated 2nd October 2017



Economic Times
Facing questions over the privacy and security of the Aadhaar systems in the Supreme Court, the government has decided to conduct an independent ...



Economic Times
Now that the SC has ruled that right to privacy is a fundamental right, a five-judge bench will now decide whether the Aadhaar Act passes the privacy ...






Gadgets Now
Employers are beginning to use Aadhaar to verify their potential employees, a move that could see the week-long verification process reducing to less ...






NDTV
According to a government directive, all consumers have to link their mobile phone numbers with Aadhaar identity cards. If you do not link the 12-digit ...






Deccan Chronicle
Hyderabad: For the first time, the CBSE has made it compulsory for candidates to submit their Aadhaar number for registration for the board exams of ...



NDTV
The government has made it mandatory to link Aadhaar cards with bank accounts, permanent account numbers (PAN), income tax return (ITR), social ...






The Hans India
New Delhi: As the country celebrated Dasara on Saturday, the official Twitter handle of Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), the statutory ...



Telangana Today
The Union government has made Aadhaar linkage mandatory for all school students for availing various schemes including the mid-day meal. Though ...






The Navhind Times
Worse still these Xerox copies of identity and address proof documents, including Aadhaar card were floating around for convenient use by anyone ...






Hindu Business Line
Telecom service providers are pushing the Government's Aadhaar agenda by repeatedly reminding recipients to get their mobile numbers linked to ...






The Hindu
... to generate digital life certificates (DLC) using the Aadhaar number so as to get their names listed on the pension rolls in the treasury every year.






The Indian Express
The bank account details and the Aadhaar card details are mandatory. In case the applicant does not have an Aadhaar card, a copy of the Aadhaar ...






India.com
Meanwhile, the government has proposed to introduce the Aadhaar-based online marriage registration. “All steps — from applying to printing the ...



The Indian Express
“At present, 2.5 lakh ration cards have been digitised. The Aadhaar linkage has helped identity and delete 10 lakh bogus ration card details which ...






Kashmir Reader
Doctors need to use this user id & password to log in and enter all the requested details, including personal details, contact details, Aadhaar number, ...






The Hindu
The EC's move in late 2015 to avoid the linking of the voter identity card with the Aadhaar number in order to avoid the trap of linkages with big data, ...






The Hindu
The policies that were cited as examples of continuity between the UPA and NDA governments included the Goods and Services Tax and Aadhaar, ...






Economic Times
The government push to link bank accounts to Aadhaar and the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana has fostered financial inclusion and helped in the ...






The Hindu
The saplings would be supplied to the farmers free of cost on furnishing the details of aadhaar numbers and pattadar passbooks to forest officials at ...






The New Indian Express
After a scathing attack on demonetisation, GST and Aadhaar card made mandatory, Stalin demanded remedial measures to salvage the economy.






The Indian Express
Arguments on its use and abuse have driven the competing narratives on Aadhaar. The seriousness of the government's data collection push is being ...






gulfnews.com
“Prime Minister Narendra Modi has championed the increasing use of cutting-edge innovations and technologies, such as biometric Aadhaar cards, ...






Fibre2fashion.com
It also identifies risks, including those related to political stability, privacy debate over Aadhaar unique identity number and implementation of GST. (DS).






Financial Express
Schemes like Aadhaar Pay, more PoS machines, Bharat Net, he affirmed, would go a long way to augment the drive towards digital transformation.






citytoday
Inspite of being citizens with valid Aadhaar cards, the Manohar Parrikar-led Goa government has decided to go ahead with the demolition of houses ...