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

Tuesday, December 5, 2017

12455 - Aadhaar Articles Dated 2nd December 2017



NDTV
As the government looks to expand the scope of Aadhaar-enabled services, linking of the biometrics-based Unique Identity Number (UID) with individual bank accounts, PAN cards, mobile numbers and even mutual fund accounts has been made mandatory. These new rules on Aadhaar - a 12-digit ...



Scroll.in
If you live in India, chances are you're being pestered to link your mobile number and bank accounts with your Aadhaar. Failure to do so, remind the messages, will result in suspension of services. If you live in India, chances are you are already aware of all the problems that come with India's unique ...



NDTV
Establishments with large number of new joiners every month are facing problem in generation of UAN due to mismatch of input data with Aadhaar," the EPFO notification said. So EPFO has provided a functionality at Unified Portal "through which any citizen (prospective employee) can generate his/her ...






Indiatimes.com
Earlier in November 2017, an RTI revealed that private and personal details of several Aadhaar users were publicly available for anyone to see on over 210 central and state government websites, according to a PTI report. The leaked Aadhaar database displayed “the list of beneficiaries along with their ...






NDTV
Reiterating her stand not to link her Aadhaar number with her bank accounts and and mobile number, she said, "Let them disconnect my mobile. The Centre is interfering with the people's personal rights by forcing them to link their bank accounts and mobile numbers with their Aadhaar number."



The Indian Express
No surprises here: Aadhaar is most searched news term of 2017 on Yahoo! ... With the Aadhaar number being made mandatory for a host of services, and the fact that questions of privacy surrounding it are being debated in court, it's no surprise that people would want to search and learn more about the ...






The New Indian Express
Her family left her at the hospital years ago and does not come to visit. This leprosy patient's only sustenance is the Rs 1,000 pension that she gets every month. Three months ago, this was stopped for the lack of an Aadhaar card. Sajida has lost her fingers and also her sight to the debilitating disease.



News18
UIDAI Responds To Viral Meme By José Covaco, Says Ivanka Trump Isn't Eligible For Aadhaar Card ... one meme came from comedian José Covaco (@hoezaay) who gave a comical voice-over to an edited video of Ivanka Trump telling delegates that she's in India to get her Aadhaar card made.



Free Press Journal
Mumbai: The Maharashtra circle of the Department of Posts has started its Aadhaar enrolment facility at select post offices across the state. The facility was inaugurated at the GPO by Chief Post Master General (CPMG) H C Agrawal on Thursday. Four-year-old Soham Sonawane became the first ...






Firstpost
While many of the questions addressed to Prasad focused on law and the elections, the Minister did have an opportunity to speak on Digital India and Aadhaar. At the summit, Prasad extolled the virtues of the various government initiated programs like 'Make in India' and 'Digital India', calling them ...






Hindu Business Line
Lauding the success of Aadhaar and ISRO, Ambani said, “With nearly 1.2 billion enrolled members, Aadhaar is the world's largest and the most sophisticated, biometric ID system. India has created this infrastructure from scratch within a decade. In this area, India is now a clear leader, and Aadhaar is ...






Greater Kashmir
People were yet to reconcile to the changing financial dynamics triggered by demonetization of large value currency notes, the government brought in another set of worries to a common man by making Aadhaar linkage mandatory in bank accounts, PAN, LPG connections, telephone connections etc.






The Hindu
There remains confusion over whether or not Aadhaar is mandatory for all beneficiaries, many of who are children below the age of three years. Women and Child Development secretary R.K. Shrivastava said that it was mandatory, but no beneficiary would be denied benefits for the lack of Aadhaar card ...



Outlook India
Cyber security is a very challenging sector for any government, especially one that aims at inclusion and development through the use of digital technology and Aadhaar. Arushi Bedi caught up with Dr Ajay Kumar, additional secretary, Ministry of Electronics and IT (since promoted to secretary, Defence ...






Business Standard
This led to a counter from the journalists that the Unique Identification Authority of India, the agency implementing Aadhaar, itself seeks biometric authentication only from the age of five years. Under the rule, till this age, the child's unique identification is linked to that of the parents. Medical journals say ...






The Hindu
Recall that the NDA was utterly dismissive of Aadhaar during the UPA regime, yet three months in office, it was quick to sing paeans about it and now eager to wield it as a master key. The issue of the right to individual privacy, for instance Aadhaar, now has the attention of the Supreme Court. One must ...