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

Friday, January 12, 2018

12698 - Introduction of virtual Aadhaar case of too little, too late: Experts - - Money Control


Just an attempt at plugging loopholes, say experts.


The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) introducing a virtual ID and limited KYC to address privacy and security concerns is a case of too little, too late, say experts.

The UIDAI, the agency that administers Aadhaar, said on Wednesday it will now let Aadhaar number holders have a virtual ID, which will come with an expiration data, mapped to the Aadhaar number. It also said only some entities will be allowed to store a person's Aadhaar number.

"This is just as attempt at plugging the loopholes in the system," said Ramanjit Singh Chima, India Policy Director at Internet advocacy group ‎Access Now. He called the proposal "complex and unworkable".

While the Aadhaar debate has many facets, the issue of citizen data leakage and privacy has been in the news since the past week after The Tribune reported that an anonymous seller was, through WhatsApp, offering access to the entire Aadhaar database for as low as Rs 500.

There have also been other reported instances of Aadhaar numbers being available publicly, but the UIDAI has always maintained that there is no threat to citizen data as long as their biometrics are safe and authorised agencies have access to their Aadhaar numbers.

While the UIDAI had been considering the use of virtual ID and tokens since some time, the new measures still do not completely eliminate the need to access the biometric database of citizen data for authentication, and would also require people to re-enroll for the measures to be effective, said Chima.

The new measures also do not specify what happens to Aadhaar numbers that have already been collected by different agencies and entities such as telecom companies, banks or educational institutions.

"What Aadhaar needs is an overhaul of its defective-by-design architecture and not stopgap measures. On January 9 another security researcher found issues in its Android app. It's not a constructive use of time and financial resources to force any inherently insecure system on the citizens," said technology lawyer Mishi Choudhary.

While the lack of a proper data protection and privacy framework has been a longstanding roadblock in deciding how stored data can be treated. There is currently a consultation underway to decide a data protection framework in India.
A large part of the Aadhaar debate is played out nearly every day on social media channels such as Twitter.

"#Aadhaar is here to stay! Happy that the @UIDAI has introduced virtual ID and limited KYC in the spirit of continuous innovation to enhance privacy and security," tweeted Aadhaar architect Nandan Nilekani after UIDAI's announcement.

There were also several contrarian views put out against the new features.

"We are all into this together as security breaches don't discriminate based on political affiliations. We need a nuanced discussion on law, policy, tech and impact on society for any project that has largescale implications and not Twitter yelling," added Choudhary.