I/II. [Making biometrics a keystone to access so many essential services invades privacy, increases the potential for abuse, makes doing business difficult and ties up everyday activities in red tape. Fake Aadhaar card rackets have been busted that allegedly exploited vulnerabilities in the UIDAI enrollment ecosystem. Biometric verification is susceptible to failures and unauthorised usage. Poor connectivity, lax cyber security and data storage standards heighten the risks. All-encompassing Aadhaar linkages create the framework for mass surveillance and enhanced cybercrime. It’s time to roll back the Aadhaar empire and initiate restrictions on its mandatory use.]
https://blogs.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/toi-editorials/aadhaar-overkill-originally-conceived-as-an-empowerment-tool-it-is-disempowering-citizens-now/?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=TOIBlogs Aadhaar overkill: Originally conceived as an empowerment tool, it is disempowering citizens now October 30, 2017, 2:03 AM IST TOI Edit in TOI Editorials | Edit Page, India | TOI After months of pestering customers to mandatorily link bank accounts with Aadhaar numbers by December 31, the deadline has been extended till March 31. Where bank accounts are linked with PAN, and PAN is seeded with Aadhaar, the government demand for Aadhaar-bank account linkage of PAN holders becomes redundant. Technology can do this coupling instead of the constant badgering for Aadhaar numbers, which is plain annoying for those not availing benefits like cash transfers, subsidies, pensions and scholarships. Threats of suspension of bank accounts, where people save their hard-earned money, for non-compliance under Prevention of Money Laundering Rules add insult to injury, particularly considering that the Aadhaar Act 2016 has no provision making enrollment compulsory. No different is the insistence on Aadhaar to verify mobile connections, when the government should instead be trying to enhance mobile connectivity. The fear of local SIM cards falling into terrorists’ hands fails to take note of facilities like international roaming, prepaid cards, or satellite and internet telephony. Unique identification was originally sold to citizens as a way to efficiently deliver welfare benefits without duplication and pilferage by intermediaries. In the last couple of years, however, it has grown into an all-encompassing Leviathan even as there has been little progress on welfare. On one hand we have central and state governments conceiving uses for Aadhaar in everything from property to death registration, hailing ambulances to getting rations. The enthusiasm has rubbed off on the private sector too, with three-year-olds requiring Aadhaar for nursery admissions and job opportunities tied to Aadhaar submission. Making biometrics a keystone to access so many essential services invades privacy, increases the potential for abuse, makes doing business difficult and ties up everyday activities in red tape. Fake Aadhaar card rackets have been busted that allegedly exploited vulnerabilities in the UIDAI enrollment ecosystem. Biometric verification is susceptible to failures and unauthorised usage. Poor connectivity, lax cyber security and data storage standards heighten the risks. All-encompassing Aadhaar linkages create the framework for mass surveillance and enhanced cybercrime. It’s time to roll back the Aadhaar empire and initiate restrictions on its mandatory use. The passport, driving licence, PAN, ration and voter cards all serve specific purposes unlike Aadhaar. Prime Minister Narendra Modi once declared, rightly, “minimum government, maximum governance”. But it’s important to remember the converse of that proposition is equally true: maximum government, minimum governance. II. http://www.news18.com/news/india/supreme-court-to-hear-aadhaar-linking-case-today-five-things-to-know-1560799.html Supreme Court to Hear Aadhaar Linking Case Today: Five Things to Know A plea against Aadhaar filed by Mamata Banerjee-led West Bengal government will also be heard on Monday by a bench comprising justices AK Sikri and Ashok Bhushan. News18.com Updated:October 30, 2017, 8:57 AM IST Supreme Court to Hear Aadhaar Linking Case Today: Five Things to Know In this file photo, a villager goes through the process of a fingerprint scanner for the Unique Identification (UID) database system at an enrollment center (File Photo/ REUTERS) New Delhi: The Supreme Court will on Monday examine if linking of Aadhaar to various schemes should be mandatory and whether the deadline should be extended till March 31, 2018, for everyone and not just those who do not have the biometric ID yet. Here’s all you need to know about the crucial hearing: — The central government had told the Supreme Court last week that deadline for linking Aadhaar to various programmes will be extended from December 31 to March 31, 2018. The extension, however, was only applicable to those who do not have an Aadhaar and will enroll now. For everyone else, the deadline would remain December 31. — The apex court had asked Attorney General KK Venugopal to consider whether this deadline should be extended for all. The government will inform its decision to the court on Monday. — The government had earlier asked the court to defer the hearing in the case because a committee was looking into drafting a data protection law. It stated that according to the Right to Privacy verdict, the judges had left this matter for expert determination so that a robust regime of data protection framework could be devised. The next meeting of the expert committee is slated to be held on November 7, 2017. — Several petitions, challenging the Centre's move to make Aadhaar mandatory for welfare schemes and notifications to link it with mobile numbers and bank accounts, are pending in the apex court. — Among those is the one filed by Mamata Banerjee-led West Bengal government, which has challenged the Centre’s decision to make Aadhaar must for availing benefits of various social welfare schemes. The plea will also be heard on Monday by a bench comprising justices AK Sikri and Ashok Bhushan along with another petition filed by social activist Raghav Tankha challenging the linking of Aadhaar with mobile phones. -- Peace Is Doable -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Green Youth Movement" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send an email to [email protected]. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/greenyouth. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
