*This would be a privacy nightmare, flying in the face of the unanimous verdict by the nine-judge bench of the Supreme Court, determining "privacy" as a "fundamental right", in the teeth of bitter government - NDA-I, opposition.*
It's now, however, a completely different era - with the arithmetic in the Parliament decisively shifted and the Supreme Court becoming what it has become. By now, it no longer surprises anybody when the most egregious decision of the executive gets the virtual protection of the highest court of the land, even if not outright endorsement. I. One's medical history will have to be opened up before sundry pharmacists, doctors, clinics, test labs and hospitals. It may very well become an issue of juicy public gossip - turning one's dignity into dust, and things even more serious - truncation of employment opportunities on irrational apprehensions, being just one example. II. Apart from that, it's sure to lead to "exclusion", as is happening with disbursement of rations to various categories including those in (so many) areas with poor data network. Anyone trying to escape from "law" - for whatever reasons, would, in the process, come to be, most likely, denied medicine and medical treatment - a clear violation of basic human rights. Just an example. Then, what happens to foreign tourists? IV. Lastly, the state, at its will, will be able to switch off the flow of medical treatment to any individual/group, by disabling the card. At least till one's able to obtain some relief from a court, in God's good time and expending considerable resources. V. Coming back to "privacy", if there's a centralised silo - which as it is the most likely scenario, to pool and store all the data recorded, there's just no go guarantee that it won't get hacked by unauthorised and unscrupulous hackers. Nor any guarantee, in absence of any data protection law, that the authorised custodisn itself will not put it to grossly malafide use or let others do something very similar - on commercial considerations or whatever. VI. Putting the technical infrastructure in place, however, may not be a child's play. For now, that's the major hope. *This is, to be sure, no stand-alone stray move.* *Just yet another part of the overall project of dismantling any substantive "democracy" and transforming the Indian state.* _Unfortunately, the awareness is abysmally low._ <<Every Indian under the mission would get an ID card containing all relevant information about his/her medical conditions and treatments, tests etc, the Prime Minister said. "Every Indian will get a Health ID card. *Every [time] they visit a doctor or a pharmacy, or a lab, all the detail will be registered in this health card. Ranging from doctor appointment to the medication prescribed, medical tests, when were they done, every bit of detail will be available in your health profile* [emphasis added]," Modi said.>> (Ref.: < https://www.livemint.com/news/india/pm-modi-launches-national-digital-health-mission-11597467562654.html >) -- 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 view this discussion on the web, visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/greenyouth/CACEsOZiszRaj%3D4TDp2A5SS_3GaQKse8nf2TP1wf4EPAZjRgMFA%40mail.gmail.com.
