UID, branded, "Aadhaar" - The deceit of the UIDAI Database

UID – what is it?
The Official Version
Sunday. June 20, 2010 Citizens Action Forum

It links every person to a unique biometric identity of
ten finger prints & iris scans.
Sunday. June 20, 2010Citizens Action Forum

●Kargil Committee Report, 2000
●GOM “Reforming the National Security System”
Report, 2001- MNIC: Multi-purpose National
Identity Card
●2003 NDA amends Citizenship Act – Onus on
people to enroll
●2009 UPA renames MNIC as UID: shift from a
security angle to a developmental angle

●UID project would serve a variety of purposes:
“better targeting of government’s development
schemes, regulatory purposes (including taxation
and licensing), security purposes, banking and
financial sector activities, etc
●UID will be “progressively extended to various
government programmes and regulatory agencies,
as well as private sector agencies in the banking,
financial services, mobile telephony and other
such areas.”

●UID would make it possible to open a bank
account in India with no supporting documents,
thus expanding financial inclusion
●UID would make it easier to obtain a mobile
telephone connection than at present
●UID would ensure that the public food distribution
system (PDS) in India would cease to be wasteful

●UID would eliminate corruption from the National
Rural Employment Guarantee scheme (NREGS)
●UID would help ensure and monitor attendance of
teachers in schools
●Overall, the UID project is presented as a
“technology-based solution” that would change the
face of governance in India

●UID is a number, in a central database of every
person in India, linked to his / her biometric
uniqueness, & maintained by the UIDAI
●It does not confer citizenship
●It is not an ID Card
●Govt & private parties could use it for issuing ID
cards, on payment of fees to UIDAI

●The role that the Authority envisions is to issue a
unique identification number (UID) that can be
verified and authenticated in an online, cost-
effective manner, and that is robust enough to
eliminate duplicate and fake identities.

●There is no cost estimate
●There is no Detailed Project Report
●There is no Feasibility Study
●Vague statements indicating a few thousands of
Crores of Rupees are put out, now and then

●UK’s ID Card cost was estimated by the UK Govt
to be £ 900 Million
●LSE Study estimated the cost as between £ 10.6
to £ 19.20 Billion

●One estimate put the figure at Rs. 1.5 Lakh Crores
●Current budget is Rs. 1950 Crores plus Rs. 3590
Crores for Census, which would be used for
enumeration of households and collecting data for
UID
●PM has asked for the cost to be reviewed

●UIDAI is an “attached office” of the Planning
Commission
●Parliament has not discussed the setting of
UIDAI or implementing UID
●Hence, UIDAI & UID have no legal sanction
●UIDAI is drafting a law to give UIDAI statutory
legitimacy

●Bank accounts & financial inclusion
●Phone connections
●Prevent waste in PDS
●Eliminate corruption in NREGS
●Monitor attendance of teachers in schools
None of these would be achieved

●UIDAI has never said that the origin & real
purpose of UID is for security
●Why has UIDAI NOT ever mentioned this aspect
and why has no one ever asked UIDAI about this?

●USA – Real ID Act 2005 – Status: In cold storage,
no State has approved it.
●UK – National ID Act 2005 - Scrapped
●Australia – “Australia Cards”1986 for immigration
& taxation – Withdrawn
●Canada, New Zealand, Philippines - withdrawn

●Parliamentary Standing Committee report noted:
“It is clear that this is a very significant policy issue
that could have wide implications for privacy,
security, and fiscal accountability. Indeed, it has
been suggested that it could affect fundamental
values underlying Canadian society. A broad
public review is therefore essential. The general
public must be made more aware of all aspects of
the issue, and we must hear what ordinary citizens
have to say”

UK Experience & Decision - 1
●National ID Act was passed in 2005 by the
Blair Govt – Purpose: Control illegal
immigrations – Biometrics in passports
●LSE study : “In its present form the
scheme is expensive, would not achieve
its objectives & would itself be a target for
terrorists”
●Brown issued tenders to MNCs, including
Microsoft, Intel, Oracle, Cisco and IBM in

UK Experience & Decision - 2
●Cameron wrote to these companies that
they would be participating in the tender at
their risk, since if the Conservative Party
came to power, they would cancel the
contracts
●The National ID was a major issue in the
UK elections in May, this year
●The first act of the new UK Govt was to
scrap the National ID scheme

UK Experience & Decision -
●In scrapping the National ID card scheme,
Theresa May, Home Secretary said,
○“This [ID card] represents the worst of
government
○It is intrusive bullying
○It is an assault on individual liberty
○We are the servants of the people, not their
masters
○The Govt will destroy all data held on the National
Identity Register
○The post of Identity Commissioner will be

How could UID be abused?
- 1
To understand this look at some UID lies

●It is voluntary, but service providers could
ask for it
●It would be “demand driven”
●Cloud computing would be used
●“Pay per use” would be the UID business
model
●Underplaying the “security” uses, but linking
UID database to NATGRID and allowing
security agencies – RAW, IB, CBI and police
to use it

How could / why would, UID be
abused - 2
●One in thirteen MPs have criminal records. MLAs are
no better
●Corruption is rampant
●Police routinely torture people
●All these would use the data to target people and
take vengeance
●UID gives unbridled power into the hands of petty
bureaucrats
●The power to deny is inherent in this power to give
and would be abused
●Rather than preventing corruption, it would aid
corrupt politicians & officials

What do you think you
should / could do?
Watch & wait or act to stop?

What you could do
●Spread the word regarding the truth about UID
●Join networks that are creating awareness
among people on UID
●Participate in all campaigns against it
●Write to MPs, MLAs, CMs, Governors, Political
Party bosses
●Write to the newspapers
●Join in taking the UID issue to courts

UID, branded, "Aadhaar" - The deceit of the UIDAI Database

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