[Reader-list] Proposal to put Indian residents under surveillance forever

[SUNDARA BABU]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Gopal Krishna <krishna2777 at gmail.com>


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*Proposal to put Indian residents under surveillance forever*

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*Besides UID Number Bill, several other related Bills on the horizon  ***


New Delhi/15/12/2010: The National Identification Authority of India Bill
(NIAI), 2010 has been introduced in Parliament after the constitution of the
Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) and appointment of Nandan
Nilekani as its Chairman in the rank and status of a Cabinet Minister. The
Bill introduced in Rajya Sabha onDecember 3, 2010* *seeks to provide
statutory status to the UIDAI which has been functioning without backing of
law since January 2009.

Prior to the introduction of the Bill on 29th September 2010, Prime Minister
Dr. Manmohan Singh distributed Unique Identification Numbers (Aadhaar) among
the villagers of Tembhali village in Nandurbar District of Maharashtra. “The
Aadhaar number will ease these difficulties in identification, by providing
a nationally valid and verifiable single source of identity proof. The UIDAI
will ensure the uniqueness of the Aadhaar numbers through the use of
biometric attributes (Finger Prints and Iris) which will be linked to the
number,” according to the Press Brief for National launch of Unique
Identification Numbers (Aadhaar) issued by UIDAI.



It admitted that “India will be the first country (in the world) to
implement a biometric-based unique ID system for its residents on a national
scale.” Neither the Prime Minister nor the Planning Commission has taken
cognisance of abandonment of such UID Number scheme in countries like the
US, Australia and now in the UK. In the UK, their Home Secretary abandoned
the project because it considered it `intrusive bullying’ by the state, and
that the government intended to be the `servant’ of the people, and not
their `master’. In the late 1990s, the Supreme Court of Philippines struck
down the President’s Executive Order A.O 308 which instituted a biometric
based national ID system calling it unconstitutional on two grounds – the
overreach of the executive over the legislative powers of the congress and
invasion of privacy. The same is applicable in India. The statement of
concern issued by the eminent citizens including former judges, jurists,
educationists stated, “UIDAI has been constituted on the basis of a GoI
(Government of India) notification and there is a fundamental risk to civil
liberties”.



It is claimed that the UID Number will “substantially improve the efficiency
of the delivery systems by ensuring that the leakages are reduced and the
benefits reach the right people.” It also claims that “electronic transfers
of benefits and entitlements can be enabled through Aadhaar-linked bank
accounts of the beneficiaries.”



It is noteworthy that even before the passage of the National Identification
Authority of India Bill from the parliament, the authority has embarked
upon:

·         taking biometric and demographic data of Indian residents

·         entering into MOUs with multiplicity of institutions including
Banks, LIC, State governments to acts as Registrars,

·         setting a process by which a large amount of data about the
individuals will be collected and aggregated on the files of these
Registrars,

·         entering into contracts with corporations predominantly from the
technology and biometric industry including those with close links with
intelligence agencies in other countries: for instance, Accenture (which is
working with US Homeland Security in their Smart Borders Project) and L1
Identity Solutions (whose main market, and recruitment ground, is the
Central Intelligence Agency) . Their website reads: “American and foreign
military services, defense and intelligence agencies rely on L-1 solutions
and services to help determine ally from enemy”. The same US company was
hired for “Implementation of Biometric Solution for UIDAI” from 30 July 2010

·    another US company, Accenture Services Pvt. Ltd., has been hired for
the “Implementation of Biometric Solution for UIDAI”. This company is
“committed to helping the (US) Department of Homeland Security”. Its
“solutions include developing prevention tactics, streamlining intelligence
gathering and maximizing new technologies.”

There is a convergence of all the residents and institutions underway
through Project UID, a Silicon Valley initiative (dominated by Information
Technology companies) passing off as “Planning Commission initiative”
without consultation at district and panchayat level and within the
political parties to create a central database of residents and generate a
unique identification number (UID) for all such residents which is proposed
to be “used as the basis for identifying and authenticating a person's
entitlement to government services and benefits”. This initiative is being
steered by the Department of Information Technology (as the Line Ministry)
through National Informatics Centre Services Inc. (NICSI)/ National
Informatics Centre (NIC), as the technical solution provider and a
consultant for “linking of existing databases, as well as providing for
future additions, by the user agencies.” This entails tracking and profiling
residents electronically through some 53 departments of the Government of
India, 35 State/UT Secretariats and 603 District collectorates. NIC was
formed in 1975. While UIDAI has been misleading the citizens and the media
about the UID Number scheme being voluntary, the ‘Legal Framework For
Mandatory Electronic Delivery of Services’ of Union Ministry of
Communication and Information Technology, refers to “UIDAI – UID based
authentication for services” as an enabler, thus making it compulsory.



This proposed NIAI Bill must be looked at along with other Bills in the
offing such as Draft Land Titling Bill, 2010, Draft Paper on Privacy Bill,
2010, Draft DNA Profiling Act, 2007 and Public Information Infrastructure
and Innovations (PIII) for a National Knowledge Network. Besides this
National Intelligence Grid (Natgrid), meant to integrate existing 21
databases with Central and state government agencies and other
organisations, and National Population Register (which is quite different
from Census) will end up undertaking surveillance, reconnaissance and
targeting of Indian residents.

Sam Pitroda’s PIII reveals the plot emphasizing digital network to process
all kinds of information at all levels saying, “For government, PII is very
important to first identify all beneficiaries, essentially people. We also
at the same time need to identify all our physical assets all over the
country, like primary schools, railway stations, hospitals. Then we also
need to tag all our programes-and government typically would have hundreds
of programs for public delivery systems. Once you tag people, places, and
programs, then it is easier to really organise information for delivering
public services. Hopefully, with new focus on PIII, where we could
essentially tag people, tag places, tag programs, we will be able to
structure delivery systems to get lot better productivity, efficiency,
reduced cost. The starting point for this nationwide network of fiber
optics, wireless systems to connect 2, 50, 000 Panchayats all over the
country especially in rural areas where ultimately information data
gathering would begin. This is where beneficiaries are.” All this
information will be in the hands of a few ‘trustworthy’ people inm the
government and few select companies. Such a situation is fraught with both
unintended and intended consequences impacting monetary and non-monetary
aspects of citizens’ life.



Notably, the Land Titling Bill makes a provision for “Unique property
identification number”, linking UID Number with property.



Admittedly, the Draft Privacy Bill states, “There is no data protection
statute in the country.” On UID Number, the Draft Paper on Privacy Bill
states, “Data privacy and the need to protect personal information is almost
never a concern when data is stored in a decentralized manner. Data that is
maintained in silos is largely useless outside that silo and consequently
has a low likelihood of causing any damage. However, all this is likely to
change with the implementation of the UID Project. One of the inevitable
consequences of the UID Project will be that the UID Number will unify
multiple databases. As more and more agencies of the government sign on to
the UID Project, the UID Number will become the common thread that links all
those databases together. Over time, private enterprise could also adopt the
UID Number as an identifier for the purposes of the delivery of their
services or even for enrolment as a customer.”



Quite menacingly, the Draft Paper on Privacy Bill asserts, “Once this
happens, the separation of data that currently exists between multiple
databases will vanish.” This poses a threat to the identity of citizens and
the idea of residents of the state as private persons will be forever
abandoned.



UIDAI started working in the month of August 2009 to deliver Unique
Identification Numbers (Aadhaar) to every resident in the country and to
establish a cost-effective, ubiquitous authentication infrastructure to
easily verify these identities online and in real-time. The UIDAI has been
set up unmindful of grave concerns expressed in the government’s own Draft
Paper on Privacy Bill, and NIAI Bill appears to be meant to justify UIDAI’S
acts of omission and commission. The NIAI Bill and its critique both in
Hindi and English will be released shortly.


 Meanwhile, UIDAI has also hired a public relations agency with an objective
to “Provide consistent flow of information across all mediums to create the
right perception of UIDAI and Aadhaar throughout the country”; one such
agency has created a stalemate in the Parliament. This is an attempt to
convert a resident into a number, Indian population into a market and then
citizens in to subjects.



*For Details: *Gopal Krishna, Member, Citizens Forum for Civil Liberties,
Mb: 9818089660,

E-mail: krishna2777 at gmail.com



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SUNDARA BABU N