UID / "Aadhaar" – Grave & Present Danger

No one in his / her right senses will link ALL databases of a Nation to one number

The interview of CEO, UIDAI in ‘Times of India’ today (Sunday, 07 May 2017) reveals ignorance of basics of both IT (Information Technologies) and Biometrics on the part of both the interviewer and the interviewee.

Perhaps, the CEO didn’t read Aesop’s fables or Tenali Raman Stories in school.

If he had, he would know that it is foolish to put all one’s eggs in one basket.

The question about UID / "Aadhaar" is not about its many flaws, but about its

purpose.

As for flaws, one does not have to search. It’s all over. The Parliament Standing Committee called it “Conceptually Flawed” and “Directionless.

The present NSA and IT minister are on record stating on TV that UID / "Aadhaar" Scheme cannot achieve any of its objectives and that it is a threat to national security.

Everyone seems tongue-tied after the PM discovered the wonders of UID / "Aadhaar".

Like the ‘King’s New Clothes’ he is perhaps waiting for a five-year old to wake him up from his reverie!

In the interview, firstly, the CEO has lied to the nation in refuting the assertion by many that the entire UID / "Aadhaar" Database is junk.

It is impossible to believe that he has not read the contract between UIDAI and BSPs (Biometric Solution Providers – those who provide identification, de-duplication and authentication solutions and services).

Paragraph 1 of Clause 4.1.1 of Annexure ‘E’ to the contract informs the contractors that the demographic information is inaccurate and hence, should not be used for filtering / de-duplication.

Here is a man, the head of an organisation which, has contractually told its contractors that the data is so inaccurate that it cannot be used for any purpose, but publicly announcing that everything is right with the data.

He cannot be ignorant of the many FIRs for enrolment frauds indulged in by Enrolling Agencies (EAs). Does he know the status of the investigations? Has he taken any action to prevent such crimes?

He cannot be ignorant of the two sting operations, ‘Headlines Today’ and ‘Cobra Post’ that showed how anyone can obtain a UID / "Aadhaar" number, for a price.

He cannot be ignorant of the fact that terrorists or spies live with false identities ALL the lives.

He cannot be ignorant that biometric recognition (identification) is inherently fallible.

When the demographic info in the UID database is inaccurate and that fact is not known to banks and the government has made UID / "Aadhaar" acceptable KYC norm, does he expect banks to carry out additional checks before opening accounts?  

Could he say how it would be easier for investigating agencies to trace culprits trough UID / "Aadhaar"?

How is saying the obvious that the public display of data of 130 Crore people on website endangers private data of these people, irresponsible?

Does he not know that once data is displayed even for a few minutes on the Internet, it is gone for good?

One need not be concerned about such data leaks, when ALL data is being contractually made available to foreign private companies.

The display of the data would have told anyone with rudimentary understanding of IT that such things are bound to happen and hence, linking all databases with a single number identified with a person is stupid and shows the extent of ignorance of IT in our country. Some here have made tons of money hiring IT coolies to do chop-shop jobs for foreign outfits and became rich through the toil and sweat of these poor sloggers in our IT - BPO sweat-shops. Let us not pretend to be an IT super power.

Please follow the link below for text of the interview