[Reader-list] UID India

[jude d'souza]

This has been posted earlier, but won't hurt reaching more people


http://wikileaks.org/wiki/Confidential_plans_for_1.2_billion_ID_cards:_Creating_a_Unique_ID_for_every_resident_in_India,_Nov_2009


It is really disgusting to see that this document has been kept out of
reach of the RTI Act, especially since it is of such significance ..
Also, there seems to be absolutely no debate on the real implications
of the project and its Nazi-style high handedness .. While the UK has
moved to axe their proposed scheme calling it, "intrusive, bullying
and ineffective", there is no reason why the same description would
not apply to India's version of the scheme .. Especially given our
spectacular regard for individual privacy and rights ..


http://www.dnaindia.com/world/report_uk-govt-moves-to-axe-national-identity-card-scheme_1394364


While on the document, it is shocking to say the least .. Quite
blatantly (and hilariously), it is mentioned that "The UIDAI is only
in the identity "business"." Like every "business", what is very clear
is its 'revenue model' ..

"By providing identity authentication, the UIDAI will be taking on a
process that costs agencies and service providers hundreds of crores
every year. The Authority will charge a fee for its authentication
services, which will offset its long-term costs."

A line like this would have had a nation in furore, considering that a
government plans to make money out of citizens' personal data .. But
seems like our media watchdogs have been served healthy tranquiliser
doses to let this one pass by ..

Again not to mention the demeaning reduction of every person's
identity to a number .. "The UID will be a random number." .. Worse
since they seem to be targeting the "poor and rural" initially ..
Obviously the weakest line of attack first, as is obvious in their
claim .. "the Authority expects initial enrolment to be fairly rapid
in both large and small rural areas" ..

The Big Brother-ness gets worse from there on "It may be mandated that
at the time of joining school (first standard) it is necessary for
children to have a UID or to enrol for one. This way the child can be
tracked for progress and targeted for direct benefits." .... "concept
of Universal Child Tracking – the ability to track every child and
ensure their all round development – is gaining ground " .. Is this
language really fair to pass by ? Is this compatible with ideals of
'individual freedom' that the West loves to dole out to us, and that
we lap up hungrily when it is convenient?

It is indeed instructive to listen to what Charlie Skelton, the
Guardian reporter who attempted to infiltrate the secretive Bilderberg
Group at last years meeting had to say .. Leave it to him for the last
words .. It is up to all of us to act upon this .. now ..


"I have spent the week living in a nightmare possible future and many
different terrible pasts. I have had the very tiniest glimpse into a
world of spot checks and unchecked security powers. And it has left me
shaken. It has left me, literally, bruised.

I can tell you this from personal experience: the onus upon the
individual to carry with them some external proof of their identity is
transformative of his or her status as a human being. The identity
card turns you from a free citizen into a suspect. It is a spanner
with which to beat the individual around the head. It is the end of
everything. And how much easier to put all that information inside a
microchip so you don't have to carry around that pesky card all the
time. How much more efficient!

Listen. I don't care if you don't love liberty. For the love of
yourself: fight identity cards. Don't let them happen. STOP IDENTITY
CARDS. Stop identity cards. And while you're about it: stop identity
cards."





--
" .. perhaps in the same sense I want a civilisation in which
'progress' is not definable as making the world safe for little fat
men." Orwell