National Privacy Policy Of India

Right to privacy bill of India 2011 has been suggested for many times in the year 2011. However, till now we do not have any conclusive draft in this regard that can be introduced in that parliament of India. In fact, we are still waiting for a final and conclusive proposed draft right to privacy bill 2011 of India that can be discussed in the parliament.

Privacy rights in India in the information age are too important to be ignored. Surprisingly, Indian government is deliberately keeping privacy protection at distance even if the constitution of India protects privacy rights of Indian citizens/persons.

For instance, India has launched Projects like Aadhar, National Intelligence Grid (NATGRID), Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems (CCTNS), National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC), Central Monitoring System (CMS), Centre for Communication Security Research and Monitoring (CCSRM), etc. None of them are governed by any Legal Framework and none of them are under Parliamentary Scrutiny.

Lack of privacy law has already stalled Natgrid whereas other projects like unique identification project of India or Aadhar project of India are simply unconstitutional by their very existence and being violative of privacy rights as conferred under Indian constitution.

Right to privacy bill of India 2011, along with a dedicated data protection law in India is needed. We already have an anti consumer telemarketing policy of India that openly allows violation of consumers privacy and peace.

In short, the unwritten, but widely followed, national privacy policy of India is not only negative in nature but is also violative of various provisions of Indian constitution. Time has come to enact a good techno legal national privacy policy of India.

Now Home Ministry Of India Is Opposing UIDAI

The unique identification project of India (UID project of India) or Aadhar project of India is one of the projects that are openly violating the provisions of Indian constitution. Techno legal experts of India have even declared Aadhar project of India as illegal and unconstitutional.

Even on the non legal side, Aadhar project is not supported by any project analysis and management. Hard earned public money is literally wasted by Indian government without any parliamentary oversight. Surprisingly, the unique identification authority of India (UIDAI), led by Nandan Nilekani, is openly operating to the great detriment of Indian constitution and civil liberties.

Now even the Home Ministry of India has raised concerns that a fresh proposal of the UIDAI to independently collect biometric details could lead to duplication of effort and lead to wastage of public funds.

The Cabinet had earlier mandated the census commissioner to create the national population register (NPR), a biometrics-based identity system. This required the census commissioner to create a data-base of all residents through door-to-door enumeration and pass this database to UIDAI that will take care of duplication and issue number of each unique resident.

In a proposal set to come up before the Cabinet soon, the UIDAI had asked for over Rs.14, 840 crore to fund the authority's effort to independently create its own database of all residents over five years. Asked, home minister P Chidambaram said the UIDAI had been given permission by the Cabinet to collect biometrics of a limited number of cases till the NPR was completed.

"Now I think UIDAI is bringing paper to the Cabinet Committee of UID. The home ministry, the Planning Commission and others have given their comments," Chidambaram said, adding that no decision had been taken so far by the Cabinet Committee. "When the Cabinet Committee takes a decision, I will tell you what the decision is," he said.

Government officials said the census commission has already completed the task of collecting forms from all residents. So far, biometrics of 30 lakh people have been captured, the home minister announced in his monthly report to the people. Officials said the law did not permit them to use the data collected by the UID for its NPR.

Fake UID Card Make Aadhar Project More Vulnerable

Unique identification project of India Aadhar project of India is a very controversial project. It has been portrayed as one thing and is actually a totally different thing. The truth is that Aadhar project is a project that deserves immediate repeal.

Aadhar project is devoid of any physical and cyber security. Aadhar project is not supported by any legal framework. Aadhar project is also not supported by any data security and data protection laws. Even the privacy laws in India are missing. Aadhar project is also launched without adequate project study, planning and management. The sole purpose of Aadhar project is to strengthen the e-surveillance capabilities of Indian government and its agencies.

Recently, biometric data of about 200 registrants stored on laptop(s) were stolen. Now it has been reported that the Madhya Pradesh Police have seized from a SIMI activist an Aadhaar card with a 12-digit unique identity number bearing someone else’s name.

During a search at Zakir’s rented place in Ratlam, the police recovered an Aadhaar card, a driving licence and fake marksheets. The UID card made in Nanded town of Maharashtra had Zakir’s photograph but bore a different name, Sadique Khan. Apparently, Zakir had married a local woman under a false name and showed her home as his residential address.

This shows how simple it is to get a fake Aadhar number through various sorts of manipulations. However, this would be acceptable to Indian government as it is not interested in the “identity” of the concerned person but in his “biometric details” that can help in the e-surveillance activities.

Irrespective of what name or identity a person holds, his biometric details would always remain the same and Indian government is targeting this aspect.

Right To Privacy In India In Pipeline

Privacy law in India is the need of the hour. This is more so where privacy rights in India are frequently violated through various e-surveillance projects of Indian government. India has no dedicated privacy law. The Supreme Court of India interpreted it by expanding the scope of Article 21 of the Constitution.

Meanwhile, Indian government launched projects like Aadhar, National Intelligence Grid (NATGRID), Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems (CCTNS), National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC), Central Monitoring System (CMS), Centre for Communication Security Research and Monitoring (CCSRM), etc. None of them are governed by any Legal Framework and none of them are under Parliamentary Scrutiny.

These projects have also raised serious privacy violations issues as well that have still not been redressed by Indian government.

Realising that this may cause problems in future, the Law Ministry of India is working on a proposal to make right to privacy a fundamental right in the Indian Constitution. This is the right approach as without privacy safeguards all the recently launched projects of Indian government are “unconstitutional”.

We are working on making right to privacy a fundamental right. It is likely to be tabled in the monsoon session of Parliament. However, it's difficult to commit the timeframe, law minister Veerappa Moily said.

The right to privacy would include the right to confidentiality of communication, confidentiality of private or family life, protection of his honour and good name, protection from search, detention or exposure of lawful communication between individuals, privacy from surveillance, confidentiality of banking, financial, medical and legal information, protection from identity theft of various kinds, protection of use of a person's photographs, fingerprints, DNA samples and other samples taken at police stations and other places and protection of data relating to individual.

Many of these are already observed at a practical level. For example, it's a part of professional ethics of a lawyer or a doctor not to reveal details about clients or patients. The same applies for the banking sector. Apart from strengthening norms for interception of communication, the proposed Act will guarantee an individual's right to privacy. It's similar in the way the Constitution guarantees existing fundamental rights like right to equality, right to freedom of expression etc," explained a senior law ministry official.

The proposed legislation must be enacted keeping in mind the techno legal aspects. Technology would create serious challenges before Indian government and necessary provisions must be incorporated to deal with the same in future.

The Truth Of Aadhar Project And UIDAI

Aadhar Project of India or Unique Identification Project of India (UID Project of India) is a real “Dangerous Project” that should not be there at the very first place. It is based upon Deceit and Deception and both Indian Government and Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) are Hiding Truth from Indians. There is no Legal Framework, no defined Policies and Guidelines and most importantly no Procedural and Civil Liberty Safeguards.

Aadhar and UIDAI are just giving dreams and nothing more. How many poor people have been benefited from Aadhar Number so far? Practically none and none would be. Aadhar Project has many Deficiencies and Fallacies. Not only Aadhar and UIDAI are Illegal and Unconstitutional but they would also contribute to the E-Surveillance Powers of Indian Government.

From my experience so far, Aadhar is portrayed as a Welfare Scheme but is nothing more than a booty sharing for big companies and an E-Surveillance Instrumentality for Indian Government. I have personally E-mailed these concerns to Nandan Nilekani but UIDAI is not willing to hear anything.

Nandan Nilekani, Chairman of UIDAI, along with Planning Commission secretary Sudha Pillai, appeared before Parliament’s Standing Committee on Finance where many Members expressed their reservations about the Aadhar Project. Questions were asked about the need, non mandatory nature of the project, multiplicity of cards in India, etc.

Nandan Nilekani even failed to answer the simple questions posed by Committee. This is obvious as Nandan or UIDAI cannot answer the questions of Privacy Violation, real purpose of Aadhar, evil intentions of Aadhar etc.

In fact, through lobbying and pressure tactics Aadhar number has been made “Mandatory” for almost all Public Services. If Aadhar and UIDAI are that fair why are they making it mandatory? Let it be Optional and all those who desire to have it may opt for it. By imposing it upon Indians and clubbing it with essential Public Services the evil intentions of Aadhar are even more apparent. What is more surprising is that neither Indian Government nor UIDAI raised any objections to such arm twisting techniques and imposition of Aadhar Number for essential Public Services.

The Aadhar Project and UIDAI have hired public relation, media agencies and brand protection companies that are doing their level best to spread rumours about benefits of Aadhar number. If this is not enough, Google is Censoring critical views about Aadhar Project and UIDAI.

In my personal opinion, India is not yet ready for either Aadhar Project/UID Project or UIDAI. In fact, both Aadhar and UIDAI are “Highly Undesirable” at this stage. Aadhar and UIDAI must be preceded by a Constitutionally Sound Legal Framework and Parliamentary Oversight. Both of these are missing presently making it an “Unconstitutional Project”.

Constitutionally preparation of a Legislation/Bill is the duty of Indian Government and it must be passed by the Parliament of India. In this case, an authority like UIDAI is suggesting the Bill that (UIDAI) itself is devoid of any Constitutional Validity. Though there is nothing wrong if Private Individuals suggest such a Framework but its Adoption and Implementation must be serious. Ideally Indian Government must come up with its own Bill on Aadhar Project as even the Bill by UIDAI is mere “Eyewash” and does not make much difference. Even if it is passed by Parliament of India, the Unconstitutional Nature of the Aadhar Project and UIDA would remain the same.

I found it really surprising the way the Bill prepared by UIDAI was cleared by Cabinet and introduced in the Parliament. Many issues, including Profiling, Privacy Safeguards, Civil Liberties Protection, E-Surveillance, etc have been totally neglected by UIDAI and Cabinet and perhaps would be ignored by the Parliament of India as well.

The present exercise of taking Biometric Details of Indians is simply “Unconstitutional”. A Project and Authority without any Legal Sanction and Parliamentary Oversight cannot indulge in these activities on such a mass scale. I believe the Government of India is violating various Civil Liberties of Indian though Aadhar Project and UIDAI by making it, Directly and Indirectly, Relevant and Mandatory.

Initially, UIDAI said that Aadhar Number would be optional. Now District likes Mysore and many Banks and other Public Services Delivery Institutions have made UID Number Mandatory for various Public Services even though UIDAI claims it to be Optional. Practically UID never was, and never will be, Optional. This would have serious ramifications, both legal and otherwise.

There are great chances that Biometric Details of Indian would be shared with Intelligence Agencies of India and Law Enforcement Agencies of India. Projects like National Intelligence Grid (NATGRID), Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems (CCTNS). Central Monitoring System (CMS), etc would love to utilise these Biometric Details.

In short, Aadhar Project of India is always portrayed as a Welfare Scheme. In reality, Aadhar Project and UIDAI have Evil Intentions. In fact, Aadhar Project and UIDAI are the Most Evil Projects of India till now. What is more surprising is why this E-surveillance and Big Brother Project has not been Scrapped by the Prime Minister’s office (PMO).But the real fault lies with the Parliament of India that is at fault for Abdicating its Legislative Duties under the Constitution of India.

I hope this article would not be Censored by either the E-Police State of India or Google so that Democratic Rights and Right to Speech and Expression can be freely exercised by us.