Why Aadhar Project And UIDAI Are Dangerous

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Unique identification project (UID project) or 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). In this interview of Praveen Dalal, managing partner of New Delhi based ICT Law Firm Perry4Law and a Supreme Court Lawyer, he has shared his opinion and concerns regarding Aadhar project and UIDAI.

Q 1. Is India ready for a controversial project like Aadhar?

A 1. In my personal opinion, India is not yet ready for either Aadhar Project/UID Project or Unique Identification Authority of India (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”.

Q 2. What is the process of making a constitutionally sound law in India?

A 2. 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. 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.

Q-3. What are the serious concerns that have been ignored by Indian Government, UIDAI and Indian Cabinet?

A-3 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.

Q 4. How do you see the present activities of Aadhar project and UIDAI?

A 4. 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.

Q-5. Is Aadhar project and UIDAI still not governed by any legal framework and what are the recent developments in this regard?

A 5 Yes. Till now the position has not changed. Rather it has become worst where the District like Mysore has 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.

Q 6. What are the possible Civil Liberty violations that Indians can face in near future?

A 6. 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.

The Dangers Of Aadhar Project And UIDAI

Unique identification project (UID project) or 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). In this interview of Praveen Dalal, managing partner of New Delhi based ICT Law Firm Perry4Law and a Supreme Court Lawyer, he has shared his opinion and concerns regarding Aadhar project and UIDAI.

Q 1. Is India ready for a controversial project like Aadhar?

A 1. In my personal opinion, India is not yet ready for either Aadhar Project/UID Project or Unique Identification Authority of India (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”.

Q 2. What is the process of making a constitutionally sound law in India?

A 2. 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. 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.

Q-3. What are the serious concerns that have been ignored by Indian Government, UIDAI and Indian Cabinet?

A-3 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.

Q 4. How do you see the present activities of Aadhar project and UIDAI?

A 4. 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.

Q-5. Is Aadhar project and UIDAI still not governed by any legal framework and what are the recent developments in this regard?

A 5 Yes. Till now the position has not changed. Rather it has become worst where the District like Mysore has 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.

Q 6. What are the possible Civil Liberty violations that Indians can face in near future?

A 6. 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.

Public Private Partnership And Internal Security Of India

If you are a security vendor or service provider you must have realised that the internal security and defence sectors are systematically being opened for private participants. Traditionally, these fields were reserved for the governments as its sovereign functions.

Even in India we are witnessing an increasing use of public private partnership (PPP) model for managing internal security and defence related functions of the state. Indian government is increasingly becoming liberal in this regard and is offering a joint partnership for the same.

This is natural as well as the contemporary security issues like Cyber Security and Cyber Forensics are no more within the service domain of Indian Government. These areas require domain specific expertise that only private individuals and organisations can provide, says Praveen Dalal, managing partner of Perry4Law Techno Legal Base (PTLB) and CEO of India’s exclusive techno legal Cyber Security Research, Training and Education Centre in India (CSRTCI). In fact, the entire Homeland Security in India is one such area that would be guided by a PPP Model in future, informs Dalal.

Indian government has said that it is ready to accept participation of private players in internal security area provided they spend at least 5 to 7 per cent of their profits in research and development (R&D) to get cutting edge technology. This is a genuine demand as we have very few research and development centers in India for internal security and homeland security.

For instance, India has a single techno legal cyber security research and development centre managed by PTLB. Similarly, India has a single techno legal cyber forensics research and development centre managed by PTLB. We need more such techno legal institutions in India.

Home Ministry of India and other Ministries of India have launched projects like central monitoring system (CMS), national intelligence grid (Natgrid), Aadhar, crime and criminal tracking network and systems (CCTNS), etc that also need domain specific expertise. Even for these projects, private individuals and organisations are helping Indian government to implement the same.

PPP in India is going to stay for internal security, defence and homeland security related fields. It is for the private companies to capatilise these opportunities.

Modernisation Of Police Force Of India

This is a “Guest Column” by Mr. Praveen Dalal, Managing Partner of Perry4Law and leading techno-legal expert of India. In this article, Mr. Praveen Dalal has discussed the requirements of modernisation of police force of India. He asserts that ambitious projects like CCTNS, Natgrid, NCTC, Central Monitoring System (CMS), etc requires techno legal expertise. Law enforcement agencies of India must be aware of both technical as well as legal requirements in order to derive maximum benefits out of these projects, asserts Praveen Dalal.

No time in the history of India we needed modernisation of police forces of India than now. Fortunately, there is no dearth of financial resources as even the proposed 2011 budget has provided reasonably good amount for the same. Home Ministry of India recently received a large sum of money from Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee. The same would be used for many national security projects of India.

Some of the national security projects that are presently launched by Home Ministry include National Intelligence Grid (NATGRID), Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems (CCTNS) Project of India (CCTNS Project), Central Monitoring System (CMS) of India, etc. It does not mean that Indian police force would be modernised and made more efficient immediately. Even there is no guarantee of the same for the next five years till these promises are supported by a political will to execute the same.

The indications are positive and so may be the outcomes. The need of the hour is to purse the commitment till the same is accomplished. Many crucial projects in India have failed because though they were started with the right planning and commitment yet till the end neither planning nor commitment survived.

India cannot afford to adopt this lax strategy at this crucial period of time when cyber crimes and cyber attacks, terrorism and cyber terrorism, organised crimes, trans border crimes, white collar crimes, etc are plaguing India.

With the active use of technology, these crimes have further been made difficult to trace as well as to be prosecuted. For instance, it took Computer Emergency Response Team-India (CERT-In) and Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) four months to ascertain the basic level information about the attackers who defaced CBI’s website.

At this stage it would be imperative to mention the importance of suitable training to law enforcement manpower. The ambitious projects CCTNS, NATGRID, Unique Identification Project of India (UID Project), etc cannot survive in the long run in the absence of suitable Policies, Trainings and Legal Framework.

Equally important are the issues of Legal Empowerment of Law Enforcement Machinery in India. India is negligent in formulating good laws governing the law enforcement machinery. In the absence of good legislative provisions, the performance of police force cannot be expected to be good. It is only now that the Central Bureau of Investigation Act 2010 and Delhi Police Act have been drafted. They would be presented in the Parliament of India and may become enforceable law one day. Besides, political interferences in the day to day functioning of police forces in India must be minimised.

With positive hints being given by Indian Government, we can expect some good legislative steps by Parliament of India in the forthcoming session. A good law bringing transparency, accountability, flexibility and autonomy to police forces in India is the urgent need of the hour. I wish Indian Parliament all the best in this regard.

The Intelligence Services (Powers and Regulation) Bill, 2011

Has it ever occurred to you that the law enforcement agencies that helps in the upholding the laws of India are themselves not governed by any law. This equally applies to intelligence agencies of India. In fact, intelligence infrastructure of India is in big mess and India is not at all ready for projects like CCTNS, Natgrid, NCTC, etc.

It is no surprise that the central bureau of India (CBI) is also not governed by any law and it is operating in India without any law. It is only now that the central bureau of investigation act 2010 was drafted. Till now it is a mere draft and has not become an enforceable law. Even the constitutional validity of the national investigation agency act 2008 is doubtful.

India has been indifferent towards legal framework for law enforcement and intelligence agencies for long. This may also be attributable to the fact that Centre State relationship is very complicated and law enforcement is a State subject for legislation. However, the net result was that law enforcement and intelligence agencies of India are not regulated by any Parliamentary oversight. Even there is no lawful interception law in India and India does not bother to maintain a balance between national security and fundamental rights of Indians.

In this background the recent circulation of the draft Intelligence Services (Powers and Regulations) Bill, 2011 (Draft Intelligence Bill 2011) in the Lok Sabha came as a pleasant surprise. Presently, Intelligence Agencies of India are not governed by any Legal Framework and they are not under Parliamentary Scrutiny, informs Praveen Dalal, leading techno legal expert of India and a Supreme Court lawyer. This is a serious “Constitutional Issue” as exercise of Law Enforcement and Intelligence Powers without any “Constitutionally Valid Law” is serious violations of Constitutional provisions, opines Dalal. Finally, some sort of law making has been sought that would also bring Transparency and Accountability among the Intelligence Operations in India, suggests Dalal.

However, the proposed Bill requires some fine tuning before it is finally passed. According to Dalal there are many “Techno Legal and Constitutional Issues” that are “still missing” from the Bill. The Bill is a very good beginning though it requires many “improvements” before it is finally passed by both the Houses of Parliament. I hope and wish the Modified and Improved Bill would become an applicable law very soon, says Dalal.

Whatever the fate of the Bill may be, at least a good beginning has been made. It would have been better if opinion and suggestions of techno legal experts would have also been incorporated. But still something is better than nothing.

National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC) Of India

Intelligence agencies of India such as Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), Aviation Research Centre (ARC), Intelligence Bureau (IB), National Technical Research Organisation (NTRO) and Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA), etc are working separately and independently in India.

There is no coordination and collaboration between these agencies and at times of crisis this becomes fatal as well. There is no centralised mechanism that can govern and assist in effective and instant collaboration and coordination between these agencies.

In this background, establishment of the National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC) was proposed by the Home Minister P. Chidambaram. According to the proposal, the NCTC would function as an umbrella outfit under the Home Ministry with representation from all security and intelligence agencies, including those working directly under the Prime Minister's Office (PMO), the Defence Ministry and the Finance Ministry.

Projects like national intelligence grid (Natgrid), crime and criminal tracking and systems (CCTNS), central monitoring system (CMS), Aadhar project/UID project, etc were also launched to strengthen NCTC. The purpose was to have real time intelligence information sharing among law enforcement and various security agencies.

Neither NCTC nor projects like Natgrid, CCTNS, CMS and Aadhar would be successful if the various intelligence agencies keep on guarding their own turf. The whole purpose of “collective intelligence” would fail if these agencies keep on operating independently.

Further, there is an urgent need to bring these intelligence agencies under Parliament scrutiny and accountability. Presently there is no Parliamentary oversight of these intelligence agencies.

Cloud Computing in India Is Risky

The moment we heard about cloud computing, a question comes to our mind. The question is whether cloud computing in India is safe and secure? In other words, is India ready for cloud computing and should India use cloud computing?

India has no legal framework that can help in the safe, secure and successful use of cloud computing. For instance, India does not have data security and cyber security laws. This means crucial and sensitive data is not safe in India. Even the cyber law of India is a weak and ineffective law to deal with data breaches and cyber security breaches.

Similarly, there are no cloud computing regulations in India. With an ever increasing hunger for e-surveillance in India by Indian government and its agencies, cloud computing is a sure method of unlawful and illegal e-surveillance and interceptions. Even research in motion (RIM) has arranged for an architecture that allows Indian intelligence agencies to snoop upon blackberry messenger services at will and in real time.

Cloud computing in India also cannot be successful because of absence of privacy laws in India. In fact, cloud computing is a landmine for privacy rights in India. There is no reason whatsoever that cloud computing would not violate privacy rights, data protection principles and data security practices in India.

The truth is that India is still not ready for concepts like m-commerce and cloud computing. Cloud computing is a risky business from all counts.

Before cloud computing is imposed upon Indian citizens, Indian government must ensure a constitutionally sound privacy law for India. Absence of privacy laws in India has already made projects like Aadhar, Natgrid, CCTNS, central monitoring system, etc unconstitutional.

In the absence of legal framework for cloud computing in India and privacy laws in India, cloud computing is risky and must be avoided by private and government players.

PMO Is Supporting Unconstitutional Aadhar Project And UIDAI

Unique identification project of India (UID project) or Aadhar project of India is one of the most offensive and undesirable project of India. It is not supported by any legal framework and is outside Parliamentary scrutiny. This makes it illegal and unconstitutional.

Despite these serious shortcomings and unconstitutional nature, both Aadhar project and unique identification authority of India (UIDAI) managed to survive so long due to the simple reason that our Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) and Planning Commission have extended their “blind and unthoughtful support” to Aadhar project and UIDAI.

The truth is that Indian government and UIDAI are fooling Indian citizens regarding the nature and purpose of Aadhar project. The real purpose of Aadhar project is to make it the most offensive and unaccountable tool of e-surveillance.

Presently, there is No Parliamentary Oversight of projects like Aadhar/UID, national intelligence grid (Natgrid), criminal tracking network and systems (CCTNS), central monitoring system (CMS), etc. If we add biometric data with other data gather by National Census and National Population Register of India and supplement it with projects like Natgrid, CCTNS, CMS, etc, an endemic e-surveillance model is apparent.

This is the reason why Indian government has deliberately failed to enact suitable procedural, constitutional and civil liberty safeguards to prevent abuses by these projects. Even the basic level privacy law in India is missing.

Unfortunately, the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) has not been considering civil liberties and procedural safeguards while supervising these controversial projects. Even our Parliament has not been performing its legislative businesses these days.

These projects have seriously disturbed the delicate balance of powers between the Executive, Judiciary and Parliament of India. Experts have doubted that Separation of Power no longer exists in India. With Executive taking control of entire constitutional powers, Parliament and Judiciary are looking helplessly. This is a situation that requires immediate attention lest it is too late to remedy the situation.

Aadhar Project And UIDAI Are Unconstitutional

Under the maze of media propaganda and false promises lies the naked truth regarding unique identification project of India (UID project of India) or Aadhar project of India. The truth is far more bitter and dangerous than as has been appreciated by few civil liberty activists of India.

The truth is that Aadhar project of India is not a social inclusion project but a social oppression instrumentality in the hands of Indian government. There is no second purpose of Aadhar project but to engage in illegal and unconstitutional e-surveillance in India.

According to Praveen Dalal, a Supreme Court Lawyer and leading techno legal expert of India, India does not have a “Constitutionally Sound” phone tapping and lawful interception law. Even projects like National Intelligence Grid (NATGRID), CCTNS, Aadhar, etc are without any Legal Framework, informs Praveen Dalal. So much so that even after the passing of the National Identification Authority of India Bill 2010 (NIDAI Bill 2010), both Aadhar project and UIDAI are “Unconstitutional”, opines Praveen Dalal.

India must maintain a balance between civil liberties like privacy rights on the on hand and national security and e-surveillance requirements on the other. Giving exclusive primacy of one over other is not desirable.

The privacy matter is pending before the Supreme Court of India and it would be a good idea if the court formulates suitable and effective guidelines subject to which alone the Indian government and its instrumentalities can exercise lawful interception and e-surveillance powers. However, nothing can substitute a well though and much discussed lawful interception law in India by Parliament of India.