Centuries ago , in Rome’s Coliseum , 50 gladiators fought
one another ( and sometimes , a lion ) and 50,000 spectators cheered or booed
Last evening , on some 5 TV channels , some 50
panelists ( experts ? ) fought each other with their opposing views on Supreme
Court’s judgment re Aadhar and 50
million TV viewers listened with rapt attention
This morning , 5 newspapers ( which I read ), carried
millions of words of “ threadbare analysis “ of Aadhar verdict , by 50 authors
This is an example of how technology has re-written the
rules of the “ Entertainment Game “ since humans fought in Coliseum !
It is futile to ask :
When should Aadhar be required and when not ?
What is pertinent to ask is :
===================
Q ( 1 )
Is this judgment “
implementable / enforceable “ ?
A ( 1 )
No
===================
Q ( 2 )
Is it at all possible to “
erase / delete “ trillions of terabytes of data of a billion people , lying on
millions of computers , not only in India but around the world ?
As of today
, some 23,286 MILLION authentication and 6,415 MILLION eKYC , have been
done
for Aadhar !
A ( 2 )
No
===================
Q ( 3 )
Can government amend the
existing Aadhar law to cover those “ uses
“ which Supreme prohibits ?
A ( 3 )
Have no
doubt that this law will get amended if BJP gets an absolute majority in 2019
It is also quite possible
that the government may introduce following IDs which may not require
amendments or a new law :
# Citizenship
Card ( like NRC in Assam )
# Ayushman Card (
for availing Ayushman Bharat Scheme benefits )
===================
Q ( 4 )
Can government include
within the definition of the “ permissible services
“ direct monetary subsidies such as Rs 1 lakh to buyers of Electric cars
( under FAME 2 ) ? or scholarships to students ? ( Given through DBT )
A ( 4 )
Govt will
try to convert every “ service “ rendered to citizens into some “ Monetary Value “ and then transfer such
“ money “ through DBT into the bank account of the beneficiary , by calling it a “ subsidy “
Eg : Rs
2,000 for issue / renewal of a passport ?
=================
Q ( 5 )
Supreme court’s judgment seeks
to strike a balance between the “ privacy “ of individual citizens ( data which
he is forced to surrender for getting certain benefits ) and the larger good of
the entire society .
But can Supreme Court or
the government prevent a person from voluntarily parting with his personal /
private data to anyone he chooses to give ? And protect him against its misuse
?
A ( 5 )
No way !
In Aadhar , privacy stands for the “ private
data “ furnished , viz : Name / Year of
Birth / Gendre / Address / Photo / Finger
Print / Iris Scan
Why so much
fuss about this scanty personal data , when those
very,
·
Hon Judges of the Supreme Court
·
Expert Panelists
·
Erudite Authors ,
have themselves, willingly handed over to
·
Search Engines
·
E Commerce sites
·
Mobile apps ( incuding WhatsApp / Skype /
FaceTime )
·
Banks / Mobile wallet Companies
·
Number of Govt Agencies
·
Service web sites
·
ISPs
·
Mobile Service Providers etc ,
their own following
“ personal / private “ data ?
( most
willingly / in a matter of seconds / without a protest / with FULL permission
to do
with those data whatever they like under “ I
accept the TERMS “ click )
·
Personal Details ( Name / DOB / Gender
/ Nationality / Bank Account No / Photo /
Aadhar Number / PAN etc )
·
Family Details ( Who are members of
immediate family ? )
·
Contact Details ( Address / Mobile No
/ Email ID / Skype - FaceTime ID /
WhatsApp .. etc )
·
Social Media Footprint , consisting of surreptitiously compiled data such
as :
· #
Who I am ( name )
· #
Where and when, I was born / who were my parents
· #
Where I grew up / where I live currently
· #
Do I live in a rented place or in an owned flat
· #
What Schools / Colleges I attended (- and degrees I acquired )
· #
What Companies I worked for and salaries I got
· #
How do I travel to work (own vehicle or public transport )
· #
Where I go for my holidays / what books I read
· # Who
I married and who are my children (- and how many )
· # If
divorced, how much alimony I pay and to whom
· # Where
do I invest my money ( Banks – Funds – Equity etc )
· # How
much I have borrowed, from whom, and for how long
· # My
Credit Rating ( including my spending history / card wise – wallet wise )
· # What
are my eating ( food ) preferences and the restaurants I visit
· # What
I do for entertainment ( Music / Movies / Videos )
· # What
clothes I wear and how often do I buy
· # Who
are my friends and how often I phone / text them / meet them
· # What
ailments I suffer from and what medicines I take
· # What
minor offences ( traffic ) or crimes that I have committed
· # What
elections I have contested ( won and lost )
· # Who
are my doctors / lawyers / brokers / agents etc
· # What
web sites I visit and how often and for how long
· # What
do I search on the Net / what RSS feeds I subscribe to
· # What
TV channels I watch and Radio Stations that I listen to
· # Every
photo of mine ever taken ( selfie or otherwise )
· # Every
phone call that I ever made or received ( from my mobile )
· # Every
Email / Text message that I ever sent or received
· # Every
blog / comment that I ever posted on the Web
· # Every
face-to-face communication that I engaged in
· #
What “ moods “ I am experiencing 24*365 ( picked up by everything that I
wear )
# Cultural Exposure ( Countries visited /
lived-in, with stay-periods / Foreign friends )
# Educational Details ( Degrees /
Colleges )
# Language Details ( Languages spoken /
fluently - reasonably well )
# Experience Details ( Where worked / for
how long ) .
====================
Q
( 6 )
Is there some simple / elegant way in which citizen’s
private data can be protected ( from
unauthorized misuse by the social
media ) and enable the citizens to earn some money by
selling their ( aggregated /
anonymized ) data ?
A ( 6 )
Yes !
By govt incorporating into the proposed “ DATA PROTECTION
BILL “ , elements of :
REFERENCES :
WHO MIGHT
WANT TO READ
THIS ?
[
apart from TV Anchors / News Editors
]
'ssbhalla@gmail.com'
'bibek.debroy@gov.in'
'ashima@igidr.ac.in'
'rr1@nipfp.org.in'
'ratanp.watal@gov.in'
'ceo-niti@nic.in'
'amitabh.kant@nic.in'
27 Sept
2018
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