Critique of the Aadhaar Bill 2016

About the Aadhaar Bill 2016

FAQ on the Aadhaar Project and the Bill

This FAQ attempts to address the key questions regarding the Aadhaar/UIDAI project and the Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and Other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Bill, 2016. We will continue to add questions to this list, and edit/expand the answers, based on our ongoing research.

The New Aadhaar Bill in Plain English

This post summarizes the provisions of Aadhaar Bill 2016 in a simplified language.

What's New in the Aadhaar Bill 2016?

Simple comparison of the texts of the The National Identification Authority of India Bill, 2010 and The Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Bill, 2016.

Comparison of the Aadhaar Bill 2016 and the NIAI Bill 2010

A detailed provision-by-provision comparison of the Bills.

Salient Points in the Aadhaar Bill and Concerns

This post contributes to the growing body of analysis and critique of the Aadhaar Bill 2016, and foregrounds the major concerns identified by CIS with the Bill.

Public Statements and Letters

An Urgent Need for the Right to Privacy

Along with a group of individuals and organisations from academia and civil society, we have drafted and are signatories to an open letter addressed to the Union government and urging the same to "urgently take steps to uphold the constitutional basis to the right to privacy and fulfil it’s constitutional and international obligations." Here we publish the text of the open letter. Please follow the link below to support it by joining the signatories.

List of Recommendations on the Aadhaar Bill, 2016 - Letter Submitted to the Members of Parliament

On Friday, March 11, the Aadhaar Bill, 2016, was introduced and passed as a money bill and there was no public consultation to evaluate the provisions therein even though there are very serious ramifications for the Right to Privacy and the Right to Association and Assembly. Based on these concerns, and numerous others, we submitted an initial list of recommendations to the Members of Parliaments to highlight the aspects of the Bill that require immediate attention.

Press Release, March 15, 2016: The New Bill Makes Aadhaar Compulsory!

We published and circulated the following press release on March 15, 2016, to highlight the fact that the Section 7 of the Aadhaar Bill, 2016 states that authentication of the person using her/his Aadhaar number can be made mandatory for the purpose of disbursement of government subsidies, benefits, and services; and in case the person does not have an Aadhaar number, s/he will have to apply for Aadhaar enrolment.

Press Release, March 11, 2016: The Law cannot Fix what Technology has Broken!

We published and circulated the following press release on March 11, 2016, as the Lok Sabha passed the Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and Other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Bill, 2016. This Bill was proposed by finance minister, Mr. Arun Jaitley to give legislative backing to Aadhaar, being implemented by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI).

Infographics

Can the Aadhaar Act 2016 be Classified as a Money Bill?

In this infographic, we show if the Aadhaar Act 2016, recently tabled in and passed by the Lok Sabha as a money bill, can be classified as a money bill. The infographic is designed by Pooja Saxena, based on information compiled by Amber Sinha and Sumandro Chattapadhyay.

Can the Matters Dealt with in the Aadhaar Act be the Objects of a Money Bill?

In this infographic, we highlight the matters dealt with in the Aadhaar Act 2016, recently tabled in and passed by the Lok Sabha as a money bill, and consider if these can be objects of a money bill. The infographic is designed by Pooja Saxena, based on information compiled by Sumandro Chattapadhyay and Amber Sinha.

Vulnerabilities in the UIDAI Implementation Not Addressed by the Aadhaar Bill, 2016

In this infographic, we document the various issues in the Aadhaar enrolment process implemented by the UIDAI, and highlight the vulnerabilities that the Aadhaar Bill, 2016 does not address.

Aadhaar Bill 2016 Evaluated against the National Privacy Principles

In this infographic, we evaluate the privacy provisions of the Aadhaar Bill 2016 against the national privacy principles developed by the Group of Experts on Privacy led by the Former Chief Justice A.P. Shah in 2012.

Legal Critique of the Aadhaar Bill 2016

Analysis of Aadhaar Act in the Context of A.P. Shah Committee Principles

In October 2012, the Group of Experts on Privacy constituted by the Planning Commission under the chairmanship of Justice AP Shah Committee submitted its report which listed nine principles of privacy which all legislations, especially those dealing with personal should adhere to. In this paper, we shall discuss how the Aadhaar Act fares vis-à-vis these nine principles.

Aadhaar Act and its Non-compliance with Data Protection Law in India

This post compares the provisions of the Aadhaar Act, 2016, with India's data protection regime as articulated in the Information Technology (Reasonable Security Practices and Procedures and Sensitive Personal Data or Information) Rules, 2011.

Aadhaar Bill Fails to Incorporate Suggestions by the Standing Committee

An analysis of how recommendations made by the Standing Committee on UID were not incorporated in the Aadhaar Bill 2016.

Govt Narrative on Aadhaar has Not Changed in the Last Six Years: Sunil Abraham

In this article, Sunil Abraham says that bill is fundamentally the same as the UPA version, with some cosmetic changes, and some token statements towards the "right to privacy."

Privacy Concerns Overshadow Monetary Benefits of Aadhaar Scheme

Amber Sinha and Pranesh Prakash discuss how the privacy concerns remain, and are reinforced through loopholes, in the Aadhaar Bill 2016.

Technical Critique of the Aadhaar / UIDAI Project

Flaws in the UIDAI Process

The accuracy of biometric identification depends on the chance of a false positive: the probability that the identifiers of two persons will match. An experiment performed at an early stage of the programme has allowed us to estimate the chance of a false positive. For the current population of 1.2 billion the expected proportion of duplicands is 1/121, a ratio which is far too high.

Aadhaar is Actually Surveillance Tech: Sunil Abraham

In this interview, Sunil Abraham argues that the concept of Aadhaar is fundamentally flawed, and it doesn't substantially help in plugging leakages in government schemes.