National
Vulnerability of personal data for Aadhaar violation of rights, SC told
New Delhi, Feb. Feb 7 (IANS) The Supreme Court on Wednesday was told that vulnerability of citizens’ demographic and biometric data collected under Aadhaar to leaks is itself the violation of their right to privacy.
“Vulnerability (of personal data collected under Aadhaar to leaks) is violation of rights,” senior counsel Kapil Sibal told the five judge constitution bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra.
Appearing for West Bengal government, Sibal said that the functioning of the digital world was vulnerable to the sabotage and pointed out no other country in the world has such a centralised demographic and biometric data of its citizens.
Telling the court that there was “no system of the world that can’t be hacked”, he said if one goes to railway booking counter and feeds Aadhaar number, then it would reveal all journeys they had undertaken by trains in the past.
Pointing out that same was the case with air journeys, Sibal asked: “Why should the state know where I am going and what I am doing?”
At this, Justice A.K. Sikri recounted how he once took his wife for a Chinese dinner and asked for a rice dish they had eaten during their last visit five months back but whose name they ere not able to recollect. After a short while, the waiter returned with the print-out of their five month old bill.
Justice D.Y. Chandrachud described the entire episode as “scary”.
A statute, Sibal said, has to be “consistent with the provisions of the constitution” and citing Section 57 of the Aadhaar Act, 2016 asserted that the provision, it was a person’s choice to produce Aadhaar number to establish their identity.
When Justice Ashok Bhushan said that under the said provision, Aadhaar can be used to establish the identity of the persons under other statutes, Sibal said that any interpretation other than that it was voluntary to use Aadhaar for establishing one’s identity would be “horrendous”.
As Justice Bhushan asked: “What is wrong with one nation, one identity? We are all Indians”, Sibal said: “Yes we are all Indians. Passionately Indian. But we are more than our Aadhaars.”
Further dwelling on his arguments, Sibal said, “Digital world knows more about you, than you know about yourself.”
He told the court that there is an app called “moodpanda which rates and tracks your mood”and in a lighter vein told the bench “We would love to use it to see Your Lordships’ mood in the Aadhaar case.”
“Unlike smart cards which require several pieces of sophisticated equipment such as a card skimmer and card printer in addition to sophisticated software and advanced technical knowledge, most biometric readers in India today can be defeated by a child with no technical knowledge using Fevicol and wax,” he claimed.
Besides West Bengal government, the former Karnataka High Court judge K.S. Puttuswamy, Magsaysay awardee Shanta Sinha, feminist researcher Kalyani Sen Menon and others have assailed the constitutional validity of Aadhaar Act on the touchstone of the fundamental right to privacy.
Hearing will continue on Thursday.
–IANS
pk/vd
Lucknow: Vishal Singh, a renowned social worker from Lucknow, also known as Foodman, has once again made India proud. He was honored by the Happy Hands Gloves Cooperative Limited Company in Korathai, Thailand, for his work with the Hunger Free World Mission.
The Hunger Free World Mission’s meeting was held in Korathai, Thailand, under Vishal Singh’s leadership. Representatives from several countries, including Mr. Raja Dwivedi (Managing Director of Happy Hands Gloves Limited), Thailand Coordinator Mr. Raja Mishra, and member Mr. Varun Singh, attended the event.
Under Vishal Singh’s leadership, the attendees took a pledge to work together toward creating a hunger-free world.
Speaking on the occasion, Vishal Singh explained that the main goal of the Hunger Free World Mission is social participation. He said the mission is not just about feeding people but also about meeting other basic needs of those who are struggling. The mission focuses on helping families of terminally ill patients in hospitals by providing food and shelter. It also works to fulfill essential needs like education, jobs, and care for the elderly.
For the last 16 years, the Vijay Sri Foundation has been providing free services, benefiting thousands of people. Vishal Singh highlighted that the mission aims to gain global recognition like other organizations such as WHO, WWF, and Red Cross, which work for social causes.
During this meeting, Vishal Singh was appointed as the Chairman of the Hunger Free World Mission by representatives from various countries. They also discussed holding regular meetings in different countries to push the mission forward.
Business tycoon Dr. Abhishek Verma has also supported this humanitarian mission, vowing to promote the idea of “Seva Parmo Dharma” (Service is the highest duty) worldwide. Vishal Singh praised him, stating that people like Dr .Abhishek Verma inspire others to work for the betterment of society.
Recently, Romania’s Ambassador, Mr . Daniela Sezonov Ţane, invited Vishal Singh to the Romanian Embassy in Delhi, where they discussed the mission in detail. Impressed by his humanitarian work, she honored Vishal Singh and invited him to Romania to take the mission forward .
Food man Vishal Singh has been serving the people of India for the past 16 years. Through the Vijay Sri Foundation, he provides free meals to cancer patients & their families ,shelter, and education for women & children along with running free old-age homes in Lucknow.
In addition to his humanitarian work, Vishal Singh also addresses issues like crime and corruption through his role as Chairman of Seva Path Media and Managing Director of Vijay Sri Foundation.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Vishal Singh and his team worked tirelessly to provide food and help to the needy, including starving children, elderly citizens, and pregnant women. Despite contracting the virus himself, he continued to assist others after his recovery. He even created a life-saving oxygen regulator using household items, which was praised by doctors both in India and abroad.
In his address at the meeting, Vishal Singh spoke about his mission to create a hunger-free world. He pointed out that India’s large population, along with issues like unemployment and poverty, has caused the country to fall on the Hunger Index. He urged people to contribute just one handful of grains daily to help create a hunger-free world.
He concluded by saying that through social participation, we can empower the people around us, meet their basic needs, and work together to build a stronger, more prosperous, and developed society.
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