Surveillance

Mainstream, VOL 62 No 15, April 13, 2024

Part 4 Why Justice Sikri’s order on Aadhaar project and Aadhaar Act is unconstitutional – | Gopal Krishna Friday 12 April 2024 https://mainstreamweekly.net/article14531.html

UIDAI’s UID/Aadhaar identifier project is not a scheme in isolation. These UID/Aadhaar linked initiatives are part of 360° surveillance initiative to record every aspect of Indians based on convergence of every imaginable database in furtherance of World Bank’s eTranform Initiative launched in partnership with France and South Korea as well as six MNCs Gemalto, IBM, L-1 Identity Solutions, Microsoft and Pfizer.

In his role as Secretary, Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DEITY), Satyanarayana informed the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information Technology that he had no problem if intelligence agencies continue to collect the meta data of Indians in the wake of disclosures by Edward Snowden. Notably, the UID project which began in the DEITY and returned to DEITY which has been renamed as Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITY) after spending its formative years in the erstwhile Planning Commission of India. Given the fact that Criminal Procedure (Identification) Act 2022 has been enacted after the enactment of Aadhaar Act 2016 and the enactment of The DNA Technology (Use and Application) Regulation Bill, 2019 is imminent, it is apparent that UID, NPR, NJDG and ICJS are part of one and the same surveillance architecture, which is essentially a project of Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA). MHA and MEITY’s UIDAI are oblivious of the fact that metadata has the ability to redefine human existence in ways which are yet fully to be perceived. Mining of meta data results in the creation of new knowledge about individuals; something which even she/he did not possess.

Part 5 Deactivating and Omitting Citizenship?| Gopal Krishna 024 https://mainstreamweekly.net/article14573.html Saturday 20 April 2 Mainstream, VOL 62 No 16-17, April 20, April 27, 2024 will efforts to undermine the fundamental right of Indians to move and transact freely around the country and to live without constantly having to prove who they are going to succeed or fail the test of constitutional morality, constitutionalism, and the constitution...

It is surprising that such a process of de-activation of Aadhaar Cards without any prior intimation and also without giving any opportunity of being heard to the card holders is in gross violation of the Regulation 29(1) of Aadhaar (Enrolment and Update) Regulations, 2016 and also in gross violation of natural justice….Every citizen in the State is in a state of fear on this matter I would like to know from you about the causes for such sudden action of de-activation of Aadhaar Cards without assigning reasons.”

..The personal sensitive information like biometric data that is collected in myriad disguises and through numerous tempting claims about its benefits is going to be purchased by banks and other financial institutions to be correlated with other data, and used for purposes that was neither agreed nor foreseen...

..The flawed assumption of Government of India that the benefits of biometric systems are sufficient to warrant use of biometric technology for financial transactions is misplaced. The citizens who are succumbing to such presumption are doing so because they are not informed about potential risks. The blatant use of financial rewards akin to bribes to promote citizen’s participation in biometric identification programs sets a very harmful precedent as it violates the principle of free and informed consent. Informed citizens and democratic legislatures can respond to it only through non-cooperation, civil disobedience and voting against parties which support the banker-biometric technology vendor nexus.

Srinivas Kodali (@digitaldutta) Tweeted:
New policing practices alert: stop and search phone chats by the @hydcitypolice. Police are searching phone chats for words like ganja. Wait until they replace words with NRC, Modi or BJP.

Hyderabad: Vehicle checking in city by Excise team https://youtu.be/B4bCUC6Xhh4

The PUCL demands, the immediate withdrawal of letter conducting surveillance of the leaders of the BTP and other Adivasi organisations and demand an apology from both the ADG Intelligence who is putting all Adivasi outfits under the scanner and trying to present them as a militant group with the SP Udaipur reiterating it.

The Udaipur and Dungarpur police filed FIRs in dozens and booked thousands of Adivasis and took more than 200 Adivasis in custody, these cases need to be withdrawn, if we want to have a harmonious relationship with Adivasis in this region.

Instead of surveilling the leadership of the organizations, the police and bureaucracy should urge the CM Mr. Ashok Gehlot, to do a dialogue with all Adivasi organisations and political parties of the area, including the BTP, resolve their pressing issues of jobs, hunger, migration, implementation of the Forest Rights Act, 2006 and PESA, 1995. Incidentally, no dialogue has happened in this regard in the last twelve months with the Adivasi leaders.

Maharashtra: Activists, Lawyers Added to 'Union War Book', Listed as 'Enemies of the State' https://thewire.in/rights/maharashtra-activists-lawyers-union-war-book-enemies-of-state Sukanya Shantha 31 July 2021

The Union War Book, which has existed since the colonial era, is periodically revised, depending on the security concerns of the time.

An annexure to the book, accessed by The Wire, lists 18 different categories of “suspects”.

The list says the lawyers should be profiled for being associated with the Indian Association of People’s Lawyers (IAPL). Most lawyers who were arrested and questioned in connection with the Elgar Parishad case are directly associated with the association. During the Devendra Fadnavis-led government, the organisation was accused of being a “Maoist front”. The lawyers have, however, denied the charges.

These activists and lawyers have been added under ‘Category C’ of the Union War Book, which calls for “surveillance at all times for as long as may be necessary”.

From time to time, the “requirements” of the Union War Book are tweaked and the ‘threats’ are redefined. Sources in the state home department said that the recent exercise was done on the Union home ministry’s directive and is being carried out across the state.

Wassenaar Export Controls on Surveillance Tools: New Exemptions for Vulnerability Research https://www.lawfareblog.com/wassenaar-export-controls-surveillance-tools-new-exemptions-vulnerability-research Garrett Hinck Friday, January 5, 2018

Shedding Light on the Surveillance Industry The importance of evidence-based, impartial research https://citizenlab.ca/2013/12/shedding-light-on-the-surveillance-industry/ By Irene Poetranto
December 20, 2013 Fulfilling the demand for surveillance tools, a range of companies now sell surveillance backdoors and vulnerabilities, described as “lawful intercept” software. The term leverages the assertion that malware for surveillance and 0-days for hacking have the same status as statutorily mandated (and regulated) “lawful intercept” functionality in telecommunications equipment, when they are sold to government purchasers. As the commercial surveillance industry grows, so too must the bridges between research, policy, and advocacy communities. We must work together to ensure that the expansion of these technologies and markets is tracked with transparency, appropriate regulation, and the rule of law.

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2012/dec/26/british-company-gamma-international

Subcategories

Pegasus Affair

Page 3 of 19

Surveillance

India’s First Meta Data Case: Gopal Krishna

Searching Phone Chats.

Rajasthan Surveillance of Adivasis Organisations

Activists, Lawyers Added to 'Union War Book'

Export Control of Surveillance Tools

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Pegasus Affair

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