This presentation explains the deceit practised by the proponents of UID - the voluntary / mandatory conundrum.

1. UID – what is it?
The Official Version
Sunday. June 20, 2010 Citizens Action Forum

2. It links every person to a unique biometric identity of
ten finger prints & iris scans.
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3. ●Kargil Committee Report, 2000
●GOM “Reforming the National Security System”
Report, 2001- MNIC: Multi-purpose National
Identity Card
●2003 NDA amends Citizenship Act – Onus on
people to enroll
●2009 UPA renames MNIC as UID: shift from a
security angle to a developmental angle
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4. ●UID project would serve a variety of purposes:
“better targeting of government’s development
schemes, regulatory purposes (including taxation
and licensing), security purposes, banking and
financial sector activities, etc
●UID will be “progressively extended to various
government programmes and regulatory agencies,
as well as private sector agencies in the banking,
financial services, mobile telephony and other
such areas.”
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5. ●UID would make it possible to open a bank
account in India with no supporting documents,
thus expanding financial inclusion
●UID would make it easier to obtain a mobile
telephone connection than at present
●UID would ensure that the public food distribution
system (PDS) in India would cease to be wasteful
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6. ●UID would eliminate corruption from the National
Rural Employment Guarantee scheme (NREGS)
●UID would help ensure and monitor attendance of
teachers in schools
●Overall, the UID project is presented as a
“technology-based solution” that would change the
face of governance in India
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7. ●UID is a number, in a central database of every
person in India, linked to his / her biometric
uniqueness, & maintained by the UIDAI
●It does not confer citizenship
●It is not an ID Card
●Govt & private parties could use it for issuing ID
cards, on payment of fees to UIDAI
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8. ●The role that the Authority envisions is to issue a
unique identification number (UID) that can be
verified and authenticated in an online, cost-
effective manner, and that is robust enough to
eliminate duplicate and fake identities.
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9. ●There is no cost estimate
●There is no Detailed Project Report
●There is no Feasibility Study
●Vague statements indicating a few thousands of
Crores of Rupees are put out, now and then
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10. ●UK’s ID Card cost was estimated by the UK Govt
to be £ 900 Million
●LSE Study estimated the cost as between £ 10.6
to £ 19.20 Billion
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11. ●One estimate put the figure at Rs. 1.5 Lakh Crores
●Current budget is Rs. 1950 Crores plus Rs. 3590
Crores for Census, which would be used for
enumeration of households and collecting data for
UID
●PM has asked for the cost to be reviewed
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12. ●UIDAI is an “attached office” of the Planning
Commission
●Parliament has not discussed the setting of
UIDAI or implementing UID
●Hence, UIDAI & UID have no legal sanction
●UIDAI is drafting a law to give UIDAI statutory
legitimacy
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13. ●Bank accounts & financial inclusion
●Phone connections
●Prevent waste in PDS
●Eliminate corruption in NREGS
●Monitor attendance of teachers in schools
None of these would be achieved
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14. ●UIDAI has never said that the origin & real
purpose of UID is for security
●Why has UIDAI NOT ever mentioned this aspect
and why has no one ever asked UIDAI about this?
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15. ●USA – Real ID Act 2005 – Status: In cold storage,
no State has approved it.
●UK – National ID Act 2005 - Scrapped
●Australia – “Australia Cards”1986 for immigration
& taxation – Withdrawn
●Canada, New Zealand, Philippines - withdrawn
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16. ●Parliamentary Standing Committee report noted:
“It is clear that this is a very significant policy issue
that could have wide implications for privacy,
security, and fiscal accountability. Indeed, it has
been suggested that it could affect fundamental
values underlying Canadian society. A broad
public review is therefore essential. The general
public must be made more aware of all aspects of
the issue, and we must hear what ordinary citizens
have to say”
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17. UK Experience & Decision - 1
●National ID Act was passed in 2005 by the
Blair Govt – Purpose: Control illegal
immigrations – Biometrics in passports
●LSE study : “In its present form the
scheme is expensive, would not achieve
its objectives & would itself be a target for
terrorists”
●Brown issued tenders to MNCs, including
Microsoft, Intel, Oracle, Cisco and IBM in
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18. UK Experience & Decision - 2
●Cameron wrote to these companies that
they would be participating in the tender at
their risk, since if the Conservative Party
came to power, they would cancel the
contracts
●The National ID was a major issue in the
UK elections in May, this year
●The first act of the new UK Govt was to
scrap the National ID scheme
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19. UK Experience & Decision -
●In scrapping the National ID card scheme,
Theresa May, Home Secretary said,
○“This [ID card] represents the worst of
government
○It is intrusive bullying
○It is an assault on individual liberty
○We are the servants of the people, not their
masters
○The Govt will destroy all data held on the National
Identity Register
○The post of Identity Commissioner will be
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20. How could UID be abused?
- 1
To understand this look at some UID lies
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21. ●It is voluntary, but service providers could
ask for it
●It would be “demand driven”
●Cloud computing would be used
●“Pay per use” would be the UID business
model
●Underplaying the “security” uses, but linking
UID database to NATGRID and allowing
security agencies – RAW, IB, CBI and police
to use it
Sunday. June 20, 2010 Citizens Action Forum

22. How could / why would, UID be
abused - 2
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●One in thirteen MPs have criminal records. MLAs are
no better
●Corruption is rampant
●Police routinely torture people
●All these would use the data to target people and
take vengeance
●UID gives unbridled power into the hands of petty
bureaucrats
●The power to deny is inherent in this power to give
and would be abused
●Rather than preventing corruption, it would aid
corrupt politicians & officials

23. What do you think you
should / could do?
Watch & wait or act to stop?
Sunday. June 20, 2010 Citizens Action Forum

24. What you could do
●Spread the word regarding the truth about UID
●Join networks that are creating awareness
among people on UID
●Participate in all campaigns against it
●Write to MPs, MLAs, CMs, Governors, Political
Party bosses
●Write to the newspapers
●Join in taking the UID issue to courts
Sunday. June 20, 2010 Citizens Action Forum