Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), Unique Identification (UID)/Aadhaar Number, National Population Register (NPR) questionable

To

Sri.Oommen Chandy
Chief Minister
Government of Kerala
Thiruvananthapuram

Subject- Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), Unique Identification (UID)/Aadhaar Number, National Population Register (NPR) and National Intelligence Grid (NATGRID) questionable

Sir,

This is with reference to a news item dated Oct 25, 2011 about “Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) Systems for homes” (http://www.yentha.com/news/view/1/14123) costing around Rs 15 per unit. This has reference also to the attached MoU signed between Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) and Government of Kerala on May 28, 2010. It is noteworthy that the US Military’s huge supplies and equipment around the world was tracked using IBM punch cards during World War II, now radio frequency identification (RFID) tags are used to do the same. RFID tags work like “wireless bar codes” which perform the task of recording, tracking, and managing.

Earlier, State Bank of Travancore (SBT) has the entered into agreement an with the Kudumbashree Mission to facilitate the extension of its financial services to villages in Kerala. The SBT is to issue smart cards with RFID facility to the customers in villages to act as yet another Identity Card.

Coincidentally, RFID technology help keep track of supplies and equipment to the battlefield at the right time and place and to secure supplies in the military operations of US Department of Defense’s (DoD) and its troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. The US Navy’s combat casualty care unit uses RFID technology to track combat casualties in Iraq through RFID chips sewn into the wristbands of naval personnel. The US Department of Defense announced the establishment of a Radio Frequency Identification Policy (RFID) on October 23, 2003. Document attached

In a similar way, India’s Unique Identification (UID)/Aadhaar Number, National Population Register (NPR) and the report of the Shri Nandan Manohar Nilekani headed Technology Advisory Group on Unique Projects (TAGUP) seems inspired by US Department of Defense Guide to Uniquely Identifying Items dated April 16, 2004 (its 1.3 version was prepared in December 2003). Document attached

We submit that installing of RFID seems to be an exercise in surveillance system. It appears to be linked with Planning Commission’s UID and Union Home Ministry’s, NPR and Capt. Raghu Raman’s National Intelligence Grid (NATGRID).

It is germane to note that a Cabinet note on NPR, UID feud (a recent news report) is under preparation Registrar-General of NPR who also happens to be the Census Commissioner, Dr C Chandramouli has refused to use the data collected by Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) because it has been using multi-point sources to collect the biometric details, which does not mandate presence of a government nominated person at the time of collection, it would not be advisable for the NPR to use them” although UIDAI claims that it will provide 200 million UID Numbers by March 2012. Both NPR which is aimed at identifying Indian citizens and UID which is aimed at Indian residents have the potential to profile minorities and political adversaries of all ilk. This apprehension is supported by National Human Rights Commission (NHRC).

In the Human Rights Newsletter (Vol. 18 No.8, August 2011) of NHRC, its submission to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance is published. It reveals that UID/Aadhaar Number has dangerous ramifications. We have also presented my views in person as well as in writing to the Parliamentary Standing Committee. We agree with the NHRC's view that UID/Aadhaar Number will lead to discrimination. Document Attached

We are in complete agreement with NHRC's views on "biometric information" that includes finger prints, iris scan, DNA and voice which has not been disclosed. Without the passage of the NIAI Bill, this information is being collected with impunity. The view of NHRC has been endorsed by the Leader of opposition in the Kerala Assembly and former Chief Minister of Kerela and Government of Gujarat besides groups that work on civil liberties.

We submit that as per Prisoner Identification Act, 1920, fingerprints of prisoners are taken with the permission of Magistrate and these records of the prisoners are destroyed on acquittal. It appears that the UID/Aadhaar Number is making all residents and citizens of India subordinate to even a prisoner's status. The Prisoner Identification Act, 1920 is available on internet.

We are attaching a seemingly strange reply from Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) in response to a RTI application which is related to the issue of "need for protection of information", "the possibility of tampering with stored biometric information" in paragraph 5 (page no. 7 of the newsletter) and "disclosure of information in the interest of national security" mentioned in paragraph 9 (page no.8 of the newsletter). Documents Attached

We wish to draw your attention towards the notice issued by NHRC to the Ministry of External Affairs in the matter of Indian students being tagged with RFID or Radio Collars by the US authorities. Both our External Affairs Minister and the Secretary, Ministry of External Affairs had termed such acts as unacceptable.

We submit that recently the former head of International Monetary Fund was also made wear RFID or radio collars when he was arrested on charges of sexual assault.

We submit that RFID appears to be linked to Islamabad based National Database & Registration Authority (NADRA) which was established in March 2000 to provide integrated homeland security solutions in Pakistan. NADRA has developed solutions based on Biometrics and RFID technology and has the largest IT infrastructure in Pakistan with highly qualified technical and managerial resources enabling NADRA to provide customized solutions to any country, as per its website. In Pakistan, RFID is being used for e–tolling in Motorways, implemented by NADRA.

We submit that like Shri Nilekani, Deputy Chairman NADRA, Tariq Malik too was awarded in Milan, Italy at the ID WORLD International Congress, the Global Summit on Automatic Identification in 2009. Shri Nilekani was given ID Limelight Award at the ID WORLD International Congress in 2010 held in Milan from November 16 to 18, 2010. One of the two Platinum Sponsors was Morpho (Safran group), a French high-technology company with three core businesses: Aerospace, Defense and Security.

Shri Nilekani was given the award "For being the force behind a transformational project ID project in India...and "to provide identification cards for each resident across the country and would be used primarily as the basis for efficient delivery of welfare services. It would also act as a tool for effective monitoring of various programs and schemes of the Government." The 10th edition of the ID WORLD International Congress is planned in Milan on November 2-4, 2011. Its key sponsors include Morpho (Safran group), a world leader in secure ID credentials solutions incorporating biometrics application in passports, visas, ID documents, health and social benefits, elections, etc. Its subsidiary, Sagem Morpho Security Pvt. Ltd has been awarded contract for the purchase of Biometric Authentication Devices on February 2, 2011 by the UIDAI. On July 30, 2010, in a joint press release, it was announced that “the Mahindra Satyam and Morpho led consortium has been selected as one of the key partners to implement and deliver the Aadhaar program by UIDAI (Unique Identification Authority of India).” This means that at least two contracts have been awarded to the French conglomerate led consortium. Is it a coincidence that Morpho (Safran group) sponsored the award to Chairman, UIDAI and the former got a contract from the latter? Is it a quid pro quo?

We submit that UIDAI awarded contracts to three companies namely, Satyam Computer Services Ltd. (Mahindra Satyam), as part of a “Morpho led consortium”, L1 Identity Solutions Operating Company and Accenture Services Pvt. Ltd of USA for the “Implementation of Biometric Solution for UIDAI” on July 30, 2010. In Aadhaar Enrolment Form, Column 9 reads: "I have no objection to the UIDAI sharing information provided by me to the UIDAI with agencies engaged in delivery of welfare services". In front of this column, there is a "Yes" and "No" option. Irrespective of what option residents of India exercise (which is being ticked automatically by the enroler in any case as of now), the fact is this information being collected for creating Centralized Identity Data Register (CIDR) and National Population Register (column 7) will be handed over to biometric technology companies like Satyam Computer Services/Sagem Morpho, L1 Identities Solutions and Accenture Services of all shades who have already been awarded contracts.

We wish to draw your attention towards what Davinder Kumar, Deputy Director General of Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) will have residents/ citizens of India believe that about the three transnational biometric technology companies working with foreign intelligence agencies namely:1) Satyam Computer Services/Sagem Morpho, 2) L1 Identities Solutions and 3) Accenture Services who have been awarded contracts by UIDAI that “There are no means to verify whether the said companies are of US origin or not” in a reply to Right to Information (RTI) application dated 21st July, 2011. This is quite an alarming omission that is likely to put residents of India under surveillance using delivery of public services as fish bait for ever. The RTI reply is attached.

We wish to draw your attention towards the protest against RFID during the UN World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) between the 16th to 18 November 2005 by the founder of the free software movement, Richard Stallman who protested the use of RFID security cards.

We submit that with the objective of unified Electronic Toll Collection (ETC) technology for National Highways in India, had set up a Shri Nilekani headed Committee to examine all technologies available for ETC and recommend the most suitable one for implementation throughout India. The 28 page report of the Committee refers to RFID, saying, “RFID tags are used for the purpose of identification and tracking using radio waves.” After examining these and several other technologies, Shri Nilekani headed Committee headed Committee recommended passive RFID tags although there is only one microchip manufacturer for this kind of application stating that “It is extremely simple to use and administer, requiring no actions on the part of the user (the sticker itself can be stuck on the vehicle by the auto vendor or the manufacturer).

We recollect that similar stickers were recently detected in the office of our Finance Minister, which was widely reported in the media. It was reported (June 21, 2011, Indian Express) that on September 7, 2010, Shri Pranab Mukherjee, Union Finance Minister wrote to Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh asking him to order a 'secret inquiry' into what he called a “serious breach of security” in his office: the presence of “planted adhesives” in 16 key locations as a possible surveillance act. These locations included the office of the Finance Minister himself, the office of his Advisor Ms Omita Paul, the office of his Private Secretary Shri Manoj Pant, and two conference rooms used by the Finance Minister, including the main conference hall on the ground floor of the heavily guarded North Block. This gotrevealed through counter-surveillance operation of the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) that the adhesives were “planted” at critical places in the Finance Ministry which on closer examination showed grooves on the surface which indicate some “plantable adhesive substances” could have been pasted. The proposed RFID tags appear to be similar to the “plantable adhesive substances” as stickers being proposed for vehicles as part of implementation of ETC technology.

We also wish to bring a book SpyChips: How Major Corporations and Government Plan to Track Your Every Move with RFID by Katherine Albrecht and Liz McIntyre to your notice. The authors forewarn us of how we are being made to "imagine a world of no privacy. Where your every purchase is monitored and recorded in a database and your every belonging is numbered. Where someone many states away or perhaps in another country has a record of everything you have ever bought. What's more, they can be tracked and monitored remotely". The 270 page book has been published by Thomas Nelson Inc in 2005. It has been contended that RFID will impact our civilization in a deeper way than printing press, industrial revolution, light bulb, Internet and personal computers. The introduction of RFID marks the beginning of a world where everything and every place gets imbedded with RFID or spying micro chips.

We submit that RFID and UID projects are going to do almost exactly the same thing which the predecessors of Hitler did, else how is it that Germany always had the lists of Jewish names even prior to the arrival of the Nazis? The Nazis got these lists with the help of IBM which was in the 'census' business that included racial census that entailed not only count the Jews but also identifying them. At the US Holocaust Museum in Washington, DC, there is an exhibit of an IBM Hollerith D-11 card sorting machine that was responsible for organising the census of 1933 that first identified the Jews.

We submit that the history of RFID can be traced to 1945 when Léon Theremin invented an espionage tool as a covert listening device which retransmitted radio waves with audio information. In the recent times, the largest deployment of active RFID has been done by the US Department of Defense. In 2009 researchers at Bristol University successfully glued RFID micro-transponders to live ants in order to study their behavior. RFID tags for animals represent one of the oldest uses of RFID technology.

We submit that RFID Tags, which are world-readable, pose a risk to both personal location, privacy, national and military security of the country.

Therefore, biometric data based RFID and related identification exercises like UID and NPR must be rejected.

In this regard, we would like to meet you to apprise you of the ramifications of this and other related projects and programmes.

Thanking You

Yours Faithfully
Gopal Krishna
Citizens Forum for Civil Liberties (CFCL)
ToxicsWatch Alliance (TWA)
New Delhi
Tel:91-11-65663958, Fax: 91-11-26517814, Mb: 9818089660,
Email:krishna2777@gmail.com, Web: toxicswatch.blogspot.com

Cc
Chief Secretary, Government of Kerala