Privacy ? What is that ?

Of late , news papers and TV channels are full of reports re “ leak “ of some 13 crore of Aadhar “ data “

Sometime back , 1.2 BILLION Yahoo accounts were hacked !

It is the same story with the web sites of other technology / e-commerce firms

Even the ultra-secure Pentagon Servers have been penetrated !

Supreme Court is asking the Central government :

“ Why is it necessary to insist on Aadhar ID to file a Tax return ? “

Government says :

“ PAN-Aadhar linking needed to curb tax evasion

There has been cases of bogus / fake PAN cards ( - and , of course Ration Cards ! ) “

In the meantime , governments ( both Central and the States ) are requiring Aadhar Id for ever more benefits / services that need to be delivered to the citizens

Now , all of us have been filling in / typing out , our Aadhar Number in any number of forms for the past 5 years

That almost puts our “ Aadhar Number “ in public domain !

Shri B A Pandey ( CEO of UIDAI ) says :

“ The leaked databases do not pose a real threat to the people whose information is publicly available because the Aadhar Number cannot be misused without biometrics “

As of now , Aadhar has IRIS and FINGER Print recognition

I believe , it is only a matter of time before VOICE recognition too , gets added  !

I am surprised why no one seems to be asking :

·         Does our mobile phones / mobile apps relay EVERYTHING about us to their designers / manufacturers , all the time ? ( Ans : Have no doubts ! )

·         Do Google / Facebook / Linkedin / Twiter etc know your “ intentions “ and pass these onto e-commerce companies for a hefty price ? ( Ans : You bet they do ! )

·         What will remain “ private “ when IP V 6.0 arrives , when EVERY single object on your body ( and in your immediate surrounding ) , gets a unique URL number and captures your voice / movement / intentions on 24*365 basis and relays that DATA to the BIG BROTHER ? ( Ans : Nothing ! )

Scott McNally (  one time CEO , Sun Micro Systems ) was a visionary

Some 10 years back , he said :

“ Privacy is dead . Period . Get over it “

400+ million poor people of India are simply NOT bothered about the on- going debate

Their only concern is :

Will the government give them ( and their starving children ) , 2 meals a day , in return for any and all the information it wants ?

04  May  2017

www.hemenparekh.in / blogs