Protecting data
Mere encryption is not enough to protect data (“UIDAI chief defends safety of Aadhaar data before SC”, March 23). Companies like Facebook, Apple and Google have some of the best computer scientists in the world and yet we come across news reports on leakage of data. The question we need to ask is, do we have to establish a database which, if hacked into, could pose a serious danger to our democracy? Is it worth taking that risk?
Pradeep Kumar,
Chandigarh
Just two months back, The Tribune , an English language daily, had proved through an investigation how easy it is to access Aadhaar data by paying for it and yet the UIDAI chief makes this statement. In the digital era, the death of privacy is the norm. The Facebook and Cambridge Analytica episode has once again proved this.
D.V.G. Sankararao,
Vizianagaram
Breaking away
It was good to see the writer talk about how Lingayats saw themselves as reformers of the dominant caste-based Vedic practices of their time, practices which, as rightly pointed out by him, had not yet been given the label of Hinduism (“Terms of separation”, March 23). In fact, this reminds us of how other reformist traditions in the subcontinent led by the Alwars and Nayanmars in Tamil, Tukaram and Dnyaneshwar in Marathi, Kabir and Tulsidas in Hindi, among others, tried to break away from the caste-based Vedic traditions and move towards bhakti and a less rigid social system. It is a tragedy of our times that all these attempts at reform have now been subsumed under an umbrella religion.
S. Bhashyam,
Bengaluru
Watching every move
The Executive Chairman of Apollo Hospitals has said that the CCTVs were switched off in the ICU where former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa was undergoing treatment (“‘CCTV cameras switched off in Apollo’”, March 22). The very purpose of CCTVs is to watch the movement of each and every person, which would be useful if something suspicious or strangely tragic were to take place. If the hospital authorities say that the CCTVs were switched off because they didn’t want anyone to be watching the footage, will they also oblige if others ask them to do the same?
K.V. Seetharamaiah,
Hassan
End of the logjam
While the Telugu Desam Party members have been waving placards demanding special status for Andhra Pradesh in Parliament, AIADMK MPs have been demanding the immediate constitution of the Cauvery Management Board (“Govt. to reach out to Oppn. to end logjam”, March 23). Unless the government sits across the table with the opposition parties, the rest of the sessions too might be washed out. It would be ironical if both Houses remain non-functional and yet MPs have their salaries raised and their perks increased. It is time that the principle of ‘no work, no pay’ is extended to cover members of the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha.
C.V. Aravind,
Chennai
Debating the economy
It is often said that if five economists discuss the state of the economy, six opinions will arise from that interaction (“Is the economy back on track?”, March 23). Statistics can be cherry-picked or manipulated to say that either everything is going smoothly or everything is gloomy. Instead of analysing how the economy is post demonetisation and GST, should not the economists try to evaluate what the economy would have been like without these two disruptions, if it had been allowed to accelerate at the rate at which it was prior to 2016?
V. Subramanian,
Chennai
