Internet Governance Main
India's Broken Internet Laws Need a Shot of Multi-stakeholderism
— by Pranesh Prakash — last modified Apr 26, 2012 01:45 PMCyber-laws in India are severely flawed, with neither lawyers nor technologists being able to understand them, and the Cyber-Law Group in DEIT being incapable of framing fair, just, and informed laws and policies. Pranesh Prakash suggests they learn from the DEIT's Internet Governance Division, and Brazil, and adopt multi-stakeholderism as a core principle of Internet policy-making.
Non human intelligence is closer than you think!
— by Nishant Shah — last modified May 24, 2012 06:36 AMIn one of the research projects that I have been involved in, I was recently a part of a jury, for a contest which required on-line voting. It sounded like a fun thing, giving the participants a chance to bring in their inherited networks and also expanding the reach of the contest entries.
The Centre for Internet & Society Joins the Global Network Initiative
— by Prasad Krishna — last modified Apr 25, 2012 09:13 AMThe Global Network Initiative (GNI) is pleased to announce its newest member, the Centre for Internet & Society based in Bangalore, India. A technology policy research institute, CIS brings to GNI in-depth expertise on global Internet governance as well as online freedom of expression and privacy in India.
The All India Privacy Symposium: Conference Report
— by Natasha Vaz — last modified Apr 30, 2012 05:16 AMPrivacy India, the Centre for Internet and Society and Society in Action Group, with support from the International Development Research Centre, Privacy International and Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative had organised the All India Privacy Symposium at the India International Centre in New Delhi, on February 4, 2012. Natasha Vaz reports about the event.
The High Level Privacy Conclave — Conference Report
— by Natasha Vaz — last modified Apr 30, 2012 09:46 AMPrivacy India, the Centre for Internet and Society and the Society in Action Group, with support from IDRC and Privacy International, have spent 18 months studying the state of privacy in India, and conducting consultations across India in Kolkata, Bangalore, Ahmedabad, Guwahati, Chennai, and Mumbai. On February 3, 2012, a high-level conclave was held in New Delhi with representatives from government, industry, media, and civil society participating in the event. At the conclave the discussions were focused on Internet Privacy, National Security & Privacy, and the future of Privacy in India.
Two Tales of Transparency!
— by Sunil Abraham — last modified Apr 11, 2012 12:09 PMIn a single week, two global Internet giants announce transparency efforts that have direct implications for privacy and free speech.
Sharing in the time of Facebook, or Why I’m not a Pirate
— by Nishant Shah — last modified Apr 10, 2012 10:38 AMIt is now over a month that my favourite network has been dead. Library.nu the rare space for sharing of academic resources to a free and open community has succumbed to the pressures of publishing industry stalwarts who, in their quest for promoting the knowledge industry, are killing sources through which knowledge survives.
The Idea of the Book
— by Nishant Shah — last modified Apr 10, 2012 09:53 AMIts future lies in a trans-media format that is ever evolving, writes Nishant Shah in an article which was published in the Indian Express on April 8, 2012.
Intermediary Liability in India: Chilling Effects on Free Expression on the Internet 2011
— by Rishabh Dara — last modified Apr 21, 2012 06:05 PMIntermediaries are widely recognised as essential cogs in the wheel of exercising the right to freedom of expression on the Internet. Most major jurisdictions around the world have introduced legislations for limiting intermediary liability in order to ensure that this wheel does not stop spinning. With the 2008 amendment of the Information Technology Act 2000, India joined the bandwagon and established a ‘notice and takedown’ regime for limiting intermediary liability.
Global Censorship Conference
— by Prasad Krishna — last modified Mar 30, 2012 11:34 AMThe Abrams Institute for Freedom of Expression at Yale Law School is holding a conference on global censorship from March 30 to April 1, 2012, at Yale Law School. The programme is sponsored by the Information Society Project at Yale Law School and Thomson Reuters.
Statutory Motion Against Intermediary Guidelines Rules
— by Pranesh Prakash — last modified Apr 03, 2012 09:35 AMRajya Sabha MP, Shri P. Rajeev has moved a motion that the much-criticised Intermediary Guidelines Rules be annulled.
Why your Facebook Stalker is Not the Real Problem
— by Nishant Shah — last modified Mar 21, 2012 05:02 AMWe live in networked conditions. This is a statement that can now be taken at face-value, and immediately explains our highly connected, inter-meshed environments finds Nishant Shah in this article published in FirstPost on March 20, 2012.
Privacy in India — An Early Draft
— by Natasha Vaz — last modified Feb 28, 2014 05:05 AMPrivacy India in partnership with Privacy International, UK, Society in Action Group, Gurgaon, and the Centre for Internet and Society, Bangalore is pleased to bring you the draft chapters of its book on privacy in India. These include the Country Report, Telecommunication and Internet Privacy, E-Governance Identity and Privacy, Finance and Privacy, Health and Privacy, Transparency and Privacy.
Unique ID System: Pros and Cons
— by Natasha Vaz — last modified Feb 29, 2012 11:28 AMOn September 16, 2011, the Citizen’s Voluntary Initiative for the City and Centre for Advocacy and Research organized a public consultation titled “Unique ID System: Pros and Cons” in Bangalore. The consultation was on the utility and impact of the UID system in India and featured a panel discussion with T. Prabhakar, public relations officer, e-governance, Ashok Dalwai, UIDAI regional deputy director, Somashekar V.K., managing trustee of Grahak Shakti and Col. Mathew Thomas, civic activist and retired army officer.
All India Privacy Symposium
— by Natasha Vaz — last modified Mar 01, 2012 06:16 AMAre we citizens or subjects? Experts gather in Delhi for public symposium on privacy, transparency, e-governance and national security in India.
The High Level Privacy Conclave
— by Natasha Vaz — last modified Mar 01, 2012 06:09 AMIndia in dire need of privacy law; experts say government is ironically creating huge national security risks in attempts to prevent crime and terrorism.
Personal Data, Public Profile
— by Nishant Shah — last modified Feb 14, 2012 06:19 AMWhether we like it or not, we live in a world that is rapidly being Googlised, writes Nishant Shah in an article published by the Financial Express on February 13, 2012.
World Narrow Web
— by Pranesh Prakash — last modified Mar 27, 2012 04:00 PMCensorship and how govt reacts to it may push us to country-specific networks, writes Pranesh Prakash in an article published in the Indian Express on 4 February 2012.
Digital Futures: Internet Freedom and Millennials
— by Nishant Shah — last modified Feb 15, 2012 04:25 AMLast year was a turbulent year for freedom of speech and online expression in India. Early in 2011 we saw the introduction of an Intermediaries Liability amendment to the existing Information Technologies Law in the country, which allowed intermediaries like internet service providers (ISPs), digital content platforms (like Facebook and Twitter) and other actors managing online content, to remove material that is deemed objectionable without routing it through a court of law. Effectively, this was an attempt at crowdsourcing censorship, where at the whim or fancy of any person who flags information as offensive, it could be removed from digital platforms, writes Nishant Shah in DMLcentral on 3 February 2012.
Do we need the Aadhar scheme?
— by Sunil Abraham — last modified Feb 03, 2012 10:11 AM"Decentralisation and privacy are preconditions for security. Digital signatures don’t require centralised storage and are much more resilient in terms of security", Sunil Abraham in the Business Standard on 1 February 2012.
Sense and Censorship
— by Sunil Abraham — last modified Jan 31, 2012 06:15 AMThe Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Protect IP Act (PIPA) bills, at the US House of Representatives and Senate, respectively, appear to enforce property rights, but are, in fact, trade bills. This article by Sunil Abraham was published in the Indian Express on 20 January 2012.
Our Internet and the Law
— by Nishant Shah — last modified Mar 26, 2012 09:28 AMNishant Shah was interviewed by the BBC Channel 5 (Radio) for its Outriders section. Jamillah Knowles reports this through this blog post published by BBC Radio on 24 January 2012.
Privacy Matters — Analyzing the Right to "Privacy Bill"
— by Natasha Vaz — last modified Feb 15, 2012 04:27 AMOn January 21, 2012 a public conference “Privacy Matters” was held at the Indian Institute of Technology in Mumbai. It was the sixth conference organised in the series of regional consultations held as “Privacy Matters”. The present conference analyzed the Draft Privacy Bill and the participants discussed the challenges and concerns of privacy in India.
Section 79 of the Information Technology Act
— by Pranesh Prakash — last modified Nov 19, 2012 02:55 PM
How India Makes E-books Easier to Ban than Books (And How We Can Change That)
— by Pranesh Prakash — last modified Feb 21, 2012 11:50 AMWithout getting into questions of what should and should not be unlawful speech, Pranesh Prakash chooses to take a look at how Indian law promotes arbitrary removal and blocking of websites, website content, and online services, and how it makes it much easier than getting offline printed speech removed.
The Quixotic Fight to Clean up the Web
— by Sunil Abraham — last modified Jan 26, 2012 08:53 PMThe ongoing attempt to pre-screen online content won’t change anything. It will only drive netizens into the arms of criminals, writes Sunil Abraham in this article published in Tehelka Magazine, Vol 9, Issue 04, Dated 28 Jan 2012.
Keeping it Private
— by Nishant Shah — last modified Jan 27, 2012 03:50 AMAs we disclose more information online, we must ask who might access it and why. This article by Nishant Shah was published in the Indian Express on Sunday, 15 January 2012.
Future of Integrated Science Education in Higher Education in India
— by Prasad Krishna — last modified Jan 15, 2012 09:50 AMThe Higher Education Innovation and Research Application (HEIRA) at the Centre for the Study of Culture and Society (CSCS) and the Centre for Contemporary Studies (CCS) at the Indian Institute of Sciences (IISc) hosted a two day workshop on 2 and 3 January 2012 on the Future of Integrated Science Education in Higher Education in India at the Centre for Contemporary Studies, IISc, where they invited a core group of academics and researchers from the leading technology and science studies institutes in the country, to look at the possibility of designing innovative and new curricula for undergraduate students in India.
Click to Change
— by Nishant Shah — last modified Jan 03, 2012 09:35 AMFrom organising political protests and flash mobs to uploading their versions of Kolaveri Di, people brought about change with the help of the internet, writes Nishant Shah in this article published in the Indian Express on 1 January 2012.
The Historian Wins Over the Biographer
— by Nishant Shah — last modified Dec 31, 2011 12:15 PMIn Walter Isaacson's eponymous biography of Steve Jobs, the multibillion dollar man who is credited with single handedly changing the face of computing and the digital media industry, we face the dilemma of a biographer: how do you make sense of a history that is so new, it is still unfolding? Nishant Shah's detailed review of Steve Jobs' biography is now out in the Biblio and is is available online (after a free registration) as a PDF.
Of Surrogate Futures and Scattered Temporalities
— by Nishant Shah — last modified Dec 30, 2011 10:15 AMThere can be no refuting Michael Edwards’ claim that the world we live in is not only thick with problems, but that the problems that we are collectively trying to address are ‘thick...complex, politicized and unpredictable...complicated and contested’.
Exposing Data: Art Slash Activism
— by Prasad Krishna — last modified Dec 29, 2011 01:31 PMTactical Tech and the Centre for Internet and Society (CIS) organised a public discussion on the intersection of Art and Activism at the CIS office in Bangalore on 28 November 2011. Videos of the event are now online. Ward Smith (Lecturer, University of California, LA), Stephanie Hankey and Marek Tuszinsky (Co-founders, Tactical Technology Collective), Ayisha Abraham (Film maker, Srishti School of Art Design) and Zainab Bawa (Research Fellow, Centre for Internet and Society) spoke in this event.
US Clampdown Worse than the Great Firewall
— by Sunil Abraham — last modified Jan 26, 2012 08:42 PMIf you thought China’s Internet censorship was evil, think again. American moves to clean up the Web could hurt global surfers, writes Sunil Abraham in this article published in Tehelka, Volume 8, Issue 50, 17 December 2011.
Now Streaming on Your Nearest Screen
— by Nishant Shah — last modified Dec 24, 2011 08:58 AMDigital cinema, especially the kinds produced using mobile devices and travelling on Internet social networking systems like YouTube and MySpace, are often dismissed as apolitical and ‘merely’ a fad. Moreover, content in the non-English language, due to incomprehensibility or lack of understanding of the cultural context of the production, is labeled as frivolous, or inconsequential, writes Nishant Shah in this peer reviewed essay published in the Journal of Chinese Cinemas, Volume 3, Issue 1, June 2009.
Internet and Society in Asia: Challenges and Next Steps
— by Nishant Shah — last modified Dec 23, 2011 05:56 AMThe ubiquitous presence of internet technologies, in our age of digital revolution, has demanded the attention of various disciplines of study and movements for change around the globe. As more of our environment gets connected to the circuits of the World Wide Web, we witness a significant transformation in the way we understand the politics, mechanics and aesthetics of the world we live in, says Nishant Shah in this peer reviewed essay published in Inter-Asia Cultural Studies, Volume 11, Number 1, March 2010.
Spy in the Web
— by Nishant Shah — last modified Mar 26, 2012 06:38 AMThe government’s proposed pre-censorship rules undermine the intelligence of an online user and endanger democracy.
Invisible Censorship: How the Government Censors Without Being Seen
— by Pranesh Prakash — last modified Jan 04, 2012 08:59 AMThe Indian government wants to censor the Internet without being seen to be censoring the Internet. This article by Pranesh Prakash shows how the government has been able to achieve this through the Information Technology Act and the Intermediary Guidelines Rules it passed in April 2011. It now wants methods of censorship that leave even fewer traces, which is why Mr. Kapil Sibal, Union Minister for Communications and Information Technology talks of Internet 'self-regulation', and has brought about an amendment of the Copyright Act that requires instant removal of content.
That’s the unkindest cut, Mr Sibal
— by Sunil Abraham — last modified Dec 12, 2011 04:59 AMThere’s Kolaveri-di on the Internet over Kapil Sibal’s diktat to social media sites to prescreen users’ posts. That diktat goes far beyond the restrictions placed on our freedom of expression by the IT Act. But, says Sunil Abraham of the Centre for Internet and Society, India is not going to be silenced online.
Press Coverage of Online Censorship Row
— by Pranesh Prakash — last modified Dec 08, 2011 11:31 AMWe are maintaining a rolling blog with press references to the row created by the proposal by the Union Minister for Communications and Information Technology to pre-screen user-generated Internet content.
Online Pre-Censorship is Harmful and Impractical
— by Pranesh Prakash — last modified Dec 12, 2011 05:00 PMThe Union Minister for Communications and Information Technology, Mr. Kapil Sibal wants Internet intermediaries to pre-censor content uploaded by their users. Pranesh Prakash takes issue with this and explains why this is a problem, even if the government's heart is in the right place. Further, he points out that now is the time to take action on the draconian IT Rules which are before the Parliament.
An Interview with Dr. Ann Cavoukian, Information and Privacy Commissioner, Ontario, Canada
— by Elonnai Hickok — last modified Dec 03, 2011 01:26 AMElonnai Hickok interviewed Dr. Ann Cavoukian, Information and Privacy Commissioner, Ontario, Canada. The full interview is reproduced below.
What is Dilligaf?
— by Nishant Shah — last modified Dec 01, 2011 09:52 AMOn the web, time moves at the speed of thought: Groups emerge, proliferate and are abandoned as new trends and fads take precedence. Nowhere else is this dramatic flux as apparent as in the language that evolves online. While SMS lingo – like TTYL (Talk To You Later) and LOL (Laughing Out Loud)– has endured and become a part of everyday language, new forms of speech are taking over.
The 2nd IJLT-CIS Lecture Series — A Post-event Report
— by Prasad Krishna — last modified Nov 17, 2011 10:25 AMThe Indian Journal of Law and Technology (IJLT) and the Centre for Internet and Society (CIS), organised the 2nd IJLT-CIS Lecture Series on the 21st and 22nd of May 2011 at the National Law School of India University, Nagarbhavi, Bangalore. The main theme for this year was Emerging Issues in Privacy Law: Law, Policy and Practice.
CIS Comments on Finance Committee Statements to Open Letters on Unique Identity
— by Prasad Krishna — last modified Nov 13, 2011 02:39 AMWe from the Centre for Internet and Society had sent six open letters to the Parliamentary Finance Committee on the UID. The Committee responded through an email on 12 October 2011. Our response to the points raised is reproduced below.
Comments on the National Policy of Information Technology
— by Prasad Krishna — last modified Nov 09, 2011 10:28 AMThe NPIT 2011 has the laudable goal of making India a ‘knowledge economy with a global role’ by developing and deploying ICT solutions in all sectors to foster development within India and at a global level. The policy identifies several praiseworthy goals such as the promotion of open standards and open technologies, accessibility for persons with disabilities, affordable ICT services, transparency, accountability, technology development for Indian languages, placing data in public domain for use and value addition, using social media to engage with citizens and investing in indigenous R&D and capacity building. We deeply appreciate this initiative of the Department of Information Technology and offer below brief comments to strengthen the draft.
TRAI urged to take action against P2P throttling and DNS hijacking
— by Anand Priya Singh — last modified Mar 27, 2012 06:07 AMOn 4 November 2010, Anand had sent a complaint letter to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) regarding unethical practices adopted by Internet Service Providers (ISPs), particularly Airtel. The letter was sent by post and through an e-mail. It was addressed to the Advisor, CN & IT, TRAI. Anand got no help from the ISP and the reply from TRAI (No. 340-1\2010-CA/VOLv) stated that he contact the nodal officer. We have reproduced below the complaint letter that Anand sent to TRAI.
Sources of CIS Funding
— by Pranesh Prakash — last modified Jul 07, 2018 01:19 AMCIS's donors' names and the amount of the grants they've provided are being published in an effort to be absolutely transparent and to make it clear that our donors do not dictate the policy and research positions we espouse.
Once Upon A Flash
— by Nishant Shah — last modified Dec 14, 2012 10:23 AMIt was a dark and stormy evening. A young man in a dark blue Adidas jacket, collar turned up, eyes under green-black shades, hopped off a motorbike, tucked his thumbs into the front pockets of his low-slung retro jeans and surreptitiously made his way through a road thronging with rush-hour traffic and irate pedestrians yelping on their cellphones. He skipped across death traps with skilled ease: leaping over potholes, jumping over halfdug trenches, avoiding the occasional pair of doggy jaws that longed to mate with his ankles, ignoring the bikers who were using the pavements as new lanes for driving towards a honking traffic jam bathed in an orange and red neon that made the road look like a piece of burnt toast with dollops of vicious jam on it.
CIS Comments on the Draft National Policy on Electronics
— by Pranesh Prakash — last modified Nov 01, 2011 12:05 AMThese were the comments submitted by CIS to the request for comments put out by the Department of Information Technology on its draft 'National Policy on Electronics'.
India's Statement Proposing UN Committee for Internet-Related Policy
— by Pranesh Prakash — last modified Oct 31, 2011 03:28 PMThis is the statement made by India at the 66th session of the United Nations General Assembly, in which its proposal for the UN Committee for Internet-Related Policy was presented.
Analysis of DIT's Response to Second RTI on Website Blocking
— by Pranesh Prakash — last modified Dec 02, 2011 09:26 AMIn this blog post, Pranesh Prakash briefly analyses the DIT's response to an RTI request on website blocking alongside the most recent edition of Google's Transparency Report, and what it tells us about the online censorship regime in India.
Text of DIT's Response to Second RTI on Website Blocking
— by Pranesh Prakash — last modified Oct 28, 2011 02:37 PMCIS had filed a request under the Right to Information Act with the government, asking a number of questions relating to blocking of content under the IT Act. We have reproduced below the response we got from the government.
Privacy & Sexual Minorities
— by Danish Sheikh — last modified Sep 20, 2013 09:22 AMDanish Sheikh examines the status of sexual minorities in the light of privacy framework in India. Culling out some real life examples based on various studies, media reports and judgments from the Supreme Court and the High Courts of Delhi and Allahabad, the research brings to light the privacy violations being committed by both individuals as well as state authorities. The research concludes by saying that privacy doesn’t necessarily encompass a one-size-fits-all approach, and can raise as many questions as it answers.
Sixth Annual Meeting of the Internet Governance Forum, Nairobi: A Summary
— by Prasad Krishna — last modified Oct 24, 2011 09:09 AMThe sixth annual meeting of the Internet Governance Forum was held from 27 to 30 September 2011 at the United Nations Office in Nairobi, Kenya. Sunil Abraham participated in six workshops: Privacy, Security, and Access to Rights: A Technical and Policy Analyses, Use of Digital Technologies for Civic Engagement and Political Change: Lessons Learned and Way Forward, The Impact of Regulation: FOSS and Enterprise, Proprietary Influences in Free and Open Source Software: Lessons to Open and Universal Internet Standards, Access and Diversity of Broadband Internet Access and Putting Users First: How Can Privacy be Protected in Today’s Complex Mobile Ecosystem?
Design!Public II in Bangalore ― Event Report
— by Yelena Gyulkhandanyan — last modified Oct 20, 2011 08:48 AMDesign Public, a high-level conclave on innovation, took place in Bangalore at the National Gallery for Modern Art on October 14, 2011. The event was organized by the Centre for Knowledge Societies in collaboration with the Centre for Internet and Society, the Centre for Law and Policy Research, Mint, and others. The conclave brought together industry experts, scholars, and activists to create a dialogue about design and innovation in the public interest. This blog post captures the developments as it happened on this day.
SCOSTA and UID Comparison not Valid, says Finance Committee
— by Elonnai Hickok — last modified Nov 22, 2011 04:37 PMThe Standing Committee on Finance Branch, Lok Sabha Secretariat has responded to the suggestions offered by CIS on the National Identification Authority of India, Bill 2010 and has requested it to mail its views by 14 October 2011.
Seventh Open Letter to the Finance Committee: A Note on the Deduplication of Unique Identifiers
— by Prasad Krishna — last modified Nov 22, 2011 07:28 AMSahana Sarkar on behalf of the Centre for Internet and Society (CIS) had sent in a Right to Information application on 30 June 2011 to Ashish Kumar, Central Public Information Officer, UIDAI. The UIDAI sent in its reply. Through the seventh open letter, Hans attempts to characterize in an abstract way the replies that CIS managed to elicit and makes some elementary observations.
Hack Night in CIS ― A Meeting of Java Script Hackers
— by Tom Dane — last modified Oct 27, 2011 11:36 AMCIS hosted a hack night in conjunction with the tech-event organizers HasGeek at its office on 24 September 2011. The event brought together local java script hackers on a common platform. Tom Dane and Kiran Jonnalagadda participated in the event.
UID: Questions without Answers – A Talk by Usha Ramanathan
— by Natasha Vaz — last modified Nov 24, 2011 04:41 AMUID enrolment is in full swing, providing an official identification to millions of Indians, yet there are numerous unanswered questions. A public talk on UID was held at the Institute of Science, Bangalore on September 6, 2011. Usha Ramanathan, an independent law researcher on jurisprudence, poverty and rights, discussed the questions that plague the UID project and the veil of silence enveloping the answers.
Understanding the Right to Information
— by Elonnai Hickok — last modified Jun 12, 2013 11:39 AMElonnai Hickok summarises the Right to Information Act, 2005, how it works, how to file an RTI request, the information that an individual can request under the Act, the possible responses and the challenges to the citizen and the government. She concludes by saying that there are many structural changes that both citizens and governmental officers can make to improve the system.
Bye Bye email?
— by Nishant Shah — last modified Aug 23, 2011 07:31 AMEmail might be the default method of communication for most of us, but could it be going the telegram way.
Whole Body Imaging and Privacy Concerns that Follow
— by Srishti Goyal — last modified Sep 29, 2011 05:38 AMLaw student at the National University of Juridical Sciences, and intern for Privacy India, Srishti Goyal compares, contrasts, and critiques the Whole Body Imaging practices found in the US, the UK, and Australia, and makes recommendations for an Indian regime.
IP Addresses and Expeditious Disclosure of Identity in India
— by Prashant Iyengar — last modified Dec 14, 2012 10:20 AMIn this research, Prashant Iyengar reviews the statutory mechanism regulating the retention and disclosure of IP addresses by Internet companies in India. Prashant provides a compilation of anecdotes on how law enforcement authorities in India have used IP address information to trace individuals responsible for particular crimes.
Cyber Crime & Privacy
— by Merlin Oommen — last modified Sep 01, 2011 09:36 AMIndia is a growing area in the field of active Internet usage with 71 million Internet users.
Financial Inclusion and the UID
— by elonnai hickok — last modified Aug 23, 2011 10:36 AMSince 2009, when Nandan Nilekani began to envision and implement the Unique Identification Project, the UID authority has promoted the UID/Aadhaar scheme as a tool of development for India - arguing that an identity will assist in bringing benefits to the poor, promote financial inclusion in India, and allow for economic and social development. In this blog entry I will focus on the challenges and possibilities of the UID number providing the residents of India a viable method of access to financial services across the country.
CCTV in Universities
— by Merlin Oommen — last modified Sep 01, 2011 09:50 AMBasic Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) Infrastructure is used to observe movements from a central room, and consists of one or more video cameras that transmit video and audio images to a set of monitors or video recorders.
Re-thinking Key Escrow
— by Natasha Vaz — last modified Aug 22, 2011 11:44 AMWould you make duplicates of your house keys and hand them over to the local police authority? And if so, would you feel safe? Naturally, one would protest this invasion of privacy. Similarly, would it be justified for the government to have a copy of the private key to intercept and decrypt communications? This is the idea behind key escrow; it enables government ‘wiretapping’.
UID: Nothing to Hide, Nothing to Fear?
— by Shilpa Narani — last modified Sep 28, 2011 11:44 AMIsn’t it interesting that authorities ask you about your identity and you end up showing your proof of existence! Isn’t this breaching into one’s personal life? Why so much transparency only from the public side? Why can’t the government be equally transparent to the public?, asks Shilpa Narani.
An Overview of DNA Labs in India
— by Shilpa Narani — last modified Feb 02, 2016 01:11 PMDNA fingerprinting has become the most precise and technologically advanced method for identifying crimes such as murder, kidnapping, robbery and rape. Police and judicial authorities and in some cases even private parties retain this in their records, writes Shilpa in this blog post.
Consumer Privacy in e-Commerce
— by Sahana Sarkar — last modified Mar 28, 2012 04:53 AMLooking at the larger picture of national security versus consumer privacy, Sahana Sarkar says that though consumer privacy is important in the world of digital technology, individuals must put aside some of their civil liberties when it comes to the question of national security, as it is necessary to prevent societal damage.
Video Surveillance and Its Impact on the Right to Privacy
— by Vaishnavi Chillakuru — last modified Sep 29, 2011 05:35 AMThe need for video surveillance has grown in this technologically driven era as a mode of law enforcement. Video Surveillance is very useful to governments and law enforcement to maintain social control, recognize and monitor threats, and prevent/investigate criminal activity. In this regard it is pertinent to highlight that not only are governments using this system, but residential communities in certain areas are also using this system to create a safer environment.
Privacy Matters, Guwahati — Event Report
— by Prasad Krishna — last modified Aug 26, 2011 10:31 AMOn June 23, a public seminar on “Privacy Matters” was held at the Don Bosco Institute in Karhulli, Guwahati. It was organised by IDRC, Society in Action Group, IDEA Chirang, an NGO initiative working with grassroots initiatives in Assam, Privacy India and CIS and was attended by RTI activists and grass roots NGO representatives from across the North Eastern region: Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh, Tripura, Nagaland, Assam and Sikkim. The event focused on the challenges and concerns of privacy in India.
Right to Privacy Bill 2010 — A Few Comments
— by Elonnai Hickok — last modified Mar 22, 2012 06:26 AMEarlier this year, in February 2011, Rajeev Chandrasekhar introduced the Right to Privacy Bill, 2010 in the Rajya Sabha. The Bill is meant to “provide protection to the privacy of persons including those who are in public life”. Though the Bill states that its objective is to protect individuals’ fundamental right to privacy, the focus of the Bill is on the protection against the use of electronic/digital recording devices in public spaces without consent and for the purpose of blackmail or commercial use.
Privacy & Media Law
— by Sonal Makhija — last modified Dec 14, 2012 10:26 AMIn her research, Sonal Makhija, a Bangalore-based lawyer, tries to delineate the emerging privacy concerns in India and the existing media norms and guidelines on the right to privacy. The research examines the existing media norms (governed by Press Council of India, the Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act, 1995 and the Code of Ethics drafted by the News Broadcasting Standard Authority), the constitutional protection guaranteed to an individual’s right to privacy upheld by the courts, and the reasons the State employs to justify the invasion of privacy. The paper further records, both domestic and international, inclusions and exceptions with respect to the infringement of privacy.
When Data Means Privacy, What Traces Are You Leaving Behind?
— by Noopur Raval — last modified Nov 24, 2011 09:24 AMHow do you know yourself to be different from others? What defines the daily life that you live and the knowledge you produce in the span of this life? Is all that information yours or are you a mere stakeholder on behalf of the State whose subject you are? What does privacy really mean? In a society that is increasingly relying on information to identify people, collecting and archiving ‘personal’ details of your lives, your name, age, passport details, ration card number, call records etc, how private is your tweet, status update, text message or simply, your restaurant bill?
My Experiment with Scam Baiting
— by Sahana Sarkar — last modified Mar 13, 2012 10:43 AMToday, as I am sure many of you have experienced, Internet scams are widespread and very deceptive. As part of my research into privacy and the Internet, I decided to follow a scam and attempt to fully understand how Internet scams work, and what privacy implications they have for Internet users. Though there are many different types of scams that take place over the Internet —identity scams, housing scams, banking scams— just to name a few. I decided to look in depth at the lottery scam.
RTI and Third Party Information: What Constitutes the Private and Public?
— by Noopur Raval — last modified Nov 24, 2011 09:21 AMThe passing of the Right to Information Act, 2005 was seen as giving an empowering tool in the hands of the citizens of India, six years post its implementation, loopholes have surfaced with misuse of the many fundamental concepts, which have yet not been defined to allow for a consistent pattern of decisions. Among many problems that emerge with the Act, a major problem is defining the extent to which an individual has access to other people’s information. While most of us tend to think that asking for other people’s phone numbers, personal details like passport number or IT returns are private and would be kept so, under the RTI Act and as seen in the Central Information Commission (CIC) decisions, all of these details can be availed of by someone who doesn’t know you at all!
Privacy and Security Can Co-exist
— by Sunil Abraham — last modified Mar 21, 2012 09:05 AMThe blanket surveillance the Centre seeks is not going to make India more secure, writes Sunil Abraham in this article published in Mail Today on June 21, 2011.
Copyright Enforcement and Privacy in India
— by Prashant Iyengar — last modified Dec 14, 2012 10:27 AMCopyright can function contradictorily, as both the vehicle for the preservation of privacy as well as its abuse, writes Prashant Iyengar. The research examines the various ways in which privacy has been implicated in the shifting terrain of copyright enforcement in India and concludes by examining the notion of the private that emerges from a tapestry view of the relevant sections of Copyright Act.
Snooping Can Lead to Data Abuse
— by Sunil Abraham — last modified Mar 21, 2012 10:39 AMTHE NATGRID, aiming to link databases of 21 departments and ministries for better counter-terror measures, adopts blunt policy approach, subjecting every citizen to the same level of blanket surveillance, instead of a targeted approach that intelligently focuses on geographic or demographic areas that are currently important, writes Sunil Abraham in this article published by Mail Today on June 9, 2011.
The New Right to Privacy Bill 2011 — A Blind Man's View of the Elephunt
— by Prashant Iyengar — last modified Feb 29, 2012 05:45 AMOver the past few days various newspapers have reported the imminent introduction in Parliament, during the upcoming Monsoon session, of a Right to Privacy Bill. Since the text of this bill has not yet been made accessible to the public, this post attempts to grope its way – through guesswork – towards a picture of what the Bill might look like from a combined reading of all the newspaper accounts, writes Prashant Iyengar in this blog post which was posted on the Privacy India website on June 8, 2011.
Do You Want to be Watched?
— by Sunil Abraham — last modified Mar 21, 2012 09:11 AMThe new rules under the IT Act are an assault on our freedom, says Sunil Abraham in this article published in Pragati on June 8, 2011.
The Digital is Political
— by Nishant Shah — last modified Mar 21, 2012 09:14 AMTechnologies are not just agents of politics, there is politics in their design, writes Nishant Shah in this article published in Down to Earth in the Issue of June 15, 2011.
Say 'Password' in Hindi
— by Nishant Shah — last modified Mar 21, 2012 09:18 AMEnglish might be the language of the online world, but it’s time other languages had their say, writes Nishant Shah. The article was published in the Indian Express on June 5, 2011.
A Street View of Private and the Public
— by Prashant Iyengar — last modified Mar 21, 2012 09:34 AMPrashant Iyengar on how in the eyes of the law, the internet giant is like the homeless in India. This article was published by Tehelka on June 4, 2011.
Bloggers' Rights Subordinated to Rights of Expression: Cyber Law Expert
— by Elonnai Hickok — last modified Mar 21, 2012 09:35 AMVijayashankar, an eminent cyber law expert answers Elonnai Hickok’s questions on bloggers' rights, freedom of expression and privacy in this e-mail interview conducted on May 19, 2011.
Big Brother is Watching You
— by Sunil Abraham — last modified Mar 21, 2012 09:32 AMThe government is massively expanding its surveillance power over law-abiding citizens and businesses, says Sunil Abraham in this article published by the Deccan Herald on June 1, 2011.
The Present — and Future — Dangers of India's Draconian New Internet Regulations
— by Anja Kovacs — last modified Aug 02, 2011 07:22 AMThe uproar surrounding India's Internet Control Rules makes clear that in the Internet age, as before, the active chilling of freedom of expression by the state is unacceptable in a democracy. Yet if India's old censorship regimes are to be maintained in this new context, the state will have little choice but to do just that. Are we ready to rethink the ways in which we deal with free speech and censorship as a society? Asks Anja Kovacs in this article, published in Caravan, 1 June 2011.
Killing the Internet Softly with Its Rules
— by Pranesh Prakash — last modified Aug 20, 2011 12:51 PMWhile regulation of the Internet is a necessity, the Department of IT, through recent Rules under the IT Act, is guilty of over-regulation. This over-regulation is not only a bad idea, but is unconstitutional, and gravely endangers freedom of speech and privacy online.
Power to the People
— by Nishant Shah — last modified Mar 21, 2012 09:35 AMThe digital revolution has helped make NGOs and civil society more influential, independent and transparent, writes Nishant Shah in this article published in the Indian Express on Sunday, May 15, 2011.
Rebuttal of DIT's Misleading Statements on New Internet Rules
— by Pranesh Prakash — last modified Jul 11, 2012 01:18 PMThe press statement issued on May 11 by the Department of Information Technology (DIT) on the furore over the newly-issued rules on 'intermediary due diligence' is misleading and is, in places, plainly false. We are presenting a point-by-point rebuttal of the DIT's claims.
Limits to Privacy
— by Prashant Iyengar — last modified Dec 14, 2012 10:28 AMIn his research article, Prashant Iyengar examines the limits to privacy for individuals in light of the provisions of the Constitution of India, public interest, security of state and maintenance of law and order. The article attempts to build a catalogue of all these justifications and arrive at a classification of all such frequently used terms invoked in statutes and upheld by courts to deprive persons of their privacy.
Privacy By Design — Conference Report
— by Prasad Krishna — last modified Aug 22, 2011 12:03 PMHow do we imagine privacy? How is privacy being built into technological systems? On April 16th,The Center for Internet and Society hosted Privacy by Design, an Open Space meant to answer these questions and more around the topic of privacy. Below is a summary of the conversations and dialogs from the event.
CDT Provides Answers to Questions on Internet Neutrality
— by Pranesh Prakash — last modified Jun 04, 2012 05:56 AMPranesh Prakash of CIS asked David Sohn of CDT a few pointed questions on the emerging hot topic of 'Internet neutrality', and received very useful responses. Those questions and Mr. Sohn's responses are documented in this blog post.
The DNA Profiling Bill 2007 and Privacy
— by Elonnai Hickok — last modified Mar 21, 2012 09:40 AMIn 2007 a bill known as the Draft DNA Profiling Bill was piloted by the Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics, an autonomous organization funded by the Department of Biotechnology, Ministry of Science and Technology, Government of India. The below is a background to DNA collection/analysis in India, and a critique of the Bill a from a privacy perspective.
An Interview with Activist Shubha Chacko: Privacy and Sex Workers
— by Elonnai Hickok — last modified Mar 28, 2012 06:26 AMOn February 20th I had the opportunity to speak with Shubha Chacko on privacy and sex workers. Ms. Chacko is an activist who works for Aneka, an NGO based in Bangalore, which fights for the human rights of sexual minorities. In my interview with Ms. Chacko I tried to understand how privacy impacts the lives of sex workers in India. The below is an account of our conversation.
We are anonymous, we are legion
— by Sunil Abraham — last modified Mar 21, 2012 09:38 AMOnline anonymity is vital for creativity and entrepreneurship on the Web, writes Sunil Abraham. The article was published in the Hindu on April 18, 2011.
You Have the Right to Remain Silent
— by Anja Kovacs — last modified Aug 02, 2011 07:55 AMIndia has a long history of censorship that it justifies in the name of national security. But new laws governing the Internet are unreasonable and — given the multitude of online voices — poorly thought out, argues Anja Kovacs in this article published in the Sunday Guardian on 17 April 2011.
Iraq Delegation to Visit India for Study of E-Governance in Indian Cities ― Meetings in Bangalore and Delhi
— by Prasad Krishna — last modified Aug 02, 2011 07:13 AMAn Iraqi Government delegation headed by HE Mr. Abdul Kareem Al-Samarai, Minister of Science & Technology, Government of Iraq will be in India on a e-governance tour. The study tour is organised by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA).
Privacy and the Information Technology Act — Do we have the Safeguards for Electronic Privacy?
— by Prashant Iyengar — last modified Dec 14, 2012 10:29 AMHow do the provisions of the Information Technology Act measure up to the challenges of privacy infringement? Does it provide an adequate and useful safeguard for our electronic privacy? Prashant Iyengar gives a comprehensive analysis on whether and how the Act fulfils the challenges and needs through a series of FAQs while drawing upon real life examples.
DIT's Response to RTI on Website Blocking
— by Pranesh Prakash — last modified Aug 02, 2011 07:13 AMFor the first time in India, we have a list of websites that are blocked by order of the Indian government. This data was received from the Department of Information Technology in response to an RTI that CIS filed. Pranesh Prakash of CIS analyzes the implications of these blocks, as well as the shortcomings of the DIT's response.
Is Data Protection Enough?
— by Elonnai Hickok — last modified Mar 22, 2012 05:28 AMThe following note looks briefly at different sides of the privacy debate, and asks the question whether a Data Protection law is enough privacy protection for India.
Surveillance Technologies
— by Elonnai Hickok — last modified Mar 22, 2012 05:40 AMThe following post briefly looks at different surveillance technologies, and the growing use of the them in India.
Encryption Standards and Practices
— by Elonnai Hickok — last modified Mar 22, 2012 05:39 AMThe below note looks at different types of encryption, varying practices of encryption in India, and the relationship between encryption, data security, and national security.
'Privacy Matters', Ahmedabad: Conference Report
— by Prasad Krishna — last modified Apr 04, 2011 04:45 AMOn 26 March 2011, civil society, lawyers, judges, students and NGO’s, gathered together at the Ahmedabad Management Association to take part in 'Privacy Matters' – a public conference organised by Privacy India in partnership with IDRC and Research Foundation for Governance in India (RFGI) — to discuss the challenges of privacy in India, with an emphasis on national security and privacy. The conference was opened by Prashant Iyengar, head researcher at Privacy India and Kanan Drhu, director of RFGI. Mr. Iyengar explained Privacy India’s mandate to raise awareness of privacy, spark civil action, and promote democratic dialogue around privacy challenges and violations in India. RFGI is a think tank established in 2009 which aims to research, promote, and implement various reforms to improve the legal and political process in Gujarat and across India. ‘Privacy Matters – Ahmedabad’ is the third conference out of the eight that Privacy India will be hosting across India. The next conference will take place in Hyderabad on 9 April 2011. It will focus on human rights and privacy.
News Broadcasting Standards Authority censures TV9 over privacy violations!
— by Prashant Iyengar — last modified Mar 22, 2012 05:14 AMWe at PrivacyIndia/CIS are delighted by the recent order issued by the News Broadcasting Standards Authority(NBSA) which slapped a 1 lakh rupee fine on the news channel TV9 for airing an extremely incendiary and invasive programme titled "Gay Culture rampant in Hyderabad".
A Stolen Perspective
— by Elonnai Hickok — last modified Mar 21, 2012 09:43 AMThe note below is a perspective piece on biometrics. On March 11th I traveled down to the Philippines, and had a chance to experience the possible convenience of biometric based identification.
The Draft Electronic Delivery of Services Bill, 2011 – Comments by CIS
— by Prasad Krishna — last modified Aug 02, 2011 07:37 AMThe Draft Electronic Delivery of Services Bill, 2011 (“Bill”) is a Bill to provide for delivery of government services manadatorily through electronic means by phasing out manual delivery of services. It is heartening to note that the Bill shifts the approach to electronic delivery of services by Government agencies to one as part of the citizens' right to service delivery through electronic means rather than a luxury or benefit doled out by the Government. The Bill introduces bodies exclusively accountable for ensuring that electronic delivery of services by the Government at the state and central levels. While this is a welcome move on the part of the Government there are a few comments we, at the Centre for Internet and Society, have on the present version of the Bill:
Policy for Government's Presence in Social Media - Recommendations
— by krithika — last modified Aug 02, 2011 07:37 AMIn pursuance of the Office Memorandum issued by the DIT dated March 4, 2011, the e-Governance Group of the DIT, convened on March 23, 2011, the first meeting of an exclusive group to propose guidelines for government presence on social networking and social media sites. The Centre for Internet and Society being one of the invitees to the meeting, has submitted its recommendations for a Policy for the Government's presence in social networking and social media sites.
Privacy and Governmental Databases
— by Elonnai Hickok — last modified Mar 22, 2012 05:41 AMIn our research we have found that most government databases are incrementally designed in response to developments and improvements that need to be incorporated from time to time. This method of architecting a system leads to a poorly designed database with many privacy risks such as: inaccurate data, incomplete data, inappropriate disclosure of data, inappropriate access to data, and inappropriate security over data. To address these privacy concerns it is important to analyze the problem that is being addressed from the perspective of potential and planned interoperability with other government databases. Below is a list of problems and recommendations concerning privacy, concerning government databases.
RTI Applications on Blocking of Websites
— by Pranesh Prakash — last modified Dec 21, 2012 06:34 AMIn recent weeks, an increasing number of incidents have come to light on government-ordered blocking of websites. In one case involving Zone-H.org, it is clear who has ordered the block (a Delhi district court judge, as an interim order), even though the block itself is open to constitutional challenge. In all others cases, including the TypePad case, it is unclear who has ordered the block and why. We at CIS have sent in two right to information requests to find out.
CIS Para-wise Comments on Intermediary Due Diligence Rules, 2011
— by Pranesh Prakash — last modified Jul 11, 2012 10:27 AMOn February 7th 2011, the Department of Information Technology, MCIT published draft rules on its website (The Information Technology (Due diligence observed by intermediaries guidelines) Rules, 2011) in exercise of the powers conferred by Section 87(2)(zg), read with Section 79(2) of the Information Technology Act, 2000. Comments were invited from the public before February 25th 2011. Accordingly, Privacy India and Centre for Internet and Society, Bangalore have prepared the following para-wise comments for the Ministry’s consideration.
CIS Para-wise Comments on Cyber Café Rules, 2011
— by Prashant Iyengar — last modified Dec 14, 2012 10:32 AMOn February 7th 2011, the Department of Information Technology, MCIT published draft rules on its website (The Information Technology (Guidelines for Cyber Cafe) Rules, 2011) in exercise of the powers conferred by Section 87(2) (zg), read with Section 79(2) of the Information Technology Act, 2000. Comments were invited from the public before February 25th 2011. Accordingly, Privacy India and Centre for Internet and Society, Bangalore have prepared the following para wise comments for the Ministry’s consideration.
CIS Para-wise Comments on Draft Reasonable Security Practices Rules, 2011
— by Prashant Iyengar — last modified Dec 14, 2012 10:32 AMOn February 7th 2011, the Department of Information Technology, MCIT published draft rules on its website (The Information Technology (Reasonable security practices and procedures and sensitive personal information) Rules, 2011) in exercise of the powers conferred by Section 87(2)(ob), read with Section 43A of the Information Technology Act, 2000. Comments were invited from the public before February 25th 2011. Accordingly, Privacy India and Centre for Internet and Society, Bangalore have prepared the following para-wise comments for the Ministry’s consideration.
Google Policy Fellowship Program: Asia Chapter
— by Prasad Krishna — last modified Aug 02, 2011 07:34 AMFor the ardent followers of free and open Internet and for those who love to debate on technology, media law and Internet-related policy issues, there is some good news. The Centre for Internet and Society, India is conducting a Google Policy Fellowship program this summer!
Open Letter to the Finance Committee: UID and Transactions
— by Prasad Krishna — last modified Feb 24, 2011 01:35 PMSince official documentation from the UIDAI is very limited, we assume that data pertaining to transactions would comprise of the Aadhaar number, identifier of the authenticating device, date-time stamp, and approval/rejection/error code. Recording and maintaining of data pertaining to transactions is very important because it increases transparency and accountability through an audit trail. However, storage of such sensitive data creates many privacy risks, because more often than not metadata gives you as much intelligence as raw data.
Open Letter to the Finance Committee: Operational Design
— by Prasad Krishna — last modified Feb 17, 2011 10:02 AMThe objective of the UID project is to provide identity infrastructure that is not susceptible to fraud or error. This note highlights parts of the operational design of the project, which are flawed. We plead that each point be taken into consideration and that the design be suitably revised.
Open Letter to the Finance Committee: UID Budget
— by Prasad Krishna — last modified Feb 17, 2011 11:18 AMThis note presents the aspects of the UID project, which have not been considered or incorporated into the UID’s budget. The costs include re-enrollment, loss in human time, and the cost of the audit function.
Open Letter to the Finance Committe: Biometrics
— by Prasad Krishna — last modified Feb 17, 2011 01:12 PMThis note points out the weaknesses inherent in biometrics and the pitfalls in using them. It recommends procedural safeguards that should be adopted by the UID in order to make the use of biometrics more secure and inclusive.
Open Letter to the Finance Committee: Finance and Security
— by Prasad Krishna — last modified Feb 17, 2011 11:57 AMThis note explores the three connections between finance and security and demonstrates the cost implications of operating a centrally designed identity management system as proposed by the UID. In doing so, it shows how the monitoring, storing, and securing of transactional data in a centralized database fall short of meeting the project's objectives of authentication, and thus is an additional cost. Further, it is argued that the blanket monitoring of the transaction database is not an effective method of detecting fraud, and is an expensive component of the project.
Conference Report: 'Privacy Matters' Bangalore
— by Prasad Krishna — last modified Feb 08, 2011 05:13 AMOn February 5th the 'Privacy Matters" conference was held at the TERI Regional Center in Bangalore. The event was a full day and centered around issues of privacy including: privacy rights of minorities, privacy and open government data, and privacy and identity.
Analysing the Right to Privacy and Dignity with Respect to the UID
— by Deva Prasad — last modified Mar 21, 2012 09:54 AMIn the below note, Deva Prasad, LLM Candidate at NLSIU, explores the challenges that the UID project faces from a legal perspective.
Privacy Matters — Conference Report
— by Prasad Krishna — last modified Jan 27, 2011 10:22 AMA one-day conference on Privacy Matters was held on Sunday, 23 January 2011 at the National University of Juridical Sciences (NUJS) Law School in Kolkata. This was the first of a series of eleven conferences on ‘privacy’ that Privacy India is scheduled to host in different Indian cities from January to June this year. Members of Parliament, Sri Manoj Bhattacharya from the Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP) and Sri Nilotpal Basu from the Communist Party of India (Marxist) CPI (M) spoke in the conference. Students, the civil society and lawyers also participated in it.
4 Popular Myths about UID
— by Prashant Iyengar — last modified Jun 20, 2012 04:37 AMBy now, there is already a lot of material in the public domain that is critical about the UID/Aadhar project, writes Prashant Iyengar in this blog entry published in Privacy India on January 22, 2011.
Privacy Matters Conference Agenda
— by Prasad Krishna — last modified Jan 14, 2011 11:45 AMThe "Privacy Matters" conference is taking place on Sunday January 23rd, at NUJS Law school at 10:30. It is a full day event that will discuss the challenges and concerns of privacy in India. Below is the agenda for the event. We look forward to your participation and attendance.
Jurisdictional Issues in Cyberspace
— by Justice S Muralidhar — last modified Mar 21, 2012 10:00 AMThis article by Justice S Muralidhar was published in the Indian Journal of Law and Technology, Volume 6, 2010. It explores in detail the jurisdiction of courts when dealing with disputes arising from commercial transactions on the Internet.
An Open Letter to the Finance Committee: SCOSTA Standards
— by Elonnai Hickok — last modified Dec 20, 2013 03:58 AMThe UID Bill has been placed to the Finance Committee for review and approval. Through a series of open letters to the Finance Committee, civil society is asking the committee to take into consideration and change certain aspects of the Bill and the project. The below note compares the SCOSTA standard with the Aadhaar biometric standard, and explains why we believe the SCOSTA standard should replace the Aadhaar biometric standard for the authentication process in the UID scheme.
Does the UID Reflect India?
— by Elonnai Hickok — last modified Mar 22, 2012 05:45 AMOn December 17th the Campaign for No UID held a press conference and public meeting in Bangalore. Below is a summary and analysis of the events.
The Privacy Rights of Whistleblowers
— by Elonnai Hickok — last modified Mar 22, 2012 05:47 AMThe recent disclosures from Wikileaks have shown that the right to information, whistle-blowing, and privacy are interconnected. This note looks at the different ways in which the three are related, as well as looking at the benefits and drawbacks to Wikileaks in terms of privacy.
UID & Privacy - A Call for Papers
— by Elonnai Hickok — last modified Mar 21, 2012 10:03 AMPrivacy India is inviting individuals to author short papers focused on Unique Identity (UID) and Privacy. Selected candidates will have their papers published on the CIS website, and their transportation and accommodation provided for the “Privacy Matters” conference being held in Kolkata on 22 January 2010.
Should Ratan Tata be Afforded the Right to Privacy?
— by Elonnai Hickok — last modified Mar 21, 2012 10:03 AMThe Ratan Tata case has raised many important questions pertaining to privacy. This note looks at a few of those questions, and the debate that centers around them.
UID Meeting in Bangalore – A Report
— by Prasad Krishna — last modified Jan 04, 2011 08:14 AMOn 23 November 2010 a public meeting was held for the UID in Bangalore. The speakers included B.K Chandrashekar, former Chairman of the Karnataka Legislature Council, Mr. Vidyashankar, Principal Secretary to Government of e-commerce, Sunil Abraham, Executive Director of Centre for Internet and Society, Jude D’Souza, Technology Specialist and Mathew Thomas, Retired Army Officer.
DSCI Information Security Summit 2010 – A Report
— by Elonnai Hickok — last modified Mar 21, 2012 10:04 AMOn 2 and 3 December 2010, the DSCI Information Security Summit 2010 took place in the Trident Hotel, Chennai. The two day summit included a broad spectrum of speakers/panels and topics, ranging from Securing Data & Systems to how to leverage the Cloud. The key speakers were Mr. Gulshan Rai, Director General, CERT-In, DIT, Mr. Rajeev Kapoor, Joint Secretary, DoPT, Govt. of India, Mr. Vakul Sharma, Advocate, Supreme Court of India and Dr. Kamlesh Bajaj, CEO, DSCI. Elonnai Hickok attended the summit.
Public Statement to Final Draft of UID Bill
— by Elonnai Hickok — last modified Mar 22, 2012 05:48 AMThe final draft of the UID Bill that will be submitted to the Lok Sabha was made public on 8 November 2010. If the Bill is approved by Parliament, it will become a legal legislation in India. The following note contains Civil Society's response to the final draft of the Bill.
Consumer Privacy - How to Enforce an Effective Protective Regime?
— by Elonnai Hickok — last modified Mar 21, 2012 10:06 AMIn a typical sense, when people think of themselves as consumers, they just think about what they purchase, how they purchase and how they use their purchase. But while doing this exercise we are always exchanging personally identifiable information, and thus our privacy is always at risk. In this blog post, Elonnai Hickok and Prashant Iyengar through a series of questions look through the whole concept of consumer privacy at the national and international levels. By placing a special emphasis on Indian context, this post details the potential avenues of consumer privacy in India and states the important elements that should be kept in mind when trying to find at an effective protective regime for consumer privacy.
Privacy and Telecommunications: Do We Have the Safeguards?
— by Elonnai Hickok — last modified Mar 21, 2012 10:06 AMAll of you often come across unsolicited and annoying telemarketing calls/ SMS's, prank calls, pestering calls for payment, etc. Do we have any safeguards against them? This blog post takes a look at the various rules and regulations under Indian law to guard our privacy and confidentiality.
Privacy and Banking: Do Indian Banking Standards Provide Enough Privacy Protection?
— by Elonnai Hickok — last modified Mar 21, 2012 10:07 AMBanking is one of the most risky sectors as far as privacy is concerned due to the highly sensitive and personal nature of information which is often exchanged, recorded and retained. Although India has RBI guidelines and legislations to protect data, this blog post looks at the extent of those protections, and what are the areas that still need to be addressed.
C.I.S Responds to Privacy Approach Paper
— by Elonnai Hickok — last modified Mar 21, 2012 10:08 AMA group of officers was created to develop a framework for a privacy legislation that would balance the need for privacy protection, security, sectoral interests, and respond to the domain legislation on the subject. Shri Rahul Matthan of Tri Legal Services prepared an approach paper for the legal framework for a proposed legislation on privacy. The approach paper is now being circulated for seeking opinions of the group of officers and is also being placed on the website of the Department of Personnel and Training for seeking public views on the subject. The Privacy India team at C.I.S responded to the approach paper and has called for the need for a more detailed study of statutory enforcement models and mechanisms in the creation of a privacy legislation.
American Bar Association Online Privacy Conference: A Report
— by Elonnai Hickok — last modified Mar 21, 2012 10:08 AMOn 10 November 2010, I attended an American Bar Association online conference on 'Regulating Privacy Across Borders in the Digital Age: An Emerging Global Consensus or Vive la Difference'. The panalists addressed many important global privacy challenges and spoke about the changes the EU directive is looking to take.
Privacy, Free/Open Source, and the Cloud
— by Elonnai Hickok — last modified Mar 22, 2012 05:50 AMA look into the questions that arise in concern to privacy and cloud computing, and how open source plays into the picture.
Privacy Concerns in Whole Body Imaging: A Few Questions
— by Elonnai Hickok — last modified Mar 21, 2012 10:09 AMSecurity versus Privacy...it is a question that the world is facing today when it comes to using the Whole Body Imaging technology to screen a traveller visually in airports and other places. By giving real life examples from different parts of the world Elonnai Hickok points out that even if the Government of India eventually decides to advocate the tight security measures with some restrictions then such measures need to balanced against concerns raised for personal freedom. She further argues that privacy is not just data protection but something which must be viewed holistically and contextually when assessing new policies.
Moldova Online: An Interview with Victor Diaconu
— by Sudha Rajagopalan — last modified Mar 21, 2012 10:10 AMIn this interview for Russian Cyberspace, set up with the help of Sunil Abraham (Executive Director at the Centre for Internet and Society in Bangalore, India), computer software professional Victor Diaconu explains the nature of Internet use, state control and the development of blogging and social media platforms in Moldova. Victor works at Computaris in Chisinau. He is Moldova educated, and has travelled to several western countries (including lengthy stays to US, UK) to learn about and understand what there is to be done in Moldova. Sudha Rajagopalan interviewed Victor Diaconu.
Presentation of the UID project by Ashok Dalwai – A Report
— by Elonnai Hickok — last modified Mar 21, 2012 10:09 AMOn Tuesday, 7 September 2010, Ashok Dalwai, the Deputy Director General of the Unique Identification of India (UIDAI), gave a lecture at the Indian Institute for Science in Bangalore. Representing the UID Authority, his presentation explained the vision of the project and focused on the challenges involved in demographic and biometric identification, the technology adopted, and the enrolment process. Elonnai Hickok gives a report of his presentation in this blog post.
Beyond Access as Inclusion
— by Anja Kovacs — last modified Aug 02, 2011 07:29 AMOn 13 September, the day before the fifth Internet Governance Forum opens, CIS is coorganising in Vilnius a meeting on Internet governance and human rights. One of the main aims of this meeting is to call attention to the crucial, yet in Internet governance often neglected, indivisibility of rights. In this blog post, Anja Kovacs uses this lens to illustrate how it can broaden as well reinvigorate our understanding of what remains one of the most pressing issues in Internet governance in developing countries to this day: that of access to the Internet.
Cybercrime and Privacy
— by Prasad Krishna — last modified Sep 14, 2010 01:21 PMElonnai Hickok examines privacy in the context of India’s legal provisions on cybercrime. She picks up the relevant provisions of the Information Technology Act as amended in 2008 dealing with cyber crimes and provides a fair analysis of the pros and cons of the amended Act.
Privacy and the Indian Copyright Act
— by Prasad Krishna — last modified Aug 06, 2013 01:37 PMIndia's Copyright Act was established in 1957, and is in the process of being placed before the Parliament in 2010. The provisions in the proposed Bill will work to make the Act WIPO Copyright Treaty (WCT) compliant. When looking at privacy in the context of copyright four key questions arise, says Elonnai Hickock as she analyses privacy in the context of the Indian Copyright Act.
Summary of UID Public Meeting, August 25 2010
— by Prasad Krishna — last modified Aug 02, 2011 07:28 AMA summary of the "No UID" public meeting that took place on Aug. 25th at the Constitution Club, New Dehli.
No UID Campaign in New Delhi - A Report
— by Prasad Krishna — last modified Jun 20, 2012 03:51 AMThe Unique Identification (UID) Bill is not pro-citizen. The scheme is deeply undemocratic, expensive and fraught with unforseen consequences. A public meeting on UID was held at the Constitution Club, Rafi Marg in New Delhi on 25 August, 2010. The said Bill came under scrutiny at the meeting which was organised by civil society groups from Mumbai, Bangalore and Delhi campaigning under the banner of "No UID". The speakers brought to light many concerns, unanswered questions and problems of the UID scheme.
Wherever you are, whatever you do
— by Sunil Abraham — last modified Mar 21, 2012 10:12 AMFacebook recently launched a location-based service called Places. Privacy advocates are resenting to this new development. Sunil Abraham identifies the three prime reasons for this outcry against Facebook. The article was published in the Indian Express on 23 August, 2010.
Does the Government want to enter our homes?
— by Sunil Abraham — last modified Mar 21, 2012 10:12 AMWhen rogue politicians and bureaucrats are granted unrestricted access to information then the very future of democracy and free media will be in jeopardy. In an article published in the Pune Mirror on 10 August, 2010, Sunil Abraham examines this in light of the BlackBerry-to-BlackBerry messenger service that the Government of India plans to block if its makers do not allow the monitoring of messages. He says that civil society should rather resist and insist on suitable checks and balances like governmental transparency and a fair judicial oversight instead of allowing the government to intrude into the privacy and civil liberties of its citizens.
UID Project in India - Some Possible Ramifications
— by Liliyan — last modified Mar 21, 2012 10:13 AMHaving a standard for decentralized ID verification rather than a centralized database that would more often than not be misused by various authorities will solve ID problems, writes Liliyan in this blog entry. These blog posts to be published in a series will voice the expert opinions of researchers and critics on the UID project and present its unique shortcomings to the reader.
Civil Liberties and the amended Information Technology Act, 2000
— by Malavika Jayaram — last modified Mar 21, 2012 10:13 AMThis post examines certain limitations of the Information Technology Act, 2000 (as amended in 2008). Malavika Jayaram points out the fact that when most countries of the world are adopting plain English instead of the conventional legal terminology for better understanding, India seems to be stuck in the old-fashioned method thereby, struggling to maintain a balance between clarity and flexibility in drafting its laws. The present Act, she says, is although an improvement over the old Act and seeks to address and improve on certain areas in the right direction but still comes up short in making necessary changes when it comes to fundamental rights and personal liberties. The new Act retains elements from the previous one making it an abnormal document and this could have been averted if there had been some attention to detail.
Feedback to the NIA Bill
— by Elonnai Hickok — last modified Mar 21, 2012 10:14 AMMalavika Jayaram and Elonnai Hickok introduce the formal submission of CIS to the proposed National Identification Authority of India (NIA) Bill, 2010, which would give every resident a unique identity. The submissions contain the detailed comments on the draft bill and the high level summary of concerns with the NIA Bill submitted to the UIDAI on 13 July, 2010.
Does the Safe-Harbor Program Adequately Address Third Parties Online?
— by Rebecca Schild — last modified Aug 02, 2011 07:19 AMWhile many citizens outside of the US and EU benefit from the data privacy provisions the Safe Harbor Program, it remains unclear how successfully the program can govern privacy practices when third-parties continue to gain more rights over personal data. Using Facebook as a site of analysis, I will attempt to shed light on the deficiencies of the framework for addressing the complexity of data flows in the online ecosystem.
Sense and censorship
— by Sunil Abraham — last modified Mar 21, 2012 10:15 AMSunil Abraham examines Google's crusade against censorship in China in wake of the attacks on its servers in this article published in the Indian Express.
Report on the Fourth Internet Governance Forum for Commonwealth IGF
— by Pranesh Prakash — last modified Feb 29, 2012 05:42 AMThis report by Pranesh Prakash reflects on the question of how useful the IGF is in the light of meetings on the themes of intellectual property, freedom of speech and privacy.
When Whistle Blowers Unite
— by Sunil Abraham — last modified Mar 21, 2012 10:17 AMLeaking corporate or government information in public interest through popular Web service providers is risky but Wikileaks.org is one option that you could try out.
Address delivered during the IGF Closing Ceremony
— by Radha Rao — last modified Aug 02, 2011 07:18 AMThis address was delivered by Dr. Anja Kovacs, as a representative of civil society, to the IGF during its closing ceremony.
The Role of ICT in Judicial Reform- An Exploration
— by Rebecca Schild — last modified Aug 02, 2011 07:17 AMA seminar held this month by the Communications and Manufacturing Association of India (CMAI) explored the role that information and communication technology can assume in the process of India's judicial reform efforts. The broad consensus among panelists was that “law is not keeping pace with technology”. However, whether technology will be harnessed to actually facilitate much needed transparency and access to the justice system, or be simply used to improve efficiency within the judicial branch still remains unclear.
Information and livelihoods
— by Radha Rao — last modified Aug 02, 2011 07:18 AMAn article by Prof. Subbiah Arunachalam (Distinguished Fellow, CIS) in GISW 2009 (Global Information Society Watch, 2009)
IPv6 in India: The promises and challenges
— by Pranesh Prakash — last modified Aug 02, 2011 07:16 AMNewspapers have been reporting that IPv4 addresses will get over soon, and that we will have to shift to IPv6. In this short piece, Pranesh Prakash gives a layperson's introduction to the IPv6 Internet we will be entering into soon, and what that means for you.
Access Beyond Developmentalism: Technology and the Intellectual Life of the Poor
— by Radha Rao — last modified Aug 02, 2011 07:16 AMEssay by Lawrence Liang, September 21, 2009 in response to - A Dialogue on ICTs, Human Development, Growth, and Poverty Reduction
Control Shift?
— by Pranesh Prakash — last modified Aug 02, 2011 07:22 AMThe USA has ceded control of the Internet over to Icann, but only partially. (This post appeared as an article in Down to Earth, in the issue dated November 15, 2009.)
The ICANN-US DOC 'Affirmation of Commitments' - A Step Forward?
— by Anja Kovacs — last modified Aug 02, 2011 07:16 AMOn 30 September 2009, ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) signed an Affirmation of Commitments (AoC) with the US Government's Department of Commerce. For those of us who are concerned that the Internet should serve the global public good, is the new arrangement a step forward? An assessment.
ಕೃಷಿ ಸಂಪದ - ಇ-ಮ್ಯಾಗಜೀನ್ ಬಿಡುಗಡೆ
— by Radha Rao — last modified Aug 02, 2011 07:15 AMಪರಿಸರ ಬರಹಗಾರ ನಾಗೇಶ್ ಹೆಗಡೆ ಅವರು ಕಂಪ್ಯೂಟರಿನ ಸ್ವಿಚ್ ಒತ್ತಿ ಪರದೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಡಿಜಿಟಲ್ ಪುಟ ಬೆಳಗಿ "ಕೃಷಿ ಸಂಪದ" ಇ-ಮ್ಯಾಗಜೀನನ್ನು ಇಂಟರ್ನೆಟ್ ಲೋಕಕ್ಕೆ ಅರ್ಪಿಸಿದರು.
Information and Communication Technology For Improving Agriculture and Rural Livelihoods
— by Radha Rao — last modified Aug 02, 2011 07:15 AMಮೈಕೇಲ್, ಮೊಬೈಲ್ ಮತ್ತು ಗ್ರಾಮೀಣ ಅಭಿವೃದ್ಧಿ (ಮೈಕೇಲ್ ರಿಗ್ಸ್ ಭಾಷಣ) - ಚಾಮರಾಜ ಸವಡಿ
Value Added Services of Information & Communication Technology- Mobile Telephony for Farmers Benefit
— by Radha Rao — last modified Aug 02, 2011 07:15 AMMr. G Raghunatha, State Manager, IFFCO Kisan Sanchar Ltd., Bangalore and Secretary, Institution of Agricultural Technologists, Bangalore has written an article on how ICT - Mobile Technology can be used for the farmers' benefit.
A Comment on the 2009 IGF Draft Programme Paper
— by Anja Kovacs — last modified Aug 02, 2011 07:15 AMThe Centre for Internet and Society is part of a broad group of civil society actors that submitted a comment on the Draft Programme Paper of the fourth Internet Governance Forum (IGF), taking place in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, in November 2009. The IGF is a forum for multistakeholder policy dialogue on Internet governance issues. The comment decries the complete absence of attention for Internet Rights and Principles in the agenda as it stands as of today, and this despite repeated requests from a wide range of stakeholders to make this theme a central one. All stakeholder groups were invited to submit their comments on the Draft Programme Paper of the 2009 IGF to the IGF Secretariat by 15 August.
IT Act and Commerce
— by Pranesh Prakash — last modified Aug 02, 2011 07:41 AMThis is a guest post by Rahul Matthan, partner in the law firm Trilegal, and widely regarded as one of the leading experts on information technology law in India. In this post, Mr. Matthan looks at the provisions in the amended Information Technology Act of interest to commerce, namely electronic signatures and data protection.
Primer on the New IT Act
— by Pranesh Prakash — last modified Aug 02, 2011 07:41 AMWith this draft information bulletin, we briefly discuss some of the problems with the Information Technology Act, and invite your comments.
Comments on the Draft Rules under the Information Technology Act
— by Pranesh Prakash — last modified Sep 21, 2011 06:13 AMThe Centre for Internet and Society commissioned an advocate, Ananth Padmanabhan, to produce a comment on the Draft Rules that have been published by the government under the Information Technology Act. In his comments, Mr. Padmanabhan highlights the problems with each of the rules and presents specific recommendations on how they can be improved. These comments were sent to the Department of Information and Technology.
Letter to ICANN on NCSG
— by Pranesh Prakash — last modified Aug 02, 2011 07:41 AMThe Centre for Internet and Society sent the following mail to ICANN regarding their attempt to impose their own charter for a Noncommercial Stakeholder Group (NCSG), instead of accepting the one drafted by the Noncommercial Users Constituency (NCUC).
An Open Letter on Internet Governance to the UN Internet Governance Forum
— by Sanchia de Souza — last modified Aug 02, 2011 07:40 AMThis open letter brings up concerns of democratic deficit in internet governance worldwide, and is addressed to the UN Internet Governance Forum (IGF). It is to be delivered at the IGF's 3rd Annual Meeting at Hyderabad, India, from 3rd to 6th December, 2008. The signatories are Alternative Law Forum, Bangalore, Centre for Internet and Society, Bangalore, Delhi Science Forum, New Delhi, Free Software Foundation - India, IT for Change, Bangalore, and Knowledge Commons, New Delhi.
i4D Interview: Social Networking and Internet Access
— by Nishant Shah — last modified Sep 22, 2011 12:51 PMNishant Shah, the Director for Research at CIS, was recently interviewed in i4D in a special section looking at Social Networking and Governance, as a lead up to the Internet Governance Forum in December, in the city of Hyderabad.
Document Actions
