Centre for Internet and Society

Agenda of the Conference on Safety Against Online Child Sexual Abuse

praskrishna — 2017-03-29T04:06:35Z

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/files/agenda-of-the-conference-on-safety-against-online-child-sexual-abuse

From Virtual to Reliable: Exploring Freedom and Facts in the World of WWW (World Wide Web)

praskrishna — 2017-03-29T04:01:25Z

An interactive seminar on internet freedom was organized by the Embassy of the Kingdom of Netherlands and Adaan Foundation on March 21, 2017 at the India International Centre in New Delhi. Saikat Dutta and Amber Sinha were panelists.

The seminar was coincident with the inauguration of the World Press Photo Exhibition 2016. In total there were four panelists. Read the agenda here.

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/from-virtual-to-reliable-exploring-freedom-and-facts-in-the-world-of-www-world-wide-web

Interactive Seminar on Internet Freedom

praskrishna — 2017-03-29T03:56:03Z

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/files/interactive-seminar-on-internet-freedom

क्‍या आधार पर जल्दबाज़ी में है सरकार?

praskrishna — 2017-03-29T03:52:08Z

Amber Sinha took part in a discussion on Aadhaar aired by NDTV on March 27, 2017.

एक जुलाई 2017 से आयकर रिटर्न भरने और पैन नंबर के लिए आधार नंबर देना अनिवार्य हो जाएगा. बिना आधार के अब आयकर रिटर्न नहीं भरा जा सकेगा. जिस किसी के पास पैन कार्ड है उसे एक जुलाई तक आधार नंबर देना होगा. अगर ऐसा नहीं करेंगे तो पैन कार्ड अवैध हो जाएगा. माना जाएगा कि आपके पास पैन कार्ड या पैन नंबर नहीं है. आयकर फार्म और पैन नंबर में आधार को अनिवार्य किये जाने से कई सवाल फिर से उठे हैं. 2009 से लेकर 2017 के बीच आधार के इस्तमाल को लेकर, इसके लीक होने से लेकर अनिवार्य किये जाने के ख़तरे को लेकर कई बहसें सुनी, पचासों लेख पढ़े. दूसरी तरफ हमने समाज में देखा कि आधार को लेकर ग़ज़ब का उत्साह है.

Watch the Video on NDTV

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/ndtv-march-27-2017-discussion-on-aadhaar

IDRC - Open Development Book - Authors' Workshop

praskrishna — 2017-03-29T03:47:14Z

Sumandro Chattapadhyay participated in the authors' workshop organized by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) and the Centre for Innovation in Learning and Teaching at the University of Cape Town in South Africa on March 11 and 12, 2017.

The workshop gathered the contributers to an upcoming book by IDRC on open development. This volume will continue, extend, and reflect back on the previously published "Open Development: Networked Innovations in International Development" (Edited by Matthew L. Smith and Katherine M. A. Reilly). Elonnai Hickok, Gus Hosein from Privacy International and Sumandro Chattapadhyay are writing a chapter for this book that is tentative titled as "Six Principles for Openness and Privacy in the Time of Data Revolution".

This chapter will bring together personal and institutional experiences from policy advocacy and grounded practice in open data and privacy across the “South” and the “West” to discuss a potential framing of these two concerns as not opposing but complimentary rights. We locate this discussion of openness and privacy within the context of the ongoing “data revolution”, and propose six principles towards engaging with present and future challenges in generation and management of, innovation with, and reliance on data as an economic and social resource.

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/news/idrc-open-development-book-authors-workshop

Comments on Draft Rights of Persons with Disabilities

praskrishna — 2017-03-29T03:33:09Z

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/accessibility/files/comments-on-draft-rights-persons-disabilities.pdf

The Fintech Disruption - Innovation, Regulation, and Transformation

praskrishna — 2017-03-29T02:10:49Z

Sumandro Chattapadhyay attended an event organized by Carnegie India on March 28, 2017. The aim of the initiative was that inclusive and sustainable regulations require constant interaction between policy makers and industry.

Select senior level policymakers, leaders from the banking industry and dynamic start-up founders and innovators gathered for the meet-up. The intention is to follow up on the discussions and debates from the round-table and come out with a detailed report on Fintech Regulations based on the research and conversations with start-ups and other valuable stakeholders.

See the conference agenda

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/the-fintech-disruption-innovation-regulation-and-transformation

Fintech Conference Agenda

praskrishna — 2017-03-29T01:33:37Z

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/files/fintech-conference-agenda

National Consultation on OER for Higher Education

praskrishna — 2017-03-28T15:53:03Z

Anubha Sinha attended the National Consultative Meet on OER Policy for Higher Education in India held at New Delhi on March 3, 2017. The event was organized by CEMCA (Commonwealth Educational Media Centre for Asia).

Click to see:

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/news/national-consultation-on-oer-for-higher-education

Schedule of the National Consultation on OER for Higher Education

praskrishna — 2017-03-28T15:47:43Z

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/files/national-consultation-on-oer-for-higher-education.pdf

OER Policy Framework

praskrishna — 2017-03-28T15:44:07Z

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/files/oer-policy.pdf

Debate on Cyber Crime in TV9

praskrishna — 2017-03-28T15:25:40Z

Vidushi Marda took part in a debate on cyber crime which was aired on TV9 on January 13, 2017.

Vidushi spoke about the the definition of "cyber crime" within the IT Act, and also on proportionality of punishment/the best way to deal with such incidents. This programme was aired after a few college websites had been hacked to display false notices from deans, registrars, etc.

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/debate-on-cyber-crime-in-tv9

Democracy and the Internet in 2017

praskrishna — 2017-03-28T15:19:14Z

Vidushi Marda gave a talk at St. Joseph's College of Commerce in Bengaluru on January 25, 2017. Vidushi spoke about democracy and the internet. The 50 minute talk was followed by 20 minutes of questions/comments.

Undergraduate students from a variety of disciplines such as social science, engineering, business, etc. attended the lecture. The talk broadly focused on:

The relationship between democracy and the internet. Why/how are they are closely related.
The internet's role in changing information exchange and communication. I drew on examples like the Arab Spring/Elections/Political change.
The growing usage of internet platforms for elections and also governance. Problematising the fact that these few private platforms seem to monopolise the internet, are only restricted to a certain elite audience, cannot be conflated with actual governance etc.
Fake News.
Algorithmic curation and filter bubbles.

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/democracy-and-the-internet-in-2017

CIS representation at ICANN 58

praskrishna — 2017-03-28T14:22:22Z

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) organized ICANN 58 at Copenhagen from March 9 to March 16, 2017. On behalf of the Centre for Internet & Society (CIS), Vidushi Marda participated in the event and made a presentation.

CIS' focus at ICANN can broadly be divided into four heads: human rights, jurisdiction, transparency and accountability. Since March last year, we have also been pushing for changes in ICANN's expected standards of behavior, along with adoption of an anti harassment policy. After the IANA transition in September last year, the community is now divided into sub groups (SGs) that look into different issues for ICANN post transition, including the 4 that CIS works on. More information on ICANN 58 can be accessed here.

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/cis-representation-at-icann-58

India’s biometric ID scans make sci-fi a reality

praskrishna — 2017-03-28T02:45:28Z

I have been thinking about my fingerprints and the secrets that may lie within my eyes — and whether I want to share them with the Indian government. I may not however have a choice.

The article by Amy Kazmin was published in the Financial Times on March 27, 2017. Sunil Abraham was quoted.

India has the world’s largest domestic biometric identification system, known as Aadhaar. Since 2010, the government has collected fingerprints and iris scans from more than 1bn residents, and each has been assigned a 12-digit identification number.

The scheme is championed by Nandan Nilekani, the billionaire co-founder of IT company Infosys. It was initially conceived to ensure poor Indians received subsidised food entitlements and other welfare benefits that were previously siphoned off by unscrupulous intermediaries. It was also seen as offering poor Indians, many of whom lack birth certificates, with a portable ID that can be used anywhere in the country.

Until now, obtaining an Aadhaar number was voluntary, though most Indians enrolled without hesitation as they see its potential benefits. But New Delhi is now enlisting Aadhaar, which means “foundation” or “base” in Hindi, in more than just welfare schemes. This would mean sharing one’s biometric details isn’t really optional any more despite a Supreme Court ruling that it should be “purely voluntary”.

Last week, the government issued a rule requiring an Aadhaar number for filing tax returns, ostensibly to improve tax compliance. It has also decided that all cell phone numbers must be linked to an Aadhaar number by 2018. Even Indian Railways has plans to demand Aadhaar from those booking train tickets online.

What was once touted as an initiative to improve delivery of welfare suddenly now seems like the foundation of a surveillance state — and I admit the prospect of putting my own biometrics in the database leaves me uneasy.

As a US citizen, I’ve never had to give my biometric data to my government. Domestically, fingerprints are only taken from criminal suspects, or applicants for government jobs, though I know foreign citizens are fingerprinted on arrival.

To me, the idea of sharing eye scans evokes the dystopian Hollywood film, Minority Report, which depicts a near future in which optical-recognition cameras allow the authorities to identify anyone in any public place. The hero on the run, played by Tom Cruise, has an illegal eye transplant to avoid detection.

In recent days, many Indian academics and activists have raised concerns about Aadhaar data security, the lack of privacy rules and the absence of any accountability structure if data are misused.

"Biometrics is being weaponised," says Sunil Abraham, executive director of the Bangalore-based Centre for Internet and Society. "What you need to be worried about is that someone will clean out your bank account or frame you in a crime," he says.

Pratap Bhanu Mehta, director of the Centre for Policy Research, has written of the “conversion of Aadhaar from a tool of citizen empowerment to a tool of state surveillance and citizen vulnerability”.

I call Mr Nilekani, of whose honourable intentions I have no doubt. After leaving Infosys in 2009, he spent five years in government, working to get Aadhaar off the ground. He says he is “extremely offended” when his project is accused of being part of a surveillance society, a narrative he says is “completely misrepresenting” the project. “I can steal your fingerprint off your glass. I don’t need this fancy technology,” he says. “Surveillance is far better done by following my phone, or when I use a map to order a taxi: the map knows where I am. Our internet companies know where you are.”

But in a society known for ingenious means of bypassing rules, such as having multiple taxpayer ID cards to aid evasion, Mr Nilekani says biometric authentication of individuals can bring discipline and reduce cheating. “It’s like you are creating a rule-based society,” he says, “it’s the transition that is going on right now.” I hang up, hardly reassured. To me, it seems clear that in India, as in so many places these days, Big Brother is increasingly watching.

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/financial-times-march-27-2017-amy-kazmin-indias-biometric-id-scans-make-sci-fi-a-reality