Centre for Internet and Society

Putting Users First: How Can Privacy be Protected in Today’s Complex Mobile Ecosystem?

praskrishna — 2011-09-22T10:03:58Z

Traditional approaches to ‘online privacy’ are often based on ‘compliance’ with a patchwork of local laws (where they exist). However, as new mobile services, applications and data flows become increasingly global, geo-graphically-bound laws appear unable to keep pace. Self-regulation has an important role to play in ensuring that mobile users’ privacy is treated consistently irrespective of the location of companies, the technologies and business models involved. A key challenge for industry is (a) to identify mobile-friendly ways of helping users make informed decisions about their information and privacy; and (b) to ensure user privacy is respected and protected by those designing and building the services and applications of tomorrow.

The aim of this proposed workshop is to foster a constructive conversation around three key issues:

Are privacy challenges on the mobile platform different to the fixed-pc environment? [Particularly in the context of:
Location privacy
Behavioural Advertising
Applications and related services
To what extent is mobile users’ privacy protected across technological and legal boundaries?
What are different stakeholders doing, what can they do and what should they be doing to address these challenges?

Which of the five broad IGF Themes or the Cross-Cutting Priorities does your workshop fall under?

Security, Openness and Privacy

Have you organized an IGF workshop before? No

If so, please provide the link to the report:

No link to this report

Provide the names and affiliations of the panellists you are planning to invite:

The GSMA is working to address these privacy related challenges and is also committed to helping establish and shape a culture of privacy that respects and protects the privacy of users across the mobile ecosystem. Its work is coordinated through the GSMA Mobile Privacy Initiative. Through this Initiative the GSMA has been working closely with Industry stakeholders, Regulators, Governments and NGOs globally. For this workshop, we would propose to invite a panel of 7-8 participants (including the moderator) which could represent the following stakeholder categories:

A Representative from GSMA (Pat Walshe, Director of Privacy)
One mobile operator: Jeff Brueggeman (Vice President-Publiy Policy AT&T)
A rep from the online industry: (i) Patrick Ryan, Policy Counsel, Open Internet for Google Inc
A rep from an open source software developer: Ms Juliana Rotich, Executive Director of Ushahidi Inc

Two Civil Society/ NGO representatives:

Sunil Abraham, executive director, The Centre for Internet and Society (India)
An academic (Ian Brown, co-director of Oxford University's Information Security and Privacy Programme )

Panel Moderator: Ambassador David Gross, Partner, Wiley Rein LLP

Remote panel moderator: Yiannis Theodorou, Regulatory Policy Manager, GSMA

Provide the name of the organizer(s) of the workshop and their affiliation to various stakeholder groups:

Natasha Jackson: Head of Content, GSMA and Board member of the Family Online Safety Institute (FOSI)
Pat Walshe: Director of Privacy, GSMA, Member British Computer Society, International Association of Privacy Professionals

The GSMA and its members actively participated in previous IGF workshops. GSMA has proven expertise and capacity to organise multi-stakeholder workshops and conferences – including the Mobile World Congress, Mobile Asia Congress, Government Mobile Forum every year, attended by tens of thousands of delegates and also organised a roundtable on mobile privacy at the 32nd International Conference of Data Protection and Privacy Commissioners held in Israel in October 2010.

The GSMA represents the interests of the worldwide mobile communications industry. Spanning 219 countries, the GSMA unites nearly 800 of the world's mobile operators, as well as more than 200 companies in the broader mobile ecosystem, including handset makers, software companies, equipment providers, Internet companies, and media and entertainment organisations.

Organization:GSM Association

Contact Person: Yiannis Theodorou, Regulatory Policy Manager, GSMA

Workshop Number: 75

See the event details on the IGF website.

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/news/how-can-privacy-be-protected

Putting

praskrishna — 2012-02-14T09:50:01Z

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/home-images/putting.jpg

Pushing women scientists

praskrishna — 2014-10-21T15:44:09Z

Wikipedia edit-a-thon attempts to raise awareness of the contribution of Indian women to science.

The article by Renuka Phadnis was published in the Hindu on October 19, 2014. T. Vishnu Vardhan gave his inputs.

Ask anyone to name an Indian scientist and the answer is likely to be a man, and not a woman scientist. To let more people know about the unsung heroines of science in India, a workshop called the Ada Lovelace Edit-a-thon 2014 was held here recently. At least 15 participants added content about women scientists over two days to Wikipedia as the first step in bringing public awareness about them.

The edit-a-thon (a large number of people adding or modifying content on Wikipedia at once) concluded on October 14, which was Ada Lovelace Day, an international day to celebrate the achievements of women in science, technology and maths. The event was organised by BioScienceIndia Programme, a non-profit science outreach initiative, and Bangalore-based Centre for Internet and Society.

Participants added information about at least 40 women scientists. Information on 80 more would be added in a year’s time, said Nandini Rajamani, Co-director, BioScienceIndia Programme.

The aim, however, is to go beyond edit-a-thons, to examine issues that have not received the attention they deserve. Women scientists in India are not on par with men for several reasons (see info box) and the “leaky pipeline” theory is used to describe their decreasing visibility. Vishnu Vardhan, Director, Access to Knowledge team, CIS, said the aim is to motivate a new and younger generation of women scientists.

Karthik Ramaswamy, visiting scientist at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) and a participant in the edit-a-thon, said science in India has a ‘diversity problem’ with Indian women and minorities represented inadequately. “There are very few women scientists among faculty of science institutions because they have no role models. Hopefully, this (presence on Wikipedia) will provide them with role models,” he added.

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/news/the-hindu-renuka-phadnis-october-19-2014-wikipedia-editathon-attempts-to-raise-awareness-of-the-contribution-of-indian-women-to-science

Pushing the Boundaries in Open Governance: Insights from OGP Asia Pacific Regional Conference in Bali, Indonesia (Day 1)

praskrishna — 2014-05-27T11:16:06Z

Sunil Abraham is quoted. He said that open governance is more about citizens checking on what government leaders are doing than on government coding its citizens to exercise surveillance.

This post originally appeared on the Open Data Research Network and has been republished with permission from the author. For the republished post on OGP website, see here.

The plenary room of Bali Nusa Dua Convention Center was jam-packed at 845 in the morning, with representatives from different countries in the Asia-Pacific region and all over the globe joining the first regional conference on open data hosted by the Government of Indonesia. The conference stage backdrop depicts a million colourful cranes moving in one direction towards the OGP logo, perhaps signalling an unprecedented wave of aspirations, commitments, plans, and actions towards a more ‘open’ governance within the region. Then a few minutes later, President Yudhoyono arrived and the two-day gathering (6-7 May 2014) of roughly 500 people started.

The program was impressive. It tried to cater to the different voices of what ideally should make an open government community – government leaders, journalists, right-to-information activists, business representatives, academia, researchers, civil-society groups, funding agencies, programmers, among others. The over-arching theme of the conference “Unlocking Innovative Openness: Impetus to Greater Citizen Engagement” speaks to both the supply side and the demand side of open data where governments can make openness more innovative to which citizens can proactively engage. The people in attendance reflected this multi-dimensionality and the kind of discussions on open governance that happened in Day 1 reflects the several, differentiated, yet somehow united view and interests of the many people that were there.

The first day of the conference brings me to four main realisations, prompted by the excellent presentations of the speakers and the lively discussion at the break-out session that I attended.

Openness is not an option but an imperative. Aruna Roy, founder of Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathanaof India, and considered one of the most influential thinkers of this decade put it more vividly using her organization’s slogan – “right to know, right to live”. While bureaucrats, like Minister Francis Maude of the UK argued that openness improve transparency, enhance public service, and stimulate growth, civil society groups claimed that openness is not something the government can do, but must do, to benefit right holders by ensuring that they are not only aware of what the government is doing but by ensuring that government leaders, to whom citizens entrust sovereignty, execute the will of the governed.
Open governance is about relations, about people, not just about technology, transparency, or data provision. Ms. Nwe Zin Win, of Myanmar National NGOs Network emphasized that as Myanmar moves towards Open Government Partnership (OGP) membership, the process should create a space for civil society groups to proactively participate. In his remarks, Director General Yoon Soon-Gu of the Republic of Korea emphasized that when his government embarked on the process of crafting Gov 3.0 as a development agenda, with the end-goal of making Koreans live a happy life, citizen consultations were conducted all across government to ensure that this plan is responsive and relevant and reflects the people’s aspirations. Anne Jellema, CEO of World Wide Web Foundation highlighted the fact that open governance is not only good for vertical accountability (government-governed) but also about horizontal accountability (agencies within the same government) and ensures that systems are working with government – judiciary, legislative, audit, executing agencies – for the common good. Open governance then, is about building that relationship of trust between government and citizens, between business and government, and between agencies in the government.
Open government has many challenges, but these are not insurmountable. Malou Mangahas of the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism emphasized five “I”s in her plenary speech that she said are the main challenges to the open government story in the Philippines and in the region – implementation, inclusiveness, information, institutionalisation, and interconnectedness. In the area of inclusiveness, one of the challenges is on how to ensure that people can participate in a context when there is a large digital divide, where internet penetration is low, and broadband speed is slow to a crawl. Mr. Samadhi of the Government of Indonesia emphasized that there are many examples in his country where government information is translated to accessible formats by infomediaries so that citizens without internet connection became aware, informed, and knowledgeable. In one of the coffee breaks, Redempto Parafina of the Affiliated Network for Social Accountability in East Asia and the Pacific shared to me that non-government organizations, concerned individuals, and universities translate information in the CheckmySchool portal to information materials for distribution and use by communities without internet.
Open governance narrative should focus on making governments more responsive and accountable. President Yudhoyono uses Facebook and Twitter, apart from the traditional media as text and snail mail, to listen to the demands of his constituents. The Government of New Zealand, according to Minister Peter Dunne, sets goals on basic public services as health, education, and employment and demands regular public reporting on these goals; reports that can be accessed and challenged by the people to whom the services are intended. Sunil Abraham of the Centre for Internet and Society argued that open governance should not veer away from this narrative. He made an example regarding India’s Unique Identification System, where the implementation is couched within the open data narrative. He believed that open governance is more about citizens checking on what government leaders are doing than on government coding its citizens to exercise surveillance.

It was a productive day. I am thankful that I was afforded the opportunity to attend the conference. One message that profoundly affected me was Aruna Roy’s exhortation at the end of her presentation – that we should make truth powerful, and that we should make power truthful.

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/news/open-government-partnership-michael-canares-may-6-2014-pushing-the-boundaries-in-open-governance

Purba Sarkar

praskrishna — 2013-05-10T18:01:40Z

Purba Sarkar

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/home-images/Purba.jpg

Purba

praskrishna — 2013-05-13T13:24:11Z

Purba

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/home-images/purba.jpg

Punjab (Govt.) Schemes

praskrishna — 2013-08-09T07:15:36Z

List of schemes published by the state government of Punjab can be viewed in the below file.

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/accessibility/resources/punjab-schemes.pdf

Pune Wikipedia Session

praskrishna — 2012-11-06T05:10:17Z

Pune Wikipedia

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/home-images/WP.png

Pune Editathon

praskrishna — 2017-04-10T16:00:31Z

Pune Editathon

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/home-images/PuneEditathon.jpg

Pull the Plug

praskrishna — 2012-01-03T10:21:16Z

Is it time to start talking about the right to disconnect? There is so much expectation and focus on being connected to the internet, that it seems like we don't have a choice. This article by Nishant Shah was published in the Indian Express.

W e hear a lot about how the internet should be considered as one of the basic human rights. As more of the world gets connected through the World Wide Web, and information becomes the new capital, there is a digital divide that emerges between those who can surf the web with ease, and those who struggle to boot their computers.

It is assumed that the digital natives are wired and connected, with their fingers constantly swooping on gadgets and their eyes glued to the interfaces at their disposal. They communicate with each other but also with the world around them through their tech tools, with the world just a click away. It is also assumed that for most digital natives, this existence in a surfeit of information and action is a default mode of being -that even when they are asleep, their digital selves are interacting in social networking systems, their gadgets are harvesting information from the Web, and their personal communication tools are bombarded with messages that are queued up for them to read when they wake up.

This constantly connected future is fuelled by governments and markets who are offering greater access to the young, both for education and consumption. Projects like the US-based One Laptop Per Child and mobile phones targeted at a "tweenage" demography are testimonies to how the younger generation is at the centre of this digital matrix of information communication.

In her book Alone Together, Sherry Turkle, professor at MIT, talks about how readers who are bombarded by snippets of information from a multitude of connections feel lost when disconnected from their smartphones and laptops. One of her key findings is that "these days, insecure in our relationships and anxious about intimacy, we look to technology for ways to be in relationships and protect ourselves from them at the same time".

In light of all this, the digital natives in our research group started debating about the right to disconnect. They proposed that there is so much expectation and focus on being connected, that it seems like they don't have a choice. This was a new way of looking at the relationships that digital natives have with technology.

Paola, one of our 20-something discussants from Latin America, told the story of the tyranny of BlackBerries. One of her friends recently applied for an internship as a part of her graduation programme. He cleared the interviews and got a six-month internship position with a large media house in Brazil. On the first day of work, as a part of his orientation, he was offered a BlackBerry. He wasn't particularly fond of the device and preferred to use his own smartphone. His reasoning was, "The BlackBerry never allows you to disconnect. When I am not at work, I want to be not at work."

It came as a rude shock to him when the company said that he had to use the BlackBerry because they wanted him be connected 24X7 to the media flows online. When he insisted, he was told that he would lose his internship if he did not accept the BlackBerry.

It is a story that found resonance with many other digital natives. They agreed that the internet is an incredible space for information consumption, and that they were very keen on the digital tools of communication and mobilisation. However, there seems to be an increased pressure on them to be wired all the time -no unplugging the cable, no downtime on the computer, no turning off of the cellphone. "If I have to go offline, I actually have to put it on Facebook and Twitter so that my friends don't get anxious," said another one.

"I get messages from followers asking me if I am alright, if I don't tweet for more than a few hours", agreed another. These pressures come from peers as well as the external world. And maybe, it is time to start talk ing about, along with the right to access, the right to disconnect.

The world might be shrinking and time might be ac celerating, but there is a value in being all alone and not necessarily together. As Paola says, "The next time you don't get a reply to your message from me in five minutes, it doesn't mean I am dead. It means that I choose not to. That I am digitally disconnected."

Email:

digitalnative@expressindia.com

Read the original in the Indian Express here

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/digital-natives/blog/pull-plug

Puducherry (Govt.) Schemes

praskrishna — 2013-11-13T09:06:04Z

Details of the Scheme in respect of differently-abled division of Social Welfare Department, Puducherry can be viewed below.

Grant of Incentive for marriage between differently-abled persons and normal person
Grant of incentive for marriage between differently-abled persons
Grant of Fuel Subsidy to differently-abled person persons who are owning motorized vehicles
Grant of Financial assistance to differently-abled person
Award of Scholarship to differently-abled person students
Incentive for Eye Donors
Reimbursement of maintenance cost of Tricycles
Supply of sarees and dhotis to differently-abled person persons
State Award for the Welfare of the Handicapped
Supply of Prosthetic Appliances to Differently-abled persons
Issue of free Bus pass to differently-abled person
Annual Tour for differently-abled persons
International day for the differently-abled person
Group Insurance for differently-abled person government employees
Insurance Scheme for person with disabilities other than the employees of Govt. of Pondicherry 2004
The Perunthalaivar Karmaveerar Kamaraj scheme for financial assistance towards funeral expenses of the differently- abled persons
Supply on invalid carriages (motorized tricycles) to the persons with disabilities
Supply of Musical/Sports items to PH welfare associations
Issue of Identity cards to differently-abled persons
Grant of Transport Allowance to Differently-abled persons
Supply of Radio to the Blind Person

Click to download the file received from the Government of Puducherry

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/accessibility/resources/puducherry-govt-schemes

Puducherry (Govt.) Schemes

praskrishna — 2013-11-13T09:03:44Z

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/puducherry-govt-schemes.pdf

Publishing Next

praskrishna — 2014-09-30T07:50:28Z

T. Vishnu Vardhan was a speaker at Publishing Next organized by CinnamonTeal Publishing, a Margao (Goa)-based publishing house that provides publishing services to authors and publishers. The event was held in Goa on September 19 and 20.

For speakers click here. Read the full description on Publishing Next website.

Schedule | publishing next

Schedule

For descriptions of each session, please view this page.

19th September 2014			20th September 2014
	Hall 1 (Panel Discussions and Presentations)	Hall 2 (Workshops)		Hall 1 (Panel Discussions and Presentations)	Hall 2 (Workshops)
09:00 – 10:00	Registration of attendees		09:30 – 10:00	Insight Talk by Klaus Willberg
10:00 – 10:20	Inauguration / Address		10:00 – 11:30	A Pulse on Publishing
10:20 – 11:00	Keynote Address		11:30 – 12:00	Tea
11:00 – 11:20	Tea		12:00 – 13:15	Worse Off Without Verse?	Physical Distribution in a Global World: 12.00-12.45
11:20 – 11:45	Presentation by Netex Knowledge Factory		13:15 – 14:00	Lunch
11:45 – 13:15	Publishing in Indian languages		14:00 – 14:20	Presentation by HP India
13:15 – 14:00	Lunch		14:20 – 15:20	The Art of the Book	Fiction/History/Research : 14:20 – 15:00
14:00 – 14:20	Presentation by NewsHunt		15:20 – 15:45	Q&A on ISBN Issues
14:20 – 15:45	Open Publishing, Copyright and Copyleft	Face to Face: Printers and Publishers: 14:20 – 16:15	15:45 – 16:15	Tea
15:45 – 16:15	Tea		16:15 – 16:30	Presentation by IppStar	Publishing Environments in Brazil and Sri Lanka: 16:15 – 17:00
16:15 – 17:30	The Business of Graphic Books	Publishing Translated Literature: 16:15-17:00	16:30 – 18:00	e-Publishing in India
17:30 – 19:00	Are There Enough Good Books for Children?	eBook Development and Distribution: 17.30-18.30	18.00 – Publishing Next Industry Awards Presentation Ceremony
20:30 – Networking Dinner at Hotel Sandalwood

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/news/publishing-next

Publications

praskrishna — 2013-09-23T07:34:43Z

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/publications.pdf

Publications

praskrishna — 2013-06-03T07:44:47Z

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/publications

Centre for Internet and Society

Putting Users First: How Can Privacy be Protected in Today’s Complex Mobile Ecosystem?

Putting

Pushing women scientists

Pushing the Boundaries in Open Governance: Insights from OGP Asia Pacific Regional Conference in Bali, Indonesia (Day 1)

Purba Sarkar

Purba

Punjab (Govt.) Schemes

Pune Wikipedia Session

Pune Editathon

Pull the Plug

Email:

Puducherry (Govt.) Schemes

Contents

Puducherry (Govt.) Schemes

Publishing Next

Schedule

Publications

Publications