Centre for Internet and Society

Wiki donors

praskrishna — 2013-07-01T04:19:13Z

Time Out finds out what Wikipedia’s doing to turn the info mammoth Kannada friendly

The article by Akhila Seetharaman was published in TimeOut Bengaluru on June 21, 2013. T. Vishnu Vardhan and Dr. U.B. Pavanaja are quoted.

Some Wikipedia numbers: Two hundred and eighty-six languages, 42 lakh articles in English. 2.6 crore articles totally. One lakh articles in Hindi, 50,000 in Telugu and Tamil each. Forty thousand in Marathi; 30,000 in Malayalam; 14,000 articles in Kannada. Number of Kannada Wikipedia contributors: 25. Kannadaspeaking population: 47 million. “That’s half a person working to build this public knowledge repository for every million Kannada speakers,” said Vishnu Vardhan, who directs the Access for Knowledge programme in India, a programme that is anchored by the Centre for Internet and Society. “While Hindi Wikipedia gets 60 lakhs page views per month, Kannada gets nine lakh eyeballs monthly.”

Vardhan and his team do outreach programmes, training college studentsin Karnataka on Wikipedia and encouraging them to contribute to its growing body of knowledge in Kannada. So far they’ve had 16 programmes and reached out to 2,500 people. Vardhan admits that there’s a mixed response. “It’s not a labour of love for everyone. Some people are excited to contribute, others feel it’s too much work.”

But he believes it’s important to get across the main message: that Wikipedia is a public knowledge infrastructure for the future. “In our minds libraries, books, newspapers, archives are knowledge repositories,” he said. “But the book is a relatively recent phenomenon, only about a hundred years old. And now everything is becoming the Internet. What is going to happen to our language or culture in the digital era?” Vardhan explains to people that this is the gap they could be filling by taking part in Indian language Wikipedia.

On the agenda for the coming year is growing the content in five Indian language Wikipedias, including Kannada. It’s a gargantuan task. Nobody gets paid to write on Wikipedia and there are technical challenges: you need browser support, Kannada fonts, and most keyboard layouts are in English. But as Vardhan says the Kannada font can be downloaded for free.

But free knowledge communities in each language have to overcome hurdles if there’s to be a valuable repository of knowledge for the public in Indian languages. “We are all netizens. We are all educated, metro people. We’re comfortable accessing the Internet but how many of us use it in our own language? Do we type in Kannada or write in Kannada? While access to knowledge happens in English there is still a large population that does its business in Kannada,” he said. Visit kn.wikipedia.org.

Tech’s messages
UB Pavanaja was among the first eggheads to take Kannada content online. Time Out spoke to him about the city’s lingo

Could you tell us about a little about yourself?
I worked as a scientist at Bhabha Atomic Research Center (BARC) in Mumbai for 15 years before getting into the emerging field of computers and Indian languages. I started the first Kannada website, and the first Kannada online magazine. I also created the first Indian language version (Kannada) of Logo software, a popular programming language for children and advised the Government of Karnataka on standarising Kannada on computers. I now work with the Centre for Internet and Society as part of the Access to Knowledge team.

How has Kannada changed in the past two decades?
There have been lots of changes. It is mostly Kanglish now, no more Kannada. Most people have replaced common Kannada words like “appa”, “amma”, “anna”, “akka”, “chikkappa”, “atte”, with dad, mom, bro, sis, uncle, aunty. Nobody uses Kannada numbers. Go to any shop and the shopkeeper will give you the price in English and not in Kannada. Even the display boards in shops are now in English. Common vegetables and fruits names are now displayed in English. I don’t know the names of common vegetables and fruits in English so I can’t rely on the boards for information. I either know the vegetable by looking at it or I don’t. If the price board is moved slightly, then I won’t know the price of the vegetable. For example, in Reliance Fresh, they write “coccinea” for our common vegetable which we know as “tondekaayi”. Let them write coccinea in English script. But why do they write that in Kannada script?

How have information and communication technologies influenced Kannada language over the years? About ten or 15 years ago when developments in IT were rapid, the implementation of Kannada in IT was not keeping pace with time. Hence people thought it was not possible to use Kannada in IT. But that has changed now. Whatever is possible with English in IT is now possible with Kannada also. But people lack awareness and willingness to adopt it. Wherever there is computerisation, it is automatically in English and not Kannada. For, example, the online booking of tickets by KSRTC is in English only. Technically it is now possible to develop a data-driven website in Kannada. But KSRTC is not willing to do so.

Any Kannada lingo that didn’t exist two decades?
There are many. Some samples: “message maadu”, “delete maadu”, “missed call kodu”, “update maadu”, “copy maadu”. Most of them are derived from using technology.

What have been the biggest influences on the Kannada language in recent times?
Mobile phones, smart phones, FM radio, TV channels, and movies.

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/news/timeout-bengaluru-akhila-seetharaman-june-21-2013-wiki-donors

Audit Report (2010-11)

praskrishna — 2013-06-20T11:48:08Z

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/audit-report-2010-11.pdf

Annual Report (2012-13)

praskrishna — 2014-10-22T00:04:39Z

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/annual-report-2012-13.pdf

Girls in ICT Day 2013 — Nirmita Narasimhan Felicitated

praskrishna — 2013-06-20T05:35:54Z

The ITU-APT Foundation of India with support from CMAI - Association of India Communication and Infrastructure organized the "Girls in ICT Day" to pay tribute to the contribution of young women in ICT in India on May 7, 2013 at FICCI Auditorium, Tansen Marg, New Delhi.

Nirmita Narasimhan got a felicitation on this event.

Anil Prakash, Secretary General, ITU-APT Foundation of India wrote a 'thank you' letter to Nirmita for participating in this event. The text of the letter by Anil Prakash is reproduced below:

Thank You for attending the Girls in ICT day 2013
Dear Ms. Narasimhan,
On behalf of ITU-APT Foundation of India and CMAI, I take this opportunity to thank you for your precious time and for participating in the panel discussion at the "Girls in ICT Day 2013", held on 7th May 2013 at FICCI Auditorium, Tansen Marg, New Delhi. Your thoughtful deliberation on the subject was well appreciated and encouraged by the participants. The opening address by...Rita Teaotia, Addl, Secretary, DoT and concluding address by ... Eun-Ju Kim, Regional Director, ITU Regional Office in Asia Pacific had added a great significance to the programme.

The programme was a great success and over 150 participants including international dignitaries, ambassadors, ministers from foreign countries, students, young professionals, civil society & government representatives and the industry acknowledged the awards given to young girls who have contributed in the development of ICT and made a difference with their untiring enthusiasm, determination and working against all odds to make a difference.

The success of the programme has encouraged us largely as this was the first time the event was celebrated in India and henceforth we plan to celebrate it on an annual basis and pay our tribute to the young women achievers in the field of ICT.

We once again thank you for your valuable contribution and look forward to your continued support in future.

Thanking You,
Anil Prakash
Secretary General
ITU-APT Foundation of India
Suite 115, Gagandeep, 12 Rajendra Place
New Delhi-110008
Tel. +91-11-2575 7128

Below is a group picture of participants at the Girls in ICT event in Delhi. The winners are seen holding on to their certificates.

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/girls-in-ict-day-2013-in-delhi

Opportunities for TV White Spaces in India Workshop

praskrishna — 2013-09-18T04:51:11Z

Shyam Ponappa, a fellow at the Centre for Internet and Society is participating in a workshop on TV White Space. The workshop is being organized by the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay and sponsored by the Ford Foundation at the Royal Hotel Plaza in New Delhi on June 21, 2013.

See the original published by the Indian Institute of Technology website here

About the Workshop

This workshop will discuss the regulatory aspects of TV white space with a focus on Indian requirements. We believe that making the most efficient use of the TV white space spectrum will offer tremendous benefits to the low-income broadband users in India. It will also provide opportunities to the academia and indigenous industries for research and development, thereby creating intellectual property related to methods feasible for TV white space spectrum usage and access in India.

The workshop is intended for researchers, policy makers, and industry professionals working in the area of TV white spaces. The discussions will provide exposure to the TV white space applications and regulations across the world. The regulatory framework for TV white space present elsewhere in the world will be in focus, and we will provide suggestions for the same in India. This workshop may sow the seeds of developing a regulatory framework for TV white space operation in India.

The program consists of an overview of the TV white space regulations and standards from different countries around the world, and a discussion on the TV white space regulations necessary for the Indian context.

Time	Details
09:30 10:00	Inauguration and Introduction
10:00 10:30	WhiteSpace Applications, Regulations and Technologies, Dr. Apurva Mody, White Space Alliance
10:30 11:00	Tea Break
11:00 11:30	Geo-location Database – U.S. TV White Spaces and Beyond John Malyar, iConnective
11:30 12:00	TV White Space Detection and Spectrum Characterization in India, Prof. Vinay Ribeiro (IIT Delhi) and Prof. Animesh Kumar (IIT Bombay). Based on collective work done at IIT Delhi and IIT Bombay
12:00 12:30	White Space Opportunities in South India Prof. Zafar Ali Khan, IIT Hyderabad
12:30 14:00	Lunch
14:00 14:30	Enabling the Global Spectrum Village, Jeffery Yan, Microsoft
14:30 15:00	TI solutions for TV white space Jose Frangline, Texas Instruments
15:00 16:00	Panel Discussion
16:00 16:30	Tea Break
16:30 17:00	Regulations of Ofcom, Dr. Reza Karimi, Technical Policy Director, Ofcom
17:00 17:30	Regualtions of FCC, Dr. Julius Knapp, Chief, Office of Engineering and Technology, FCC

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/news/iitb-june-21-2013-opportunities-for-tv-white-spaces-in-india-workshop

A Feature on Wikipedia and Telugu Wikipedians on HMTV

praskrishna — 2013-08-21T04:46:47Z

Based on the Telugu Wiki Mahotsavam, HMTV (one of the leading Telugu News channels in Andhra Pradesh) has produced a half an hour feature on Wikipedia and Telugu Wikipedians.

This feature gives a concise history of the growth of Wikipedia and the efforts being put in developing Indian Language Wikipedias. Done in collaboration with Telugu Wikipeidans, this feature also showcases some of the key Telugu Wikipedians who have attended Telugu Wiki Mahotsavam — a community event supported by CIS-A2K and WMI Chapter. This feature was broadcast on May 30 and was repeated on May 31.

Video

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/news/hmtv-may-30-2013-wikipedia-and-telugu-wikipedians

कैसे होती है इंटरनेट पर आपकी जासूसी

praskrishna — 2013-07-02T16:06:48Z

भारत में बैठे आप कब, कहां, क्या लिख रहे हैं, किससे फोन पर क्या बात कर रहे हैं, अमेरिका में बैठे अधिकारी सब देख-सुन रहे हैं. कभी सोचा है कि कैसे हो रहा है यह सब? क्या आपकी कंप्यूटर स्क्रीन उनके कंप्यूटर पर भी खुली है?

This article was published in DW on June 15, 2013. Sunil Abraham is quoted.

अमेरिकी खुफिया एजेंसियों के बड़ी इंटरनेट कंपनियों के जरिए जासूसी करने के मामले ने दुनिया भर में हलचल मचा दी है. भारत में भी नागरिक इस बात से चिंतित हैं कि ना सिर्फ अमेरिकी नागरिकों पर बल्कि भारत में रहने वाले लोगों के हर पल की खबर भी अमेरिका के हाथों में है. कैसे हो सकता है यह सब, क्या यह किसी डाक की तरह है जिसे शक होने पर अधिकारी कभी भी हाथ से खोल सकते हैं? जी नहीं, उससे भी ज्यादा.

(आपका फोन कोई और तो नहीं सुन रहा)

कैसे होती है इंटरनेट जासूसी

भारत में सेंटर फॉर इंटरनेट एंड सोसाइटी के कार्यकारी निदेशक सुनील अब्राहम ने डॉयचे वेले को बताया कि फेसबुक, गूगल और माइक्रोसॉफ्ट जैसी बड़ी कंपनियों के पास आपकी अलग अलग जानकारी होती है. समूची जानकारी को कंपनी का हर सदस्य नहीं देख सकता है. उनके पास आपकी नियमित जानकारी ही है. वे आपके मेसेज नहीं खोल सकते हैं. लेकिन जब खुफिया एजेंसी के पास आपके कंप्यूटर पर चल रहे माइक्रोसॉफ्ट प्रोसेसर से लेकर आपके गूगल, फेसबुक और दूसरे अहम अकाउंट की जानकारी होती है तो उनके पास सब कुछ होता है. वे जब चाहें आपके कंप्यूटर से खुद अपने कंप्यूटर को जोड़ कर आपकी हर हरकत का पता कर सकते हैं.

हालांकि अमेरिकी कांग्रेस द्वारा पारित कानून के अनुसार केवल जिस व्यक्ति पर शक है, उसके अकाउंट से जुड़ी जानकारी के लिए खुफिया एजेंसी को पहले अदालत से अनुमति लेनी होती है जिसके आधार पर उन्हें इंटरनेट कंपनियां सर्वर तक की पहुंच देती हैं. लेकिन अब्राहम ने बताया कि एजेंसी ने ऐसा करने के बजाए कंपनियों के साथ मिलकर एक पीछे का रास्ता निकाला है जिसके तहत उनके पास सभी के अकाउंट का ब्योरा आ गया.

भारतीयों पर भी जासूसी

अब्राहम ने बताया कि भारत में इस्तेमाल हो रहे सभी बड़े सॉफ्टवेयर और फेसबुक और गूगल जैसी सोशल नेटवर्किंग साइटें अमेरिका में रजिस्टर्ड हैं. यानि यहां जो कुछ भी हो रहा है वह सब अमेरिकी सर्वर

	से हो कर गुजर रहा है. ऐसे में उनके लिए भारत में बैठे किसी व्यक्ति के अकाउंट को खोलना और पढ़ना जरा भी मुश्किल नहीं है. जबकि भारत अमेरिकी नागरिकों के साथ ऐसा नहीं कर सकता है. इस तरह कोई भी भारतीय अकाउंट अमेरिका की नजर से छुपा नहीं है. भारत सरकार के लिए जरूरी यह भी है कि उसके बड़े अधिकारियों, सैन्य अधिकारियों और सरकारी विभागों की जानकारी के साथ ऐसा कुछ ना हो सके. भारत के विदेश मंत्रालय ने इस मामले पर आपत्ति जताते हुए अमेरिका को ऐसा करने से रोकने का दावा किया है. यह अमेरिका के हाथों भारतीयों की निजता का हनन है. अब्राहम कहते हैं कि इस बारे में दोनों सरकारों के बीच बातचीत के बाद ही नतीजे सामने आएंगे. हालांकि भारत सरकार ऐसा पूरी तरह रोक पाएगी इस पर संदेह ही है.

से हो कर गुजर रहा है. ऐसे में उनके लिए भारत में बैठे किसी व्यक्ति के अकाउंट को खोलना और पढ़ना जरा भी मुश्किल नहीं है. जबकि भारत अमेरिकी नागरिकों के साथ ऐसा नहीं कर सकता है. इस तरह कोई भी भारतीय अकाउंट अमेरिका की नजर से छुपा नहीं है.

भारत सरकार के लिए जरूरी यह भी है कि उसके बड़े अधिकारियों, सैन्य अधिकारियों और सरकारी विभागों की जानकारी के साथ ऐसा कुछ ना हो सके. भारत के विदेश मंत्रालय ने इस मामले पर आपत्ति जताते हुए अमेरिका को ऐसा करने से रोकने का दावा किया है. यह अमेरिका के हाथों भारतीयों की निजता का हनन है. अब्राहम कहते हैं कि इस बारे में दोनों सरकारों के बीच बातचीत के बाद ही नतीजे सामने आएंगे. हालांकि भारत सरकार ऐसा पूरी तरह रोक पाएगी इस पर संदेह ही है.

(किसने खोला राज)

सभी देश कर रहे हैं जासूसी

सुनील अब्राहम ने बताया कि थोड़ी बहुत इंटरनेट जासूसी सभी देशों की सरकार करती है. यह देश की सुरक्षा के लिए अहम भी है. लेकिन यह कम से कम स्तर तक ही होनी चाहिए. उनका मानना है कि वर्तमान हालात के दौरान हर देश ज्यादा से ज्यादा जानकारी का भूखा होता जा रहा है. ऐसे में निजता का क्या अर्थ है वह भी मिटता जा रहा है. लेकिन ऐसे में भी अमेरिका का भारतीयों पर जासूसी करना सही नहीं है.

इसके लिए जरूरी यह है कि भारत सरकार अपने नागरिकों को इंटरनेट पर अपनी निजता बनाए रखने के तरीकों से अवगत कराए. लेकिन यह इसलिए संभव नहीं हो सकता है, क्योंकि फिर लोगों के बारे में जरूरत पड़ने पर खुद भारत सरकार जासूसी नहीं कर पाएगी.

अब्राहम ने बताया कि ऐसी स्थिति में आईक्लाउड और एयर एंड्रॉयड जैसे सॉफ्टवेयर का इस्तेमाल भी सुरक्षित नहीं है. वह और उनके जैसे दूसरे इंटरनेट एक्सपर्ट और कार्यकर्ता लोगों से अपील करते आए हैं कि वे इन सॉफ्टवेयर का इस्तेमाल अपनी निजी जानकारी को संचित करने के लिए ना करें.

सुनील अब्राहम ने कहा कि यह तो बस शुरुआत है. ऐसा नहीं है कि ये मामले यहीं थम जाएंगे. आगे आने वाले समय में हम इस तरह की जासूसी और जानकारी लीक हो जाने की और बातें सुनें तो हैरान नहीं होना चाहिए. हमारे पास अभी तक ऐसा सिस्टम नहीं है जो निजता को पूरी तरह सुरक्षित रखने के लिए आश्वस्त कर सके.

रिपोर्ट: समरा फातिमा
संपादन: महेश झा

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/news/dw-june-15-report-on-internet-surveillance

Pranesh Prakash on the US snooping into Indian cyber space

praskrishna — 2013-07-02T16:19:11Z

Pranesh Prakash, Policy Director, Center for Internet and Society, talks about the ramifications of US incursion into the privacy of Indians through cyber space. He says that Indian laws on privacy and free speech shall be applied to the web companies in India so that they actually not surrender the privacy of Indian citizens just because American law requires them to.

The interview conducted by Tehelka can be seen here

Video

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/news/tehelka-june-15-2013-pranesh-prakash-on-us-snooping-into-indian-cyber-space

Johannesburg Workshop in Theory and Criticism

praskrishna — 2013-08-28T09:42:08Z

The 2013 Session will take place in Johannesburg (South Africa) from June 22 to July 2, 2013. Nishant Shah is participating as a speaker. The event is organized by WITS Institute for Social and Economic Research.

Click to read the original here

Nishant is the founder and Director of Research for the Bangalore-based Centre for Internet and Society. His doctoral work at the Centre for the Study of Culture and Society, examines the production of a Technosocial Subject at the intersections of law, Internet technologies and everyday cultural practices in India. As an Asia Scholarship Fellow (2008-2009), he also initiated a study that looks at what goes into the making of an IT City in India and China. He is the series editor for a three year collaborative project on "Histories of the Internet(s) in India" that maps nine alternative histories that promote new ways of understanding the technological revolution in the country.

Nishant's current research engagement since 2009 has been with the possibilities of social transformation and political participation in young peoples' use of digital technologies in emerging ICT contexts of the Global South. Nishant writes regularly for The Indian Express and GQ India to give a public voice to the academic research. He is currently also engaged in a project that seeks to articulate the intersections of digital technologies and social justice within the higher education space in India.

Nishant designs Internet and Society courses for undergraduate and graduate students in the fields of Communication, Media, Development, Art, Cultural Studies, and STS, in and outside of India. He is a founding member of the Inter Asia Cultural Studies Consortium and has also worked as a cyberculture consultant for various spaces like Yahoo!, Comat Technologies, Khoj Studios, and Nokia.

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/news/jwtc-workshop

Wiki Rahasya: Panel Discussion on Suvarna News

praskrishna — 2013-07-02T16:36:11Z

Dr. U.B.Pavanaja participated in a panel discussion around Wikipedia in general and about Kannada Wikipedia in specific. This was telecast by Suvarna News 24x7 (Kannada) TV channel on June 13, 2013.

Videos

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/news/suvarna-news-june-13-2013-wiki-rahasya-panel-discussion

Wikipedia Live Phone-in Programme on HMTV

praskrishna — 2013-06-18T05:54:01Z

Vishnu Vardhan took part in a one hour live phone-in programme on Wikipedia. This was telecasted in HMTV on June 1, 2013.

Dr. Rajasekar, Administrator on Telugu Wikipedia; Malladi Kameshwararao, Journalist and Telugu Wikipedian; Rahimanuddin Shaik, Telugu SIG, Wikimedia India Chapter; and T. Vishnu Vardhan Programme Director, CIS-A2K participated in a one-hour live phone-in programme on Telugu Wikipedia broadcast by HMTV (a Telugu News Channel) on June 1, 2013. This is probably for the first time a television news channel in India has done a live phone-in programme on Wikipedia. HMTV had also done a half-an-hour feature on Wikipedia which was broadcast on May 30 and May 31, 2013.

Videos

Part 1

Part 2

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/news/wikipedia-live-phone-in-programme

Govt mulls advisory on privacy issues related to Google, Facebook

praskrishna — 2013-07-02T14:31:48Z

The Government is set to harden its stand against foreign Internet firms in asking them to comply with Indian laws.

The article by Thomas K Thomas was published in the Hindu Business Line on June 10, 2013. Sunil Abraham is quoted.

According to a top Government source, an advisory may be issued in the interest of general public to make them aware of the privacy issued while using services offered by foreign Internet companies such as Google and Facebook.

This follows an international media expose on how US agencies were getting access to user data from Internet companies such as Google and Facebook.

Final Strategy Soon

Top official in the Ministry of Telecom and IT told Business Line that the National Security Advisor, under the Prime Minister’s Officer, is discussing the issue and will outline the final strategy on Wednesday.

The key concern is that the US security agencies may have collected data from key Indian accounts using services from any of the Internet companies. A number of Government officials also use email service from Google and MS Outlook, which may have been accessed by the US agencies.

The other major concern is that Indian security agencies have also been seeking access to data from these foreign companies but so far they have not obliged on grounds that they do not come under the purview of Indian laws.

“If the US Government can get access to data from these companies, why can’t the Indian Government be given access,” posed a top functionary of the telecom ministry.

While Google and other companies have denied knowledge to how the US agencies got access to their networks, industry experts said that it’s time India starts taking concrete steps to address the issue.

B.K. Syngal, Former Chairman, Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd, said, “If we believed that our privacy is sacred then we would have taken effective domestic measures, years ago, to ensure that the information of our citizens remains private. To now say that multiple US companies have betrayed our trust is meaningless.”

Double Standards

Syngal said that there are double standards in the way organisations and Government is handling the issue. “As a start, lets stop giving too much time and space to the so called “Foreign Funded NGOs” teaching us on privacy. Our problem is that we are not China. We are so ill equipped that the third party interests aided and abetted by these NGOs would prevail,” said Syngal.

According to Sunil Abraham, Executive Director, Centre for Internet and Society, companies such as Google and Facebook are foes when it comes to privacy issues and friends when it comes to freedom of speech. “An Indian consumer using any of these foreign websites has no privacy rights whatsoever. The Indian Government also cannot force these companies to follow Indian laws,” said Abraham.

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/news/hindu-businessline-thomas-k-thomas-june-10-2013-govt-mulls-advisory-on-privacy-issues-related-to-google-facebook

Indien: Umfangreiche Überwachung von Onlineaktivitäten, Telefonanrufen und Textnachrichten

praskrishna — 2013-07-02T09:40:43Z

This blog post by Von Andrea Jonjic was published in a German website on June 10, 2013. Pranesh Prakash is quoted.

Click to read the original published by Netzpolitik.org

The Times of India berichtete diese Woche von der Errichtung eines Central Monitoring System (CMS), das es staatlichen Stellen ermöglichen soll, alle Onlineaktivitäten, Telefonanrufe und Textnachrichten inklusive Standort von Bürgerinnen und Bürgern zu überwachen. Nach Pranesh Prakash, Direktor am Centre for Internet and Society, könne man das Projekt nur schwer bewerten:

In the absence of a strong privacy law that promotes transparency about surveillance and thus allows us to judge the utility of the surveillance, this kind of development is very worrisome. Further, this has been done with neither public nor parliamentary dialogue, making the government unaccountable to its citizens.

Das Centre for Internet and Society hatte Anfang April eine Analyse über “India’s ‘Big Brother’” angefertigt. Zwei Jahre lang sei das System entwickelt worden und habe insgesamt 4 Milliarden Indische Rupien (ca. 56 Millionen Euro) gekostet. Es wird laut Indian Times direkt bei den Telekommunikationsanbietern installiert, staatliche Behörden haben somit einen direkten Zugang. Dazu gehören laut dem Centre for Internet and Society Bundespolizei, Anti-Terror-Behörde, Anti-Drogen-Behörde und die Steuerbehörde.

Laut Pavan Duggal, Anwalt am Obersten Gerichtshof und spezialisiert auf ‘Cyber Law’, gibt sich die Regierung mit dem CMS beispiellose Befugnisse zur Überwachung der Onlineaktivitäten von Bürgerinnen und Bürgern – und das könne zu enormem Missbrauch führen. Bisher habe sich die Regierung kaum dazu geäußert, was eigentlich in welchem Ausmaß überwacht werden soll. Im Dezember 2012 habe der IT-Minister Milind Deora lediglich geäußert, dass man sich an die Gesetze halten werde.

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For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/news/netzpolitik-june-10-2013-indien

Facebook, Google deny spying access

praskrishna — 2013-07-02T10:18:48Z

The CEOs of Facebook and Google on Saturday categorically denied that the US National Security Agency had "direct access" to their company servers for snooping on Gmail and Facebook users. But both acknowledged that the companies complied with the 'lawful' requests made by the US government and shared user data with sleuths.

The article by Javed Anwer was published in the Times of India on June 9, 2013. Pranesh Prakash is quoted.

In a post titled "What the ...?" Google's official blog, CEO Larry Page wrote, "We have not joined any program that would give the US governmentâ€”or any other governmentâ€”direct access to our servers. We had not heard of a program called PRISM until yesterday."

A few hours later, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg responded. "Facebook is not and has never been part of any program to give the US or any other government direct access to our servers... We hadn't even heard of PRISM before yesterday," he wrote on his page at the social media site.

According to a few PowerPoint slides allegedly leaked by an NSA official, nine technology companies - Google, AOL, Apple, Yahoo, Microsoft, Skype, Facebook, YouTube and PalTalk - are providing the US government easy access to user data. While all companies have denied being part anything called PRISM, Facebook and Google have been most vocal about it.

A few hours after Facebook and Google statements, the New York Times said in a report that technology companies had "opened discussions with national security officials about developing technical methods to more efficiently and securely share the personal data of foreign users".

"In some cases, they (companies) changed their computer systems to do so," noted the NYT report.

The statements by the CEOs have done little to allay privacy fears. "The denials from the companies look highly coordinated, including similar phrases in all their responses. I don't think they are lying outright, though the NYT report suggests that they are telling a half-truth. They may not provide the US government 'direct access' to all their servers, but may be providing indirect access, or may just be responding to very broad FISA orders," said Pranesh Prakash, a policy director with Centre for Internet and Society in India.

On Friday US president Barack Obama had tacitly acknowledged NSA surveillance programmes aimed at non-US citizens. "You can't have a hundred per cent security and also then have a hundred per cent privacy and zero inconvenience. You know, we're going to have to make some choices as a society," he told reporters in the US.

Page and Zuckerberg also called on the governments to be more open about surveillance programmes. "The level of secrecy around the current legal procedures undermines the freedoms we all cherish," wrote Page.

Added Zuckerberg, "We strongly encourage all governments to be much more transparent about all programs aimed at keeping the public safe. It's the only way to protect everyone's civil liberties and create the safe and free society we all want over the long term."

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/news/times-of-india-javed-anwer-june-9-2013-facebook-google-deny-spying-access

Internet firms deny existence of PRISM

praskrishna — 2013-07-02T07:47:27Z

Nothing is private anymore. According to a leak in the US, which revealed the wide reach of a mass surveillance programme by intelligence agencies, messages, posts, chats on your computer or phone are all vulnerable to interception, thanks to direct access to servers of major tech companies.

The article by Javed Anwer and Ishan Srivastava was published in the Times of India on June 8, 2013. Sunil Abraham and Pranesh Prakash are quoted.

The existence of the programme, called Prism, was first reported by the Washington Post and the Guardian newspaper after they received a tip-off from a whistleblower in National Security Agency in the US. The whistleblower claimed that NSA has direct access to all the data that flows through the servers of Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Apple, Sykpe, Youtube, AOL and Paltalk.

Later, the NSA reportedly acknowledged the existence of the programme but said that it collected data only from foreign nationals. While it may come as a relief to the US citizens, it underscores the fact that people not residing in the US, including Indians, are fair game. What is even more alarming is the fact that US authorities are using the technology companies headquartered in the country to spy on the rest of the world.

All companies named in the leaks have denied the existence of Prism. A Yahoo spokesperson said on Friday, ""Yahoo! takes users' privacy very seriously. We do not provide the government with direct access to our servers, systems, or network."

Privacy International, a privacy watchdog organisation, said it is possible that companies would not be aware of the government tapping into their servers. "Until we know whether this information was obtained through filters, interception, or some another method, it is difficult to know how the breadth of access the NSA has."

However, Indian users would seem to have no way to defend themselves if the US government wants to access their data. Pavan Duggal, a specialist in cyber law, said, "Indian users don't have any protection against the US authorities seeking their data from the US companies."

Technology companies said they comply with local laws while dealing with issues related to personal data of a user. In response to queries from TOI, both Google and Facebook said that they used "mutual legal assistance treaty" to handle international requests for data.

Mutual legal assistance treaty is understood to have governed by actual treaties that two nations may have between them for sharing of user data. A Facebook official said that if a US agency wanted to access the data belonging to an Indian citizen, the sleuths would have to follow the diplomatic channels and get the data only when Indian authorities have approved it.

Google too talked "mutual legal assistance treaty" but it didn't clarify how it worked. Google officials pointed out the company guidelines which noted that any non-US government agency would have to use mutual legal assistance treaty to access user data. But the company public guidelines don't make any mention of the procedure followed in the cases where a US agency requests data on non-US users.

Microsoft directed TOI to its official statement denying the existence of Prism. It refused to discuss how it handled the requests from US authorities seeking data of foreigners.

Pranesh Prakash, a policy director with Centre for Internet and Society (CIS), said that it was high time the Indian government stood up for its citizens.

"Indian government needs to come with a strong and clear law to protect the privacy of Indian users. The law has to make it clear to companies operating in India that they need to respect the privacy of Indian users, even when they are dealing with the governments outside India," he said.

However, providing direct access to servers to an agency like NSA may not necessarily be a breach of agreement between the users of websites like Google and Facebook and its owners. Sunil Abraham, executive director at CIS said, "I have not studied end-user agreements carefully, but usually they have provisions for communication interception and data access in accordance with legal procedure."

"But more importantly, this is a violation of US data access and interception law. The US government has been going around the world preaching Internet freedom to authoritarian regimes. And now it turns out that their practices are worse that many of the regimes they have been criticizing. That is why it is a complete scandal," Abraham said.

Besides, the surveillance may run contrary to a whole range of international legal instruments. For example, the ICCPR, ratified by the USA, says that "no one shall be subject to arbitrary or unlawful interference with his private life, family, home or correspondence," said Joe McNamee, executive director of European Digital Rights, a privacy watchdog based in Europe.

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/news/times-of-india-javed-anwer-ishan-srivastava-june-8-2013-internet-firms-deny-existence-of-prism