Centre for Internet and Society

When Knowledge Isn’t Written, Does It Still Count?

praskrishna — 2011-08-09T08:53:23Z

“MAKING fun of Wikipedia is so 2007,” a French journalist said recently to Sue Gardner, the executive director of the foundation that runs the Wikipedia project.

And so Ms. Gardner, in turn, told an auditorium full of Wikipedia contributors and supporters on Thursday in Haifa, Israel, the host city for the seventh annual Wikimania conference, where meetings and presentations focus on the world’s most used, and perhaps least understood, online reference work.

Once routinely questioned about its reliability — what do you mean, anyone can edit it? — the site is now used every month by upwards of 400 million people worldwide. But with influence and respect come responsibility, and lately Wikipedia has been criticized from without and within for reflecting a Western, male-dominated mindset similar to the perspective behind the encyclopedias it has replaced.

Seeing Wikipedia as The Man, in so many words, is so 2011.

And that’s a problem for an encyclopedia that wants to grow. Some critics of Wikipedia believe that the whole Western tradition of footnotes and sourced articles needs to be rethought if Wikipedia is going to continue to gather converts beyond its current borders. And that, in turn, invites an entirely new debate about what constitutes knowledge in different parts of the world and how a Western institution like Wikipedia can capitalize on it.

Achal Prabhala, an adviser to Ms. Gardner’s Wikimedia Foundation who lives and writes in Bangalore, India, has made perhaps the most trenchant criticism in a video project, “People are Knowledge,” that he presented in Haifa (along with its clunky subtitle, “Exploring alternative methods of citation for Wikipedia”).

The film, which was made largely with a $20,000 grant from the Wikimedia Foundation, spends time showing what has been lost to Wikipedia because of stickling rules of citation and verification. If Wikipedia purports to collect the “sum of all human knowledge,” in the words of one of its founders, Jimmy Wales, that, by definition, means more than printed knowledge, Mr. Prabhala said.

In the case of dabba kali, a children’s game played in the Kerala state of India, there was a Wikipedia article in the local language, Malayalam, that included photos, a drawing and a detailed description of the rules, but no sources to back up what was written. Other than, of course, the 40 million people who played it as children.

There is no doubt, he said, that the article would have been deleted from English Wikipedia if it didn’t have any sources to cite. Those are the rules of the game, and those are the rules he would like to change, or at least bend, or, if all else fails, work around.

“There is this desire to grow Wikipedia in parts of the world,” he said, adding that “if we don’t have a more generous and expansive citation policy, the current one will prove to be a massive roadblock that you literally can’t get past. There is a very finite amount of citable material, which means a very finite number of articles, and there will be no more.”

Mr. Prabhala, 38, who grew up in India and then attended American universities, has been an activist on issues of intellectual property, starting with the efforts in South Africa to free up drugs that treat H.I.V. In the film, he gives other examples of subjects — an alcohol produced in a village, Ga-Sabotlane, in Limpopo, South Africa, and a popular hopscotch-type children’s game, tshere-tshere — beyond print documentation and therefore beyond Wikipedia’s true-and-tried method.

There are whole cultures, he said, that have little to no printed material to cite as proof about the way life is lived.

“Publishing is a system of power and I mean that in a completely pleasant, accepting sense,” he said mischievously. “But it leaves out people.”

But Mr. Prabhala offers a solution: he and the video’s directors, Priya Sen and Zen Marie, spoke with people in African and Indian villages either in person or over the phone and had them describe basic activities. These recordings were then uploaded and linked to the article as sources, and suddenly an article that seems like it could be a personal riff looks a bit more academic.

For example, in his interview with a South African villager who explained how to make the alcoholic drink, morula, she repeatedly says that it is best if she demonstrates the process. When the fruit is ready, said the villager, Philipine Moremi, according to the project’s transcript of her phone conversation, “we pry them open. We are going to show you how it is done. Once they are peeled, we seal them to ferment and then we drink.” The idea of treating personal testimony as a source for Wikipedia is still controversial, and reflects the concerns that dominated the encyclopedia project six years ago, when arguably its very existence was threatened.

After a series of hoaxes, culminating in a Wikipedia article in 2005 that maligned the newspaper editor John Seigenthaler for no discernible reason other than because a Wikipedia contributor could, the site tried to ensure that every statement could be traced to a source.

Then there is the rule “no original research,” which was meant to say that Wikipedia doesn’t care if you are writing about the subway station you visit every day, find someone who has written reliably on the color of the walls there.

"The natural thing is getting more and more accurate, locking down articles, raising the bar on sources," said Andrew Lih, an associate professor of journalism at the University of Southern California, who was an early contributor to Wikipedia and has written a history of its rise. “Isn’t it great we have so many texts online?"

But what works for the most developed societies, he said, won’t necessarily work for others. “Lots of knowledge is not Googleable,” he said, “and is not in a digital form.”

Mr. Lih said that he could see the Wikipedia project suddenly becoming energized by the process of documenting cultural practices around the world, or down the street.

Perhaps Mr. Prabhala’s most challenging argument is that by being text-focused, and being locked into the Encyclopedia Britannica model, Wikipedia risks being behind the times.

An 18-year-old is comfortable using “objects of trust that have been created on the Internet," he said, and "Wikipedia isn’t taking advantage of that." And, he added, "it is quite possible that for the 18-year-old of today that Wikipedia looks like his father’s project. Or the kind of thing his father might be interested in."

Ouch.

A version of this article appeared in print on August 8, 2011, on page B4 of the New York edition with the headline: When Knowledge Isn’t Written, Does It Still Count?.

This article by Noam Cohen was published in the New York Times on August 7, 2011, the original can be read here

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/news/knowledge-isnt-written

When Copyright Goes Bad

praskrishna — 2011-08-04T04:37:21Z

A part of the Access to Knowledge Project, this short film by Consumers International is available on DVD and online at A2Knetwork.org/film.

For centuries, copyright law has existed to protect creative production whilst promoting public access. But the digital age is challenging this balance and fundamentally changing how we produce, access and distribute content. Suddenly, copyright rules no longer do what they are supposed to do. They have gone bad.

This is a film about how copyright has become one of the most important consumer issues of the digital age; why corporate lobbying risks criminalising the actions of hundreds of thousands of people; and what the future holds for the fight for fairer copyright laws.

When Copyright Goes Bad is an introduction to the renegotiation of copyright and is for anyone interested in how copyright is affecting consumers. It features some of the key players in the copyright debate, including: Fred Von Lohmann - Electronic Frontier Foundation; Michael Geist - University of Ottawa Law School; Jim Killock - Open Rights Group; and Hank Shocklee - Co-founder of Public Enemy.

Quotes from When Copyright Goes Bad

“People have realised that copyright affects them every day and the direction that we’ve seen over the last few years really troubles them. That’s why so many people are speaking out.” Michael Geist

“In the U.S, over 35,000 Americans were targeted for lawsuits for downloading music. In ten years time, everyone will look back at that as incredibly unjust and ridiculous. No-one thinks that suing music fans one at a time is the business model of the future.” Fred Von Lohmann

“The industry is trying to demonise consumer behaviour. They’re trying to create the idea that it’s a moral debate: is downloading something wrong or right? Is it theft or not? These are the wrong questions and they will only ever produce the wrong answers.” Jim Killock

Making copyright, right

When Copyright Goes Bad is being released under a Creative Commons (CC) licence, which means it’s free to copy and adapt, as long as content is attributed and the same CC licence is used.
We will also be making available extended interviews with all the contributors, as well as with other experts not featured in the film, under the same CC licence at A2Knetwork.org/film. By providing access in this way we are allowing others to go on and create further work around the issue.

View it on youtube

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/when-copyright-goes-bad

When #GOIBlocks, twitterati fly off their ‘handles’

praskrishna — 2012-08-26T05:56:19Z

Ever since the news broke mid-week that some genuine Twitter accounts and six spoof accounts were blocked, the social networking platform has been in a tizzy.

Published in the Hindustan Times on August 26, 2012. Pranesh Prakash is quoted.

Hashtags like #GOIblocks and variations on the same theme began “trending” and the twitterati, functioning like a virtual democracy, have been bombarding the world in real time with posts about the issue. 16 accounts of the 15 million twitter users in India, among them those of a few journalists, spoof accounts like @PM0India, a right-wing parody of @PMOIndia, the official twitter account of the Prime Minister’s office, and a few anonymous accounts like Barbarian Indian (@barbarindian) and Dosabandit (@dosabandit) were blocked.

While Narendra Modi turned his twitter display picture black in solidarity with the idea of freedom of speech (and was promptly termed a hypocrite with many like @JagPaws, who has 641 followers, tweeting, “Whoa!! Is he supporting Jihadi sites?”), Pankaj Pachauri, (49,827 followers) Communications Adviser to the Prime Minister’s office, has put up twitter rules and the National Security Advisor Shivshankar Menon’s ominously pro-surveillance keynote address at the release of the IDSA report on “India’s Cyber Security Challenge”.

Many like Nitin Pai @acorn, with 16,988 followers, founder of Takshashila Institute, a public policy think tank, tweeted that “under extraordinary circumstances, the govt must do whatever it can under the constitution to prevent loss of life” and added that targeted and temporary blocks of sites, facebook pages and twitter handles that spewed hate were acceptable. Others like film maker Harini Calamur (@calamur) (11,277 followers) who says she is against censorship tweeted that “Blocking internet handles & sites is silly” and “the Govt’s job is to uphold the constitution & protect our fundamental rights. Not make value judgements.” Much of the debate has led to a genuine exchange, sometimes making comrades of people from opposing camps. Kanchan Gupta, a journalist known for his pro-Hindutva views, whose twitter handle @KanchanGupta (26,424 followers) was among those blocked, accepted on TV that scores of “people from all communities” many of whom “disagreed violently” with him had extended their support on twitter.

Others like writer Shivam Vij (@Dilidurast), who has 3,296 followers, whom Hindutvawadis has often branded ‘pseudo sickular’, surprised baiters by speaking against the ban.

Many were strident in their criticism of the arbitrary nature of the blocks and tweeted that it was indicative of authoritarianism. “Internet blocks in India have been increasing in frequency&intensity. I wouldn't put this down to knee-jerk/foolishness.There is *intent*,” tweeted Nikhil Pahwa (@nixxin), founder and editor of @medianama. Others like business journalist Samidha Sharma @samidhas worried that the government’s frequent attacks on freedom of expression shows that it is “following china in all the wrong things”.

While Pranesh Prakash (@pranesh_prakash) of the Centre for Internet and Society tweeted, “They've blocked sites from all parts of the spectrum: Muslim right-wing, Hindu right-wing, neutral news sites, etc. No politics”, many others saw the move as a “self-serving” one. “Dear GoI: why not be honest enough to say that this web censorship has NOTHING to do with security+ all to do with your own arrogance” tweeted Sunny Singh (@sunnysingh_nw3).

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/news/www-hindustan-times-aug-26-2012-when-goi-blocks-twitterati-fly-off-their-handles

wheel

praskrishna — 2012-10-18T06:00:42Z

wheel

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

WhatsApp ruling: Experts seek privacy law

praskrishna — 2016-09-27T02:35:06Z

On August 25, Whatsapp updated its policy to share user content with social network; the decision opened new monetisation models for the messaging app.

The article by Apurva Venkat and Moulishree Srivastava quoted Sunil Abraham. It was published in the Business Standard on September 24, 2016.

The recent Delhi High Court ruling that messaging app Whatsapp cannot share user data highlights the need for legislation on privacy, according to experts.

On August 25, Whatsapp, a platform with 70 million users in India that was acquired by Facebook in 2014, updated its policy to share user content with the social network. The decision opened new monetisation models for the messaging app.

In response to a PIL, the court ordered WhatsApp to delete data of users who chose to opt out of its policy changes before September 25. It also orderedWhatsApp not to share data collected before September 25 with Facebook for users who had not opted out.

"The decision makes a strong statement on privacy," said Sunil Abraham, executive director of the Centre for Internet Society. According to him, a user trusts a platform and provides access to his data. As another firm acquires the platform, it gains access to the data.

"Facebook owns Whatsapp. It has to look at ways of monetising it," said Nikhil Pahwa, co-founder of SavetheInternet.in.

"With so much digital data being generated, there is a need for a privacy law in the country," said Pahwa.

"Facebook's consent interface is confusing. It can make a person who wants to opt out let the company access his data," said Abraham, adding a law would take care of such intricacies. The government is working on a privacy bill.

Saroj Kumar Jha, partner, SRGR Law Offices, said there were few judgments on privacy in India based on constitutional rights.

"While the Information Technology Act enables courts to pass judgments on global companies on privacy, enforcing the orders is difficult," he said.

"What is required is a privacy law that can protect user data and uphold the individual's right to privacy," he added.

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/business-standard-september-24-apurva-venkat-and-moulishree-srivastava-whasapp-ruling-experts-seek-privacy-law

WhatsApp forward promising PM Modi scheme for double recharge is a scam

praskrishna — 2017-01-25T02:13:18Z

Cashing on the ignorance of users, social media platforms are increasingly being used to scam people.

The blog post by Nandini Yadav was published by BGR on January 24, 2017. Pranesh Prakash was quoted.

Ever since demonetization, and the ruling government’s vow to digitize the Indian economy, several incidents of cyber criminals trying to trick users into sharing delicate information like bank details, have been reported. Since the sudden digitization is still new to the Indians, many of us also tend to fall prey to these scams easily. In series of such incidents, a new scam is being circulated on WhatsApp that involves a link to a fake website carrying the name and picture of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The link lures users to tap on it and claims that on a recharge of Rs 500 to Rs 1,000, users will get double the amount as top-up on by their telecom operators. The link also claims that this is a scheme run by the Prime Minister. Now, what really happens here is, that the website makes a user complete transactions and takes a whatever amount they do the recharge for.

While users don’t get any free recharge, the amount they pay for also does not get added to their mobile balance. But they do end of up losing the money entirely. Any time a user makes the payment for the recharge, at the end of the process the transaction shows failed on the website, but the money gets deducted from their account.

Here, not only do users lose their money, but they also end up sharing their bank details on a very unreliable website, which probably retrieves the data you feed in on the transaction gateways. A senior police officer of cyber cell told India Today that the amount of these top-ups are usually small and so people don’t turn up to register an FIR, but these hoax websites end up making huge profits.

“It is highly advised, that if any user receives such a message, they should immediately delete it so that even by mistake they don’t end up tapping on this and forwarding it to their contacts. Such malicious links not only can affect your device, but may also seep into your phone and steal data,” Kisalay Chaudhary, cyber crime expert told the publication.

“These bogus websites try to appear like an official Government of India website or related to telecom operators to trap gullible customers. Government website are .gov.in or .nic.in but fraud websites are -gov.in or _nic.in which may appear real but do not belong to government. So all people making online transaction should be very alert about the website they are browsing. WhatsApp has been a breeding ground for such activities and spreading malicious links,” he added.

This isn’t the first time such a hoax has been circulated. Earlier this month, a message on WhatsApp was circulating that claimed that the Prime Minister was offering a free Rs 500 recharge to all Indians. The message read, “Rs 500 balance for every Indians. Reforming India. Modiji giving free balance. Click here.” The words ‘click here’ were followed by a link to a new webpage, which once tapped on, asked a user to share their personal details like, their contact number, operator name and the state they live in.

And it’s not just through messages, these scams are being run on every possible platform. Late last year, Internet expert Pranesh Prakash pointed out a fake Narendra Modi app, which actually claimed to be from the Government of India and its interface looks almost identical to the original application. However, when he dug deep, he found out that the app developer of the purported Government of India Narendra Modi app was actually a person based out of Bangladesh, suggesting that the app was possibly hosted by a con artist.

Once downloaded, the ‘fake’ app, automatically got excessive permission including full network access and ability to take pictures and videos from a user’s device. The original Narendra Modi app, on the other hand, only gets access to read, modify and delete user’s media files. Also, the original app was published by Narendramodi.in and the fake one shows under the name of Government Of India.

And this isn’t the only fake Narendra Modi app, if you launch the Google Play Store right now, you would easily be able to spot a score of fake apps like this. Within a week of launch if the new UPI app BHIM, we spotted 40 odd apps that were claiming to be the original BHIM app.

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/bgr-nandini-yadav-january-24-2017-whatsapp-forward-promising-pm-modi-scheme-for-double-recharge-is-a-scam

praskrishna — 2016-04-21T02:31:04Z

WhatsApp

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

Whats & Hows of Wiki

praskrishna — 2013-10-25T07:00:23Z

The Kings School students of class 10 were blessed to have Nitika Tandon & Subhashish Panigrahi of Wikipedia Foundation to conduct a workshop on the whats & hows of Wiki, creating & editing Wiki pages, etc. Our students also got a hands on experience, and they edited the Bibinca page on Wiki.

This was published in the King's School Portal on July 26, 2013. Nitika Tandon and Subhashish Panigrahi are quoted.

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/news/the-kings-school-july-26-2013-whats-and-hows-of-wiki

What’s your gadget update?

praskrishna — 2012-05-23T09:15:28Z

Techie socialist or flighty fashionista? The gadgets you carry say a lot about you, writes Shweta Taneja in this article published in LiveMint on May 22, 2012.

Cellphones, laptops and all the other stylish electronic paraphernalia are fast becoming like jewellery and clothes—a personality statement. “I stereotype people and their gadgets,” says Nilofar Ansher, 28, a communications analyst from Hyderabad. “If someone sports a flashy, brand new gadget as soon as it’s released, then I would mentally tick off tags like rich, brand slave, or show-off.” Even the brand name matters. “If his brand turns out to be an Apple product, then I feel ticked off as I do not subscribe to the Apple code of ethics,” says Ansher.

She’s not alone. According to a September 2010 study Gadget Census, conducted by Retrevo Labs, a US-based gadgets company researcher, the gadgets you use help people form opinions about you.

"The prestige associated with brands offers an experience of a ‘class’," says Girishwar Misra, 61, a professor of psychology at Delhi University. “The hierarchically structured Indian mindset has found it another space for enacting and expressing power differential." He says people’s notion of self-worth and sense of belonging rest on the opinions of others in their community or society. "Technology has become yet another aspect of reflecting and conveying one’s identity to others around them."

"What isn’t a status symbol?” asks Nishant Shah, director—research, Centre for Internet and Society, Bangalore. "In the commodified world, where everything is mass-produced, the consumer has to be made to believe that everything they are buying is a part of their expression and personality, and even though this wasn’t created keeping them in mind, it is specially made only for them."

This is also the reason, according to him, why most people like to own the most cutting-edge gadgets but end up using them like any other low-end gadget. After all, how many smartphone owners go beyond making calls, sending SMSes and updating their social networks? "This is where you start wondering what then propels people to buy that new gadget," says Shah.

We present a tongue-in-cheek analysis of gadget-owner camps in India. Which camp do you belong to?

iBragger

There are better gadgets out there than iPhones, iPads and iPods, but it doesn’t matter. Every time there’s a new update or a new gadget from Apple, you have to shell out the money and grab it. A day in your life begins on the iCloud, hanging out with friends who belong to the “iEcosystem”. You don’t know how you would survive if iTunes stopped working for even half a day. You love to flaunt your shiny gadgets and smile when someone asks you about them. You don’t necessarily know how the iGadget works, but can still talk about it with pride.

In your bag

: iPhones, iPads, and any other gadget that begins with an ‘i’.

Your personality: You are slightly egotistical and love attention. You also like to get compliments on everything, whether it’s your attire or your gadget.

Your fashion fix: iPhone 5 is going to be released in a few months. If you don’t want to wait that long for a rumoured 4-inch screen, go for iPhone 4S, the one with that sexy “iSecretary”, Siri.

Retro relic

You believe that overuse of gadgets is responsible for all the diseases in society, from the common cold to cancer. You don’t use Internet on your phone, and have an old desktop on which you might check email once a week. You think that GPS stands for “Going Perfectly Straight” and stay safely away from the time wasters of modern living.

In your bag

: Nothing. You have a landline and an old desktop that needs to be upgraded urgently.

Your personality: You prefer talking face-to-face instead of emailing people. You would rather discuss things in the middle of the street instead of shooting off a text message.

Your fashion fix: Turn your cellphone into a landline with the retro phone handset. So even the most modern devices will feel comfortably old.

Beg, borrow, buy techie

You love gadgets. You always need to know what makes things tick. Every time a new gadget comes around, you start saving and stop buying anything unnecessary, such as clothes, or food, and go buy the new shiny devices. Brands don’t matter, just so long as you can see innovation.
You can go on and on about retina display on the latest iPad and how enhanced eBooks are the future. You probably have a blog where you review each gadget, which only other techies read.

In your bag: A pile of new devices that you used once and then discarded for the new big thing.

Your personality: You are an introvert who doesn’t notice the world around you, because your nose is glued to your phone or laptop. You would rather send a text message than talk, even if it is to wish your mother on her birthday.

Your fashion fix: A Raspberry Pi. It’s a full-fledged credit-card-sized computer if you plug in a TV and keyboard, and can be used in a number of ingenious ways by people willing to think creatively.

Paisa pincher

It’s not about whether you like a gadget or not. It’s always about how much it costs and what all it can do for you. If it’s a phone you are planning to buy, you want it to be a flashlight, a radio, an Internet browser and also, if possible, a serving tray. You do weeks of research before you buy any device. The more uses you get for a certain amount of money, the more you might buy it, even if you won’t use those functions.

In your bag: You tend to keep cheap, hardy mobile phones which have multitasking abilities.

Personality: You are a practical, conservative person and like to gauge the value of anything offered to you. You love the word “free” and “offer”.

Your fashion fix: A Micromax Funbook. The Android 4.0 tablet comes with 4 GB internal storage, a multi-touch capacitative display and has a VGA camera for video calls. It’s Wi-Fi only, so you don’t need to spend on 3G either.

Techie socialist

You consciously want to protest against the elite ecosystem that the iBraggers create. You tend to stick to the more “open” ecosystem of Linux and Android. You sit on the high horse of open source and loudly preach how people should buy gadgets and software that is open to all and doesn’t end up enriching giant corporations. Secretly, you want to buy the iPhone 4S.

In your bag: An Android-based mobile phone and Linux-based laptop.

Your personality: You call yourself a liberal and want equality for everyone in society. You like to protest against institutions—be it the government or companies.

Your fashion fix: A new Kickstarter is the product of your dreams. Playsurface is a multi-touch computing table, which can be used as a table and as a touch-screen to share the experience with all present.

Fodder hoarder

You have so many old gadgets that you can open a gadget museum someday. You have never ever thrown any electronic/electrical thing that you have owned. You are a recycler and are convinced that everything can be used in some way. You might even dig out stuff that less knowledgeable neighbours have thrown away.

In your bag (or cupboard): Mixers, ovens, VCRs, phone devices, pagers, big fat cellphones, even devices you’ve forgotten the function of and which are now gathering dust.

Personality: You are a penny-pincher and very innovative in strategies for reusing things.

Your fashion fix: Find people who love to reuse and recycle like you on The Freecycle Network (www.freecycle.org). The network is a worldwide group of people who give (and get) gadgets for free in their own towns. If you have true junk or e-waste, give it off to an e-waste recycling plant. To check if your city has an e-waste recycling plant, visit WEEE Recycle (www.weeerecycle.in).

Flighty fashionista

For you, a gadget is like a pair of pretty heels. It’s an accessory to enhance your overall looks. Like everything else, you like to buy expensive, suave-looking gadgets which sparkle as brightly as your diamonds or Rolex watches. Brand names matter to you and you tend to go for the looks and the brand rather than the features.

In your bag: A Vertu mobile phone, a Rolex watch and a few diamond earrings.

Your personality: You come across as polished, suave and sophisticated. You are an impeccable dresser with a tendency to spend too much time on your grooming, and not much time with your gadgets.

Your fashion fix: Talking about inefficient maids is so passé. Now talk about your polite new cleaner, a robot which never takes an off and even takes care of the dog. Cocorobo is not just a good vacuum cleaner, it even has a voice-recognition facility and gives polite answers.

This article was originally published by LiveMint

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/news/what-s-your-gadget-update

What’s Hard To Digest About The Zomato Hacking

praskrishna — 2017-05-19T09:22:37Z

Yet another day, yet another major security breach. But, this time it’s not a presidential candidate in the U.S. or the U.K.’s National Health Service. Instead. it’s Zomato, the popular Indian online food delivery and restaurant search service.

The blog post by Aayush Ailawadi was published by Bloomberg Quint on May 19, 2017. Pranesh Prakash was quoted.

The company disclosed that data from 17 million user accounts was stolen in a security breach. It said in its blog that no financial details were at risk and only user IDs, usernames, names, email addresses and password hashes had been compromised.

Throughout the course of the day, the company kept updating its blog post and offered different sets of advice to its users. In an earlier post, it only recommended changing one’s password on other sites if you are “paranoid about security like us”. Later, that post mentioned that the passwords were “salted” and hence had an extra layer of security but it still “strongly advises” customers to change passwords.

In an emailed response, the company explained to BloombergQuint, “We made our disclosure very early, soon after we discovered that it happened. We wanted to be proactive in communicating to our users. As we found more details about the leak, we updated the information”

But, that wasn’t the only problem. The data was put up on the dark web for sale by the hacker, and the seller was apparently charging 0.5521 bitcoins, or $1001.45, for the data. According to the post, the passwords were stored by Zomato using MD5 encryption, which according to security experts is antiquated and unsuitable for password encryption.

Late on Thursday night, the story took an interesting turn when the company updated its blog post yet again. It said that it had gotten in touch with the hacker who was selling the data on the dark web and that apparently the hacker had been very cooperative and helpful. “He/she wanted us to acknowledge security vulnerabilities in our system and work with the ethical hacker community to plug the gaps. His/her key request was that we run a healthy bug bounty program for security researchers,” the company said.

Usually, when hackers around the world attack with ransomware, they demand a massive amount of bitcoins as ransom. But, in this case the company claims that all the hacker wants is the assurance that the company will introduce a bug bounty program on Hackerone soon. In return, the hacker has agreed to destroy all copies of the stolen data and take the data off the dark web marketplace.

But, while it may seem like the storm has passed for Zomato, cybersecurity experts like Pranesh Prakash at the Centre for Internet & Society believe that a lot more could have been done by the company in such a case.

Disclose To Confuse?

Concern #1: Prakash feels that Zomato got it all wrong by issuing multiple disclosures and not addressing the problem at hand, which was to clearly explain what happened and immediately request customers to change similar passwords on other websites.

What’s So Scary About The Zomato Hacking?

Concern #2: BloombergQuint reached out to Zomato to confirm whether the passwords were encrypted with “MD5”, a hashing algorithm that Prakash and other Twitter users who accessed the seller’s page on the dark web believe was used by the company. But, the tech company didn’t respond to that specific question.

What’s worse is that Prakash adds that not only is this algorithm antiquated but it is also highly unsuitable for password encryption, as it can be cracked quickly.

Genuine Disclosures Vs False Promises

Concern #3: Prakash suspects that the company wasn’t honest and forthright with its users during this episode. According to him, the company could learn a thing or two about honest disclosures from companies like CloudFlare and LastPass, which fell victim to similar attacks in the past year.

Where’s My Privacy And Security?

Concern #4: According to Prakash, it’s not just about privacy, but also one’s security that has been compromised in this instance. He says that the Zomato hack is like a reminder that an odd section in the Information Technology Act is not sufficient when it comes to data protection. Instead, India needs a robust data protection law where bad security practices can actually be prosecuted and companies can be penalised if they don’t follow standard and reasonable security practices.

Zomato also told BloombergQuint that it has understood how the breach happened but couldn’t share exact details at the moment. The company said, “Our team is working to make sure we have the vulnerability patched. All we can say right now is that it started with a password leak on some other site. We will share more details on our blog over the next few days.”

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/bloomber-quint-may-19-2017-aayush-ailawadi-whats-hard-to-digest-about-the-zomato-hacking

What Women Want: The ability debates

praskrishna — 2011-04-02T12:08:44Z

In this article published in the Hindu, Deepa Alexander argues that the proposed amendments to the Copyright Act (1957) are restrictive and discriminatory.

The triumphs and disasters of the differently-abled in India are two ends of the spectrum. Among the 70 million disabled in our country are those who have conquered peaks, won gold at the Paralympics, and raced in Himalayan and desert car rallies. But, millions more struggle to meet daily challenges in a society that tends to portray the disabled as either heroes or victims with little or no access to their rightful resources. The proposed amendments to the Copyright Act (1957) are seen as restrictive and discriminatory, as the copyright exception, which aims at allowing persons with disability easy access to copyrighted material, applies only to certain types of disability. We spoke to activists who address these issues, not as charity or welfare but as matters of development and dignity.

Change in attitude

National Trust's programmes work on building capacity, changing patronising attitudes, building trust in the abilities of people with developmental disability and creating an equal playing field. Unfortunately, deeply entrenched attitudes continue to exclude people with disabilities. Even if an opportunity is given, it is given only once; if a person with disability fails, incapacity is assumed.

But, in the recent case of a young woman with intellectual disability who had been raped in a women's home, the Supreme Court upheld her right to ‘choose' to keep her baby, and she has proved to be a competent mother. However, the disapproval of the intelligentsia in the media is an indicator of the social prejudices people with disabilities have to live with.

Poonam Natarajan, Chairperson, National Trust (Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment), New Delhi

Implement their rights

Ability Foundation's thrust is on creating an equitable society. Through our magazine Success & Ability, we spread this message at a time when service to the disabled was seen only at the physical, and not at the emotional level. Persons with disabilities need access to inclusive education, employment and public places. Being ‘accounted' in the Census 2011 will open up a plethora of possibilities. Accurate data will enable Government intervention at various levels, leading to proactive action. We need ramps for wheelchair users, audio announcements in bus / train stations for the visually-impaired, and video announcements for the hearing-impaired. Floor numbers in Braille for lifts, sign language interpreters in every hospital, police station and court of law, slip-proof flooring in malls, and large-print books in public libraries for those with low vision are the other needs. The implementation of the rights of persons with disabilities as per the United Nations convention and the Persons with Disabilities Act (PWD), in letter and spirit, is also essential.

Jaysheree Ravindran, Founder and Honorary Executive Director, Ability Foundation, Chennai

A development issue

My daughter Tamana was born with cerebral palsy. It pushed me to found an organisation in 1984 to fulfil the dreams of children with special needs and those of their parents. Therapy and counselling for children and their families is essential for optimum adult rehabilitation. Since Independence, the disabled have been categorised along with sections such as women, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. While these have had powerful political lobbies, there has been no spokesperson for the disabled. The dichotomies between the Ministries of Education and Social Justice further worsen the exclusion. Most policy-makers look at disability as a welfare, not a development issue. Disability should be jointly addressed by the Ministries of Health, Women and Child Development, HRD, Social Justice and Empowerment. The definition of disability in the PWD Act does not include autism, which leaves out nearly two million autistic persons in India. Admitting disabled children in normal schools is not enough — you need to have professionally trained staff, who are sensitised. I also hope for a different curriculum for special children, even as they are being integrated in the mainstream. Better pay scales will also bring in more jobs in the disability sector.

Dr. Shyama Chona, President, Tamana, New Delhi

Public-private partnership

NGO-run establishments provide free schooling for disabled children. The Government has provided legislative intent through the Inclusive Education Act, which makes it mandatory to include all kinds of impaired children. However, Government schools that cater to the poor are generally marked by grossly inadequate infrastructure and teaching aids, so imagine the predicament of the disabled.

I would like a public-private partnership for day-care and residential institutions which provide educational and recreational service on a long-term basis. This needs to be supported by research institutions which focus on technology, communication and teaching aids. We need to benefit from global expertise, and customise them to local needs.

As Childline's primary mandate is child protection, I feel that the Government must compulsorily provide for a child protection policy in any institution that deals with disabled children, as, such children are more vulnerable to abuse.

Kajol Menon, Executive Director, Childline India Foundation, Mumbai

The copyright angle

The Centre for Internet and Society is associated with the copyright amendment movement for persons with disabilities, and is one of the founding organisations for the Indian Right to Read campaign. At present, the proposed copyright amendment is detrimental to the disability sector's needs. The exception extends only to ‘specially designed' formats such as Braille and sign language, and does not benefit the millions who have cerebral palsy, dyslexia and low vision, and the visually-impaired persons who do not know Braille. Such persons require audio, reading material with large fonts and electronic texts, which are not ‘specially designed' formats. For conversion to non-specialised formats, the amendment proposes a licensing system, which will permit only organisations working for the benefit of the disabled to undertake conversion and distribution. This will prevent educational institutions, SHGs, other NGOs and print-disabled individuals from undertaking conversion. The licensing system will also require approaching the Copyright Board for each work, which will be extremely time-consuming. The waiting period for obtaining permissions and subsequent conversion will result in students losing academic years, a violation of their right to education.

The proposed amendment violates the Constitutional guarantee of equality under Article 14 since it discriminates between those visually-impaired persons who know Braille and those print-disabled persons who do not. It is important for the nation as a whole to take the concern of persons with disabilities as a mainstream concern.

Nirmita Narasimhan, Programme Manager, Centre for Internet and Society, Bangalore

Read the original article in the Hindu

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/news/what-women-want

What the experts said on live chat

praskrishna — 2015-03-26T02:35:49Z

Three eminent panellists shared their views and answered questions from readers on the Supreme Court verdict striking down Section 66 A of the IT Act that allowed the arrest of people posting “offensive content” on the Internet, in a live chat hosted by The Hindu.

The article was published in the Hindu on March 25, 2015. Geetha Hariharan was one of the panelists.

Does this now mean anything goes on the Internet, asked one reader.

“No, the standard penal laws — against defamation, hate speech (S. 153A), religious incitement (S. 295A) — continue to apply,” said Gautam Bhatia, a practicing lawyer and author of forthcoming book “Offend, shock or disturb: Free Speech under the Constitution.” The argument that the Internet needed separate rules when it came to the content of speech was what was rejected by the Court, he said.

What was the rationale for the Court upholding Section 69 A, allowing the blocking of websites, asked another.

“One wishes that the court had paid as much attention to the blocking orders as they did to 66A,” said Lawrence Liang, lawyer and researcher at Alternative Law Forum working on free speech.

Geetha Hariharan, a Programme Officer at Centre for Internet and Society, focusing on Internet governance and freedom of expression, was the third expert on the panel.

Click here to read the full transcript of the chat

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/the-hindu-march-25-2015-what-the-experts-said-on-live-chat

What privacy? 13 crore Aadhaar numbers accessible on government portals

praskrishna — 2017-05-03T14:39:46Z

At least 13 crore Aadhaar numbers and 10 crore bank account numbers are readily accessible on government portals, a report claims.

The blog post by Anusha Ravi was published in Oneindia on May 2, 2017.

The centre for internet and society, in its report, has claimed that Aadhaar numbers with sensitive personal financial information were publicly available on four government portals built to oversee welfare schemes. The report said that the government portals made it easy to access sensitive details, despite it being illegal. "It is extremely irresponsible on the part of the UIDAI [Unique Identification Authority of India], the sole governing body for this massive project, to turn a blind eye to the lack of standards prescribed for how other bodies shall deal with such data, such cases of massive public disclosures of this data, and the myriad ways in which it may be used for mischief," said Amber Sinha and Srinivas Kodali, the authors of the report.

Apart from accessing a person's details, the portals made it possible for anyone to get data on beneficiaries of welfare schemes. In many cases, it included bank account numbers of beneficiaries. The report suggests that close to 23 crore Aadhaar number could have been leaked if most of the government portals connected to direct benefit transfers used the 'same negligent standards for storing data as the ones examined'. "The document shows that the breaches are an indicator of potentially irreversible privacy harm and the data could be used for financial fraud," the authors said in the report. The report was documented after authors studied the National Social Assistance Programme, National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, Andhra Pradesh government's Chandranna Bima Scheme and Andhra Pradesh's Daily Online Payment Reports of NREGA.

The report said that sensitive personal identity information such as Aadhaar number, caste, religion, address, photographs and financial information were easily available with a few clicks and suggested how poorly conceived these initiatives were. The report highlights that it was illegal to make personal data public and also refers to # #AadhaarLeaks, a campaign on twitter aimed at exposing the loopholes in the Aadhaar system.

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/one-india-may-2-2017-anusha-ravi-what-privacy-13-crore-aadhaar-numbers-accessible-on-governmental-portals

What it means to be a child today

praskrishna — 2011-04-02T07:42:34Z

They move seamlessly between reality and virtual reality. The digital landscape they inhabit comprises generations — not of family — but of technology such as Web 2.0, 3G, PS4 and iPhone5. Their world has moved beyond their neighbourhood, school and childhood friends to encompass a 500-channel television universe, the global gaming village, the endless internet. These are the children born in the last decade and half — possibly the first generation that has never known a world without hi-tech.

These tweens and teens were born with dial-up internet, learnt to crawl alongside the PC and practiced writing the alphabet on the desktop. To them, a world without keypads, joysticks, digicams, headphones and LCD is unimaginable. For them, the Dark Ages are the time when television was black and white.

Nishant Shah, director of research at the Centre for Internet and Society in Bangalore, says, "We are living with digital natives — populations that do not know the ins and outs of analogue technologies but they do often instinctively take to the world of digital and internet technologies. They view the world differently, connect with each other in unprecedented fashions and often question the authority structures developed by analogue technologies."

But no one is born into or with technology, Shah points out, and it's still the older generation that is shaping the new technologies.

Even so Indian childhood in 2010 is markedly different from ever before, he says, in that "the younger generations growing up with digital and internet technologies are using them for things that were not integral to the technologies. For example, Facebook was only meant to be a social networking site. Twitter was merely a microblogging platform. And yet, we now see the young users using these spaces for political participation, social transformation and mobilization of resources."

A survey of 14,000 children aged between 12 and 18 in 12 Indian cities by Tata Consultancy Services last year found that 63% of urban students spend an hour online daily; more than 80% have access to mobile phones and one in four have laptops. They do their homework and assignments online, access report cards, chat, blog, game, download, SMS and send photos via Bluetooth. The internet is becoming friend, philosopher and guide for the 'screenagers', supplying them with endless friendship requests, enlisting them for social causes and sometimes offering emotional solace.

Delhi student Manil Chhabra, 13, who swears by his mobile, desktop and PS2, supports many causes on Facebook, including the welfare of street dogs and gay rights. He also bonds with friends online. "My mother gets angry that I 'waste' too much time on the cell phone and online but I do try to make family time. It is not like I don't want to go out with my parents anymore. But I have a busy schedule and have free time only on Sundays. I would rather spend it with friends than my parents who I meet every day."

That said, this doesn't always translate into 'real' friendship of the physical sort. Mumbai businessman Anoop Sharma says of his 14-year-old daughter Aruhi, "My daughter has friends she chats with on Facebook but does not even say 'hi' to when she meets them!"

Admittedly, many young Indians today limit their friendships to the slightly antiseptic interaction possible on the Net. In Mumbai, Amara Mustan, 10, is constantly busy with his iPhone, an iPod with a "state-of-the-art" docking station and a Macbook. She says, "I don't think I have the time to be in touch with any of my friends except on Facebook."

Does this change social interaction? Clinical psychologist and student counsellor Dr Etishree Bhati agrees that the way children now use technology redefines the way they judge themselves and interact with everyone else. "Earlier, children turned to parents and siblings for emotional support. Today, they are checking up personality, IQ and other tests online themselves. Coming to me is the last option. Sometimes, they even crosscheck whether what I tell them tallies with these test results," says Bhati.

So yes, children in 2010 are more knowledgeable and aware. The downside is the "superiority complex and stress" says Bhati wryly.

For urban children then, if both parents are at work, the school day ends with returning to an empty home and the 'human' contact of the internet. Manil's mother, Simar Chhabra, says she is sad to note that today's children "do not understand and realize the joy of solitude. My son has absolutely no time for himself. Even when he is in bed, he is messaging till the time he falls asleep. They are disconnected from themselves and with their families."

Bhati says the impact of increasing exposure to technology is yet to be understood. "Cognitive learning can get affected. Some schools have barred students from joining Facebook. But what do you do when teachers are themselves interacting with the whole class on Facebook?"

As children routinely Google for answers to class quizzes, skipping books and encyclopaedias altogether, scientists worry that they are in danger of developing 'magpie minds' — flitting between web pages and losing the ability to analyze.

Is technology at fault? No, says Nishant Shah. "Technology in itself cannot be good or bad. It is we, the users, who make the decisions on our usage of it and what we can do with it. Children as young as two are also getting introduced to books. Is exposure to books at much younger ages necessarily bad?"

Shah believes that young users of technology are exactly like the generations that went before — only different. "Each generation has used the technologies that they are most familiar with, in order to bring about change."

He believes that the era of individualism seems to be ending and the future lies in networks and how we work, live and play within networked societies.

Is the 'twitch speed' or the rate at which networked children adapt to newer technologies the number every parent and school teacher needs to know? Keeping pace may be the only way to stay connected with the networked generation.

Read the news in the Times of India

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/news/a-child-today

What is Stewardship in Cyberspace?

praskrishna — 2012-02-29T15:19:30Z

The aim of the annual Canada Centre Cyber Dialogue is to convene an influential mix of global leaders from government, civil society, academia and private enterprise to participate in a series of facilitated public plenary conversations and working groups around cyberspace security and governance.

The second annual Cyber Dialogue forum takes place March 18-19 2012 in Toronto, Canada. Building upon last year's successful dialogue - Securing the Cyber Commons? - this year's Cyber Dialogue will address the question: What is Stewardship in Cyberspace?

Agenda

Day One

Location: Innis Town Hall, 2 Sussex Avenue, Toronto
venue information

14:30 – 15:15	WELCOME AND OPENING PLENARY: What is Stewardship in Cyberspace? Ron Deibert (Canada Centre / Citizen Lab / Munk School) Cyberspace – the global domain of digital electronic telecommunications – is nearing a turning point. Pressure is building towards a “constitutional moment”. Major governments have begun to debate what should be the “rules of the road” for cyberspace, but agreement appears far off. A mixed transnational common pool resource that cuts across political jurisdictions and the public and private sectors, cyberspace has become the operating system for global communications and commerce almost by a series of accidents. Cyberspace functions, and arguably functions very well, in spite of no grand blueprint or central organizing structure. Yet the pressures around the existing system are growing, the demands for some kind of alternative design are mounting, armed forces are debating offensive operations in cyberspace and competing strategies are being developed rapidly that will impact on the future of cyberspace. Is there a role for “stewardship” in cyberspace? What does it mean to be a “steward” as a government, a government’s armed forces, a company, an NGO, a social movement, an engineer, a hacktivist, or a citizen? How should these actors behave in cyberspace? Do they have different roles as stewards? What should they do or not do? Where are the gaps? What is an appropriate balance? Do we need stewardship in cyberspace at all? And how does stewardship relate to strategy in cyberspace?
15:15-17:00	Plenary Panel and Discussions Moderator: Misha Glenny Panelists: Evgeny Morozov, James Lewis, Marietje Schaake, Bob Boorstin, Sunil Abraham, Melissa Hathaway
18:00	Reception and Gala Dinner sponsored by Google Inc. Park Hyatt, 4 Avenue Road, Toronto map and directions

Day Two

Location: Munk School of Global Affairs, The Vivian and David Campbell Conference Facility
venue information

8:00-8:45	BREAKFAST sponsored by Microsoft
8:45-10:15	PANEL ONE: What Next for “Rules of the Road”? A wide gulf seems to separate blocks of countries around any kind of shared global norms in cyberspace. Positions are solidifying and governments and other actors are lobbying and coalescing around different visions of cyberspace – one defined as a kind of “global commons” and another around a more territorialized vision in line with state sovereignty. Where, if any, are the areas of common agreement? Is it desirable to create or advocate a single set of “cyberspace norms” to govern cyberspace in the first place? What are the existing centres of power in cyberspace? Can we map these poles and the relations between them? What is the appropriate balance between openness and security in cyberspace? Moderator: Janice Stein Panelists: Michele Markoff, Nigel Inkster, Arif Lalani, Detlev Wolter, Johan Hallenborg, Robert Dresen
10:15 – 10:30	COFFEE BREAK sponsored by ISOC and Afilias
10:30 – 12:00	PANEL TWO: Who Should Police Cyberspace? How should Cyberspace be Policed? Should it be policed at all or left to its own devices? How should malicious networks, like botnets, be neutralized? By whom? What lessons can be derived from past experiences? How do we create effective policing across borders without establishing a global police state in cyberspace? Should governments control cyberspace policing and capabilities or should they be downloaded to those who operate the infrastructure (e.g. telecommunications companies, ISPs)? As cyberspace is mostly in the hands of private sector actors, there is a growing worldwide trend towards intermediary liability – putting more and more responsibilities in the hands of the private sector. What are the existing cases that demonstrate intermediary liability? What are the unintended consequences of those cases? Where are the accountability gaps? How should civil society and other actors be included in policing the Internet? What is the proper mix? Where does accountability begin, where does it end, and who’s in charge? How do we preserve a distributed cyberspace governance regime without encouraging vigilantism? Should private sector actors sell products and services that contribute to cyberspace instability and closure? If not, how should they be regulated? Moderator: Milton Mueller Panelists: Paul Vixie, Andrew Cushman, Michael Welch, Theo de Vries, Gus Hosein, Jeff Brueggeman, Eric Davis
12:00 – 13:30	LUNCH sponsored by Microsoft
13:30 – 15:00	PANEL THREE: What are the Limits of Dissent in Cyberspace? The Arab Spring demonstrates the latent agency of technologically savvy, networked youth. But the Arab Spring model has its (arguably) darker side in the UK riots, the newly emerging networked politics of the Occupy movement, and new forms of agency like WikiLeaks and Anonymous. Should these new forms of political agency be defended as sometimes messy but necessary characteristics of global networked democracy, or should they be criminalized and suppressed? Who is to judge? What are the limits to dissent online? How should stewardship for citizens, activists, dissenters, and protestors in cyberspace be expressed or defined? As cyberspace expands to the global South, will the limits of dissent be defined in different ways than they have been up until now? Moderator: Jillian York Panelists: Jac S.M. Kee, Sarah Wynn-Williams, Shahzad Ahmad, Brett Solomon, Lhadon Tethong, Isaac Mao, Dunja Mijatovic
15:00 – 15:30	COFFEE BREAK sponsored by ISOC and Afilias
15:30 – 16:45	PANEL FOUR: What is Strategy, Stewardship, and War in Cyberspace? How should armed forces conceptualize strategy in cyberspace? How should they conceptualize stewardship? What will war in cyberspace look like? Who will do the fighting? What capabilities do we require to sustain operations in and through cyberspace? How should war fighting in cyberspace relate to existing rules of armed conflict? If Canada needs a cyber-command what should it look like, and what should be its mission, role and authorities? How will it support or change Canada’s ability to project power in warfighting, peacekeeping and everything in between? As a “middle power”, will Canada’s approach to cyberspace operations provide a model that might be adopted by other countries evolving their war fighting capabilities in this domain? Moderator: Rafal Rohozinski Panelists: LCol. Francois Castonguay, Col. Bill Sternhagen, Col T.X. Hammes, Franklin Kramer, James Farwell
16:45 – 17:00	SUMMARY AND CLOSE Ron Deibert (Canada Centre / Citizen Lab / Munk School)

Link to the original

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/news/what-is-stewardship-in-cyberspace