Centre for Internet and Society

Bouquets & brickbats for Google's new privacy policy

praskrishna — 2013-10-25T05:40:56Z

Google's recent privacy policy change that allows the internet search company to use names, photographs and endorsements by its users in online advertisements is getting mixed reviews in India - advertisers love it, and activists love to hate it.

This article by Indu Nandakumar was published in the Economic Times on October 18, 2013. Sunil Abraham is quoted.

Internet rights activists called it another incursion into individual privacy by the California-based company that uses 'Don't be evil' as an informal corporate motto. Brand advisers and marketers praised the ingenuity of personalisation that can make advertising much more effective.

"From a user perspective, there is a higher chance of them buying a product if it is endorsed by a friend," said Kunal Jeswani, chief digital officer at Ogilvy & Mather India. To his mind, the argument about user privacy is "naive" because when a user enters a social network, he/she should know his/her personal information, such as profile photographs and names, is already on the web.

Google announced its policy change regarding user information will be effective on November 11, giving the company the right to use profile names, photos and comments alongside advertisements by clients who use its online advertising network of over 2 million websites.

For instance, if a user has endorsed a product by giving it a "+1" or rated a product on the Google Play app store, his/her image will appear next to the ad when it is displayed to people who are part of his/her social circle on the social networking service Google Plus. The move is seen as Google's attempt to catch up with rival Facebook, which first introduced the concept of 'social ads' that let corporations use the power of influence of people within a person's social network to sell products.

Internet rights activists said such practices raise privacy concerns as they do not take prior consent of users.

"We are not comfortable with user information being used without their permission, especially since Google's privacy standards are not very high," said Uday Mehta, associate director at Consumer Unity and Trust Society (CUTS International).

Last year, the agency complained to Competition Commission of India to investigate Google's alleged anti-competitive practices here. An investigation is ongoing.

In an emailed response, Google said it is notifying users about the change in policy, so that if a user does not like it, he/she can turn it off.

"Since we're updating an existing setting, we will continue to respect the choice you made about the old setting. That means if you already told us that you didn't want your +1s to appear in ads, none of your other shared endorsements will appear in ads," a Google spokesman said.

For example, Google said, if a user reviewed a restaurant, people who aren't in his/her Google Plus Circles of friends would not see that review in an ad that the restaurant might run through Google.

The latest ad strategy comes at a time when companies such as Google and Facebook have been attempting to increase their ad revenues by personalising advertisements to attract user attention. Over 90% of Google's $46-billion revenue in 2012 came from advertisements.

Sunil Abraham, executive director of the Center for Internet and Society said the issue highlights the need for a stronger internet privacy statute in India. The absence of clear privacy laws makes it impossible for government officials to understand the harm caused to personal rights because of the default settings of Google, he observed.

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/news/economic-times-october-18-2013-indu-nandakumar-bouquets-brickbats-google-new-privacy-policy

Bottom

praskrishna — 2011-06-06T06:49:16Z

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Books vs Cigarettes

praskrishna — 2011-12-01T13:28:14Z

CIS is hosting the scanned pages of George Orwell's essay Books vs Cigarettes in public domain.

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/a2k/books-vs-cigarettes.zip

Books at a Click

praskrishna — 2016-06-18T17:52:06Z

The OdiaWikimedia community and Bhubaneswar-based Srujanika have come together to make rare science books available online for readers, students & science educators.

The article by Diana Sahu was published in the New Indian Express on January 9, 2016.

Readers can now access rare science books in Odia language at Odia Wikisource, an online library of popular books in the language. The Odia Wikimedia community and Bhubaneswar-based Srujanika have come together to make these books available online for readers, students and science educators. This apart, books of Sahitya Akademi award winning writer Jagannath Prasad Das have been added to the library. Srujanika's co-founder Puspashree Pattnaik recently provided 700 popular science books that were published by the organisation to the Wikimedia community for digitisation. “These books were appreciated by many and even in demand after going out of print. Hence, we thought if these can be shared under free licence then they can reach a wider population. Wikipedia contributors can use these as resources and enhance science content in Odia Wikipedia as well", says Puspashree, a former teacher. She along with her husband Nikhil Pattnaik, a former scientist with the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB), Hyderabad, had published several science books as part of their project to popularise the subject among children. With support from Vigyan Prasar in New Delhi, the couple had also documented rare works of science published in books, magazines, periodicals and newspapers from 1850 to 1950 in electronic format, a few years back. Around science 765 articles written over a century have been put on CDs and DVDs according to the names of authors and year of publication. The science books have been digitised by volunteers of the Odia Wikimedia community and the Centre for Internet and Society, a non-profit working for supporting Indian language Wikipedia projects and the communities.

Pushpashree Pattnaik

Similarly, the Wikimedia community has re-licensed 30 books of Das under a free license CC-by-SA 4.0. His books can now be accessed at https://orwikisource.org and anyone can use them for academic or research work. “My tryst with internet started very late. I was introduced to digital books through Srujanika's online version of Purnachandra Odia Bhashakosha - comprising 9,500 pages in seven volumes- which was impossible to handle on the writing table. That made me think how convenient it would be to have Odia books avail. able on the internet. As a beginning. I decided to put my own writings on the internet", said Das. Prior to Das, eminent writers and litterateurs Debi Prasanna Pattanayak, Manoj Panda, Subrat Prusty, Bharat Majhi and organisations like 'Manik Biswanath Smrutinyasa' and Aama Odisha' had come forward to make their books available online for free using Odia Wikisource as a platform. At present, Odia Wikisource has 280 Odia books and all are either under Public Domain or Creative Commons Share Alike licences. A team of 10 active contributors, known as "Uikiali' in Odia, are digitising books of various genres ranging from science writing, fiction to 0dia classics. “Apart from the science writ. ings, we are also working on digitising the biography of Nandini Satpathy which has been published by Ashisa Ranjan Mohapatra of Srimati Nandini Satpathy Memorial Trust,” says Mrutyunjaya Kar, administrator of Odia Wikisource and Odia Wikipedia who has been contributing to the Wikimedia projects in Odia, Hindi, Sanskrit and English for the last four years. Odia Wikisource is a sister project of Odia Wikipedia.

These books were appreciated by many and going out of print. If these can be shared under free licence then they can reach a wider population.
Pushpashree Pattnaik

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/a2k/news/new-indian-express-january-9-2016-diana-sahu-books-at-a-click

Books are a bridge between generations

praskrishna — 2014-05-05T09:27:05Z

Kannada litterateurs stressed on the importance of books and cultivating the habit of reading on the occasion of ‘World Book Day’ on Wednesday.

The article was published in the Deccan Herald on April 23, 2014. Dr. U.B.Pavanaja was a speaker on the occasion.

Speaking on the sidelines of the event, writer Narahalli Balasubramanya said “We should ensure children emulate great minds if we want them to be responsible citizens. This is possible only if we make them read good books.

Today, we are increasingly finding ourselves in the company of corrupt people. It is through books that we can interact with great literary figures such as Bendre and Kuvempu.”

The event was jointly organised by Karnataka Publishers Association, Kendra Sahitya Akademi, Karnataka Lekhakiyara Sangha and Indian Institute of World Culture.

Balasubramanya maintained that the Kendra Sahitya Academy sold books at affordable rates and also gave a funding of Rs 400 crore to the book publishers, annually. “But not many people are aware of books entering market and the works don’t reach people,” he added.

A series of Kannada works written by authors were released on the occasion. Writer Dr Siddalingaiah who released the books said “Books are bridges between our minds and our ancestors’ minds. Every home should have a small library.”

‘Pustaka Bhagya’

“The State government has introduced Anna Bhagya, Ksheera Bhagya and other schemes. Similarly, they should also implement Pustaka Bhagya,” said M V Nagaraj Rao of Shrungara Prakashana.

Technical writer in Kannada U B Pavanaja maintained that in Kannada Wikipedia there was dearth of information on Kannada literary works. “There is enough information about English works but not on Kannada novels and literary publications. The Kannada publishers should strive to feed information and synopsis of each work into the Kannada wikipedia,” he added.

Public Library Department celebrated the occasion by holding a book exhibition and essay competition for children at City Central Library premises on Wednesday.

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/news/deccan-herald-april-23-2014-books-are-a-bridge-between-generations

books

praskrishna — 2014-05-05T09:00:58Z

Books

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Bombay Report

praskrishna — 2014-07-18T06:03:48Z

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

Bolstering right to remain private

praskrishna — 2012-10-29T09:00:13Z

The Justice AP Shah panel has done to well to lay down an enforceable roadmap that can strengthen privacy laws in the country. It’s now for the legislature to take the issue to a logical conclusion.

Apar Gupta's column was published in the Pioneer on October 29, 2012.

A haveli courtyard is an apt metaphor for the complexity which is involved in drafting a law on privacy. Though the courtyard gives an appearance of openness, it is limited by the walls, doors and windows which surround it. The architecture represents a mediated understanding of the options which are available to the resident in sharing and limiting information to family and strangers. A somewhat similar project is in the works with the Union Government taking steps towards the enactment of a privacy law.

Privacy law as it is understood at present is usually limited to the odd writ petition filed against the Government by a private individual seeking enforcement of a fundamental right to privacy. Recently, such adjudication has been limited to high-profile individuals, and where there is wide voyeuristic interest. For instance, two recent petitioners include industrialist Ratan Tata and former Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh. Here, it is important to stress that with the state gathering more and more data about individuals through the Unique Identification Authority of India scheme, there is a need to democratise the right by making legal provisions for its enforcement. In making such provisions a balance has to be maintained, where information which serves public interest or gathered through informed consent is not encumbered in the name of protecting individual privacy.

To find this balance, the Government late last year tasked a Committee of Experts chaired by Justice AP Shah to prepare a report on the Privacy Bill. Readers would recall that Justice Shah had authored a judgement which read down Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code, decriminalising homosexual activity. A closer reading of the judgement shows the reliance placed by the court on the privacy right and to reach its determination. With such credentials, the Justice Shah Committee has exceeded the high expectations placed on it, presenting a fair and balanced approach towards a privacy law in India.

At the very outset the report clearly marks its objectives, from which it then commences to study judicial precedent on privacy as well as the experience of foreign jurisdictions. On the basis of this study, it has evolved nine privacy principles which encompass within it distinct aspects of individual privacy. Such a nuanced approach to privacy is certainly welcome given that privacy as a right is often subjective, varying drastically in its appreciation as per civil society, private industry and even Government itself.

Beyond the specific aspects of the privacy right, the report extends the right both to Government as well as private industry. This is a sign of the times, best put by Pranesh Prakash, policy director, Centre for Internet and Society, when he says that citizens reveal more data about themselves to social networking websites than they would to the Government under torture!

Another significant aspect is the proposed co-regulatory regime which the report suggests. And, experience has taught us that a right without an effective remedy to enforce it counts for a little more than a black letter on paper. In this respect, the report proposes a sectoral regulator which has supervision over State level privacy commissioners. In addition to this, the report also proposes a system of self-regulation where industry-specific standards may be proposed and then sanctioned by the privacy commissioners. However, contrary to the present approach of tribunalisation, the report suggests that recourse to civil courts for aggrieved persons should always be kept open.

Though the origins of the privacy rights may be antiquated, widespread consensus suggests that the modern practice and substance of privacy law owes its beginning to an article published in the fourth volume of the Harvard Law Review. The article, authored by Louis Brandeis and Samuel Warren drawing a physical justification for what seemed like a novelty back then, stated that the law regarded a man’s house as his castle.

Sadly, the right has not seen a proper development in India, mainly due to the absence of an overarching legislation as well as a lack of understanding of its proper contours. At least in this respect, the report marks a significant development in the drafting of a comprehensive privacy legislation in India. A haveli, a house or a castle — the Justice Shah panel has provided a useful blueprint to the legislature to build an effective and balanced statute to safeguard individual privacy.

(The writer is a partner in a Delhi-based law firm and visiting faculty at the National Law University, Delhi)

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/news/daily-pioneer-columnists-oct-29-2012-apar-gupta-bolstering-right-to-remain-private

bollywood

praskrishna — 2012-04-10T09:00:33Z

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Bodhisattwa

praskrishna — 2019-09-22T23:43:27Z

Bodhisattwa

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Bobby Kuhnu

praskrishna — 2011-03-31T09:52:12Z

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/publications/it-act/copy_of_bobby.jpg

Bobby Kuhnu

praskrishna — 2011-03-31T08:45:37Z

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/publications/it-act/bobby.jpg

Board and Society Members

praskrishna — 2024-06-26T08:11:38Z

The Centre for Internet and Society was established in 2008 with Sunil Abraham, Nishant Shah, Achal Prabhala, Lawrence Liang, Atul Ramachandra, Subbiah Arunachalam, and Vibodh Parthasarathi as the founding Society members; and Sunil Abraham, Achal Prabhala, Lawrence Liang, and Atul Ramachandra as the founding Board members. Please find below the lists of the members who have served on the CIS Society and Board since. The information in this page reflects the membership status, of Society and Board, as of March 31, 2024.

Members of Board and Society during 2023-24

Members of Board and Society during 2022-23

Members of Board and Society during 2021-22

Members of Board and Society during 2020-21

Members of Board and Society during 2019-20

Members of Board and Society during 2018-19

Members of Board and Society during 2017-18

Members of Board and Society during 2016-17

Members of Board and Society during 2015-16

Members of Board and Society during 2014-15

Members of Board and Society during 2013-14

Members of Board and Society during 2012-13

Members of Board and Society during 2011-12

Members of Board and Society during 2010-11

Members of Board and Society during 2009-10

Members of Board and Society during 2008-09

Members of Board and Society during 2023-24

Members of Board	Position	Members of Society	Position
Nikhil Narendran	President	T. Vishnu Vardhan	Chief Functionary
Vikram Hegde	Secretary	Nikhil Narendran	Member
T. Vishnu Vardhan	Treasurer	Vikram Hegde	Member
Prof. Lakshmi Arya	Member	Anubha Sinha	Member
Prof. Radhika Mamidi	Member	Arindrajit Basu	Member
		Pranav M B	Member
		Dr. Rekha Jain	Member
		Shyam Ponnappa	Member
		Prof. Subbaiah Arunachalam	Member
		Dr. Suchitra Balasubrahmanyan	Member
		Sunil Abraham	Member
		Tanveer Hasan	Member
		Pranesh Prakash	Member

Members of Board and Society during 2022-23

Members of Board	Position	Members of Society	Position
Dr. Asha Achuthan	Member	Dr. Asha Achuthan	Member
Nikhil Narendran	Member	Nikhil Narendran	Member
Vikram Hegde	Member	Vikram Hegde	Member
		Anubha Sinha	Member
		Arindrajit Basu	Member
		Pranav M B	Member
		Dr. Rekha Jain	Member
		Shyam Ponnappa	Member
		Prof. Subbaiah Arunachalam	Member
		Dr. Suchitra Balasubrahmanyan	Member
		Sunil Abraham	Member
		T. Vishnu Vardhan	Chief Functionary
		Pranesh Prakash	Member

Members of Board and Society during 2021-22

Members of Board	Position	Members of Society	Position
Dr. Rekha Jain	Chairperson	Dr. Rekha Jain	President
Mr. Amber Sinha	Secretary	Dr. Amit Mitra	Member
Dr. Amit Mitra	Member	Dr. Suchitra Balasubrahmanyan	Member
Dr. Suchitra Balasubrahmanyan	Member	Mr. Amber Sinha	Member
Mr. Vibodh Parthasarathi	Member	Mr. Arindrajit Basu	Member
		Mr. Shyam Ponnappa	Member
		Mr. Sunil Abraham	Member
		Mr. T. Vishnu Vardhan	Member
		Mr. Vibodh Parthasarathi	Member
		Prof. Subbaiah Arunachalam	Member

Members of Board and Society during 2020-21

Members of Board	Position	Members of Society	Position
Dr. Rekha Jain	Chairperson	Dr. Rekha Jain	President
Mr. Amber Sinha	Secretary	Dr. Amit Mitra	Member
Dr. Amit Mitra	Member	Dr. Suchitra Balasubrahmanyan	Member
Dr. Suchitra Balasubrahmanyan	Member	Mr. Amber Sinha	Member
Mr. Vibodh Parthasarathi	Member	Mr. Arindrajit Basu	Member
		Mr. Shyam Ponnappa	Member
		Mr. Sunil Abraham	Member
		Mr. T. Vishnu Vardhan	Member
		Mr. Vibodh Parthasarathi	Member
		Prof. Subbaiah Arunachalam	Member

Members of Board and Society during 2019-20

Members of Board	Position	Members of Society	Position
Sunil Abraham	President	Amber Sinha	President
T. Vishnu Vardhan	Treasurer	T. Vishnu Vardhan	Treasurer
Pranesh Prakash	Member	Sunil Abraham	Secretary
Shyam Ponnappa	Member	Shyam Ponnappa	Member
		Dr. Rekha Jain	Member
		Dr. Suchitra Balasubrahmanyan	Member
		Vibodh Parthasarathi	Member
		Arindrajit Basu	Member

Members of Board and Society during 2018-19

Members of Board	Position	Members of Society	Position
Sunil Abraham	President	Sunil Abraham	President
Pranesh Prakash	Treasurer	Pranesh Prakash	Treasurer
Shyam Ponnappa	Member	Shyam Ponnappa	Member
T. Vishnu Vardhan	Member	T. Vishnu Vardhan	Member
		Jayna Kothari	Member
		Hans Varghese Mathew	Member
		Subbiah Arunachalam	Member
		Vibodh Parthasarathi	Member
		Kavita Philip	Member

Members of Board and Society during 2017-18

Members of Board	Position	Members of Society	Position
Jayna Kothari	President	Jayna Kothari	President
Nirmita Narasimhan	Secretary	Nirmita Narasimhan	Secretary
Pranesh Prakash	Treasurer	Pranesh Prakash	Treasurer
Shyam Ponnappa	Member	Shyam Ponnappa	Member
Sunil Abraham	Member	Sunil Abraham	Member
T. Vishnu Vardhan	Member	T. Vishnu Vardhan	Member
		Hans Varghese Mathew	Member
		Kavita Philip	Member
		Lawrence Liang	Member
		Nishant Shah	Member
		Subbiah Arunachalam	Member
		Sumandro Chattapadhyay	Member
		Vibodh Parthasarathi	Member

Members of Board and Society during 2016-17

Members of Board	Position	Members of Society	Position
Sunil Abraham	President	Sunil Abraham	President
Nirmita Narasimhan	Secretary	Nirmita Narasimhan	Member
T. Vishnu Vardhan	Treasurer	T. Vishnu Vardhan	Treasurer
Kavita Philip	Member	Kavita Philip	Member
Nishant Shah	Member	Nishant Shah	Member
Shyam Ponnappa	Member	Shyam Ponnappa	Member
		Hans Varghese Mathew	Member
		Jayna Kothari	Member
		Lawrence Liang	Member
		Pranesh Prakash	Treasurer
		Subbiah Arunachalam	Member
		Vibodh Parthasarathi	Member

Members of Board and Society during 2015-16

Members of Board	Position	Members of Society	Position
Sunil Abraham	President	Sunil Abraham	President
Nirmita Narasimhan	Secretary	Nirmita Narasimhan	Member
T. Vishnu Vardhan	Treasurer	T. Vishnu Vardhan	Treasurer
Kavita Philip	Member	Kavita Philip	Member
Nishant Shah	Member	Nishant Shah	Member
Shyam Ponnappa	Member	Shyam Ponnappa	Member
		Hans Varghese Mathew	Member
		Jayna Kothari	Member
		Lawrence Liang	Member
		Pranesh Prakash	Treasurer
		Subbiah Arunachalam	Member
		Vibodh Parthasarathi	Member

Members of Board and Society during 2014-15

Members of Board	Position	Members of Society	Position
Sunil Abraham	President	Sunil Abraham	President
Nirmita Narasimhan	Secretary	Nirmita Narasimhan	Member
T. Vishnu Vardhan	Treasurer	T. Vishnu Vardhan	Treasurer
Kavita Philip	Member	Kavita Philip	Member
Nishant Shah	Member	Nishant Shah	Member
Shyam Ponnappa	Member	Shyam Ponnappa	Member
		Hans Varghese Mathew	Member
		Jayna Kothari	Member
		Lawrence Liang	Member
		Pranesh Prakash	Treasurer
		Subbiah Arunachalam	Member
		Vibodh Parthasarathi	Member

Members of Board and Society during 2013-14

Members of Board	Position	Members of Society	Position
Lawrence Liang	Chairman	Lawrence Liang	Member
		Sunil Abraham	President
		Nishant Shah	Treasurer
Jayna Kothari	Member	Jayna Kothari	Member
Kavita Philip	Member	Kavita Philip	Member
Subbiah Arunachalam	Member	Subbiah Arunachalam	Member
Vibodh Parthasarathi	Member	Vibodh Parthasarathi	Member

Members of Board and Society during 2012-13

Members of Board	Position	Members of Society	Position
Lawrence Liang	Chairman	Lawrence Liang	Member
		Sunil Abraham	President
		Nishant Shah	Treasurer
Jayna Kothari	Member	Jayna Kothari	Member
Kavita Philip	Member	Kavita Philip	Member
Subbiah Arunachalam	Member	Subbiah Arunachalam	Member
Vibodh Parthasarathi	Member	Vibodh Parthasarathi	Member

Members of Board and Society during 2011-12

Members of Board	Position	Members of Society	Position
Lawrence Liang	Chairman	Lawrence Liang	Member
		Sunil Abraham	President
		Nishant Shah	Treasurer
Jayna Kothari	Member	Jayna Kothari	Member
Subbiah Arunachalam	Member	Subbiah Arunachalam	Member
Vibodh Parthasarathi	Member	Vibodh Parthasarathi	Member
		M.K. Narasimha Rao	Member

Members of Board and Society during 2010-11

Members of Board	Position	Members of Society	Position
Subbiah Arunachalam	Chairman	Subbiah Arunachalam	Member
		Sunil Abraham	President
		Nishant Shah	Treasurer
Atul Ramachandra	Member	Atul Ramachandra	Member
Lawrence Liang	Member	Lawrence Liang	Member
Vibodh Parthasarathi	Member	Vibodh Parthasarathi	Member
		Achal Prabhala	Member
		M.K. Narasimha Rao	Member

Members of Board and Society during 2009-10

Members of Board	Position	Members of Society	Position
Subbiah Arunachalam	Chairman	Subbiah Arunachalam	Member
		Sunil Abraham	President
		Nishant Shah	Treasurer
Atul Ramachandra	Member	Atul Ramachandra	Member
Lawrence Liang	Member	Lawrence Liang	Member
Vibodh Parthasarathi	Member	Vibodh Parthasarathi	Member
		Achal Prabhala	Member

Members of Board and Society during 2008-09

Members of Board	Position	Members of Society	Position
Sunil Abraham	President	Sunil Abraham	President
Achal Prabhala	Vide-President	Achal Prabhala	Member
Lawrence Liang	Secretary	Lawrence Liang	Member
		Nishant Shah	Treasurer
Atul Ramachandra	Member	Atul Ramachandra	Member
		Subbiah Arunachalam	Member
		Vibodh Parthasarathi	Member

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/about/people/board-and-society-members

Bloomberg.pdf

praskrishna — 2015-04-03T06:17:33Z

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/Bloomberg.pdf

BlogFest2012

praskrishna — 2012-12-04T05:03:38Z

BlogFest2012

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