Centre for Internet and Society

Write

praskrishna — 2011-11-14T06:33:36Z

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Would it be a unique identity crisis ?

praskrishna — 2011-04-01T17:10:30Z

The UID project will centralise a humongous amount of data but the fear is that it might fall into the wrong hands.

The Unique Identification (UID) project is already up and running. It’s touted as a watershed in inclusive politics, of bringing people, who by virtue of physical remoteness, their station in society or other liabilities were excluded from the system, back into it. UID Chairman Nandan Nilekani recently said that the aadhaar number will not replace the passport, driving license or the voter identity card and that by 2014, 60 per cent of the country’s population will have the 12-digit UID number. The idea, though it has not been made explicit, is that Aadhaar will eventually become the key document for the common man to navigate the system, whether it is opening a bank account or making a rent agreement to booking a train ticket or applying for a job.

In fact, there is the implicit danger that sooner than later the original idea of inclusiveness could be turned on its head by denying benefits to people who don’t have the Aadhaar! “There is nothing to ensure that you will continue to receive the same benefits like those who have the UID number. The claim that it is not mandatory is legally correct. But in practice it would not be,” said Prof Sridhar Krishnaswamy of W B University for Juridical Sciences.

It is a fundamental premise that data subjects ought to have “inalienable moral rights” about the “integrity” of the data collected about them. But even as UID is one of the best things that could have happened to deepen the democratic process in our society, the often un-remarked fact is that the project has also become the biggest industrial collector of personal information. Considering the size and heterogeneity of the Indian population, it becomes as big as Google, and the implications of this are quite frightening. The UID draft bill, which has to be cleared by Parliament for it to become law, has only perfunctorily looked at the dangers posed by such huge and centralized collection of data. It glosses over the issue, content with making conservative noises about “the interlinking of databases”. This only shows how casual our policy makers, even the most enlightened of them, are towards the whole issue of safeguarding privacy.

The Bangalore-based Centre for Internet and Society (CIS) has analyzed the draft UID bill in considerable depth. They have identified three main areas where the bill needs to be drastically reworked: (i) plugging all loopholes which would enable corporate organizations from accessing information from the Aadhar database for their own commercial or R & D purposes; (ii) stipulating a maximum period for the data to be stored; (iii) to be transparent about the methods it uses to collect, store and disseminate data.

Prof Krishnaswamy agreed that the UID bill has not taken the corporate threat seriously enough. He contends that the UID authorities should take small, concrete steps that would act as effective safeguards. “In the mobile phone segment, user information is stored only for six months. Now, the government is proposing a similar time cap for ISP too. But when it comes to UID there is no such time limit. It means personal information could be held perpetually,” he explained. All that UID Assistant Director A K Pandey had to say to this was, “if that is it, then we have to live with it.”

Another worrying aspect of the proposed bill, according to Usha Ramanathan, an activist and expert on identity and digital issues, is its failure to fix accountability on the main players including enrollers, outsourcing companies, and the UDAI authority itself. “The data collector and data controller should be equally held responsible for the protection of data,” she said. However, UID authorities themselves are of the view that the apprehensions are being overplayed. Pandey maintained that there was nothing in the UID that would compromise the privacy of individuals. “You go to a bank or the LIC office and you give whatever information they ask you. But when it comes to UID alone you say the information you give could be dangerous. We don’t quite understand this,” he retorted. He played down the fears that in the central data storage vital information could go corrupt. “We have taken adequate measures to protect it. We will have a backup,” he said.

The issue of transparency of data collection and storage remains. The CIS analysts feel that the UID should put out a synopsis of the algorithms it will use in collating and protecting data so that the public at large can be reassured of the firewalls that are in place. Then there is also the issue of not having concrete provisions in the UID bill to deal with special cases like whistleblowers and victims of abuse whose identities need to be protected even more carefully.

The UID authority also bypasses the question of whether it is confusing data protection with the larger issue of protection of privacy. A person’s identity is more than her date of birth, surname, religion, fingerprint or even the sum of these. Such information is basically data and allows governments or corporate bodies to provide a person a nominal identity, one that is indispensable if she is to be part of a socio-political system. The state and corporate entities conveniently deny a person her self, thereby reducing her to a subject instead of seeing each individual as a thinking, acting agency.

Be that as it may, right now the concern of civil society is to make at least protection of data as foolproof as possible. Aadhaar is just one of the projects that pose a threat to the privacy of individual citizens. There is the broader problem of how the Internet and mobile phones, the popularity of social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter, and the widespread use of credit and debit cards has led to blatant misuse of personal information gathered online, sharing of consumer data without consent and the state’s own Big Brother surveillance. The need for an effective privacy law in India is imperative.

Read the original in Bangalore Mirror

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/news/unique-identity-crisis

Worldwide: International Privacy - 2013 Year in Review - Asia

praskrishna — 2014-01-31T08:44:20Z

Asian Data Privacy Updates

The article by Gonzalo S. Zeballos, James A. Sherer and Alan M. Pate was published in Mondaq's yearly review on January 8, 2014.

China

China's Personal Information Protection Law Proposal was submitted to the State Council in 2008, which was followed by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology's non-binding Internet Information Services Market Order Provisions of 2011. However, little direct progress was made until the standing committee of the National People's Congress (NPC) introduced its Decision on Strengthening Internet Information Protection (the Decision) on December 28, 2012. Echoing Directive 95/46/EC in the EU by stipulating that the collection and use of information will be "legitimate, proper, and necessary," the Decision seeks to protect network information security; the lawful interest of citizens, legal persons, and other organizations; and safeguard China's security and social order through its Articles.

he Decision's first Article states that "[n]o organization or individual may steal or obtain in other illegal manners [ ] citizens' individual electronic information, sell or illegally provide citizens' individual electronic information to other persons." Instruction to Internet Service Providers (ISPs) continues, where providers must, among other activities:

Clearly indicate the purposes, methods, and scope of collection and use of citizens' data;
Obtain agreement from citizens before collecting their data;
Publicize rules for the collection and use of personal data;
Preserve the secrecy of collected data;
Not divulge, distort, or damage the data;
Refrain from selling or otherwise illegally providing the data to others; and
Adopt technical measures and other methods to ensure information security and prevent damage to or loss of the data.

Among the provisions of the Decision is Article Six, specifically directed at network service providers, whereby users of the services must "provide real identity information" prior to "website access," "fixed telephone, mobile telephone," "other surfing formalities," or "information publication services." In response to criticism that Article Six would be used to discourage whistleblowers and other Chinese dissention, the government-sponsored Xinhua News Agency argued that the Decision "will help, rather than harm, the country's netizens."

Japan

On May 24, 2013, the LDP-led ruling coalition directed the passage of the "Common Number" Bill through both Diet chambers. The Common Number Bill plans to assign every Japanese resident, including mid-to-long-stay foreigners and special permanent residents, a personal identification number beginning in January 2016. Additionally, a portal site through which people can check their social security records and other information via the Internet is planned for 2017. The numbering system was originally proposed in 2009, but remained quiescent until the LDP-New Komeito ruling coalition mustered sufficient support based, in part, on a philosophical foundation for fair social welfare and tax systems.

To oversee some aspects of the ID system, a third-party independent committee with independent authority will oversee allegations of data mishandling by public officials. Those who leak or illegally commercialize ID information will face up to four years in prison or a ¥2 million fine. While the use of a single number system has raised some concerns, including the potential for "forcible data-matching," the government push for support has focused on efficiencies in administration and easier detection of tax evasion and welfare fraud.

Malaysia

On November 15, 2013, the Personal Data Protection Act (PDPA) of 2010 was entered into force, introducing an omnibus privacy regime in Malaysia for the first time. This new regulation carries a host of requirements, including registration with the Personal Data Protection Department of Malaysia (PDPD) for a number of industries, including (among others) banking and financial institutions. The PDPA also includes the threat of severe consequences for non-compliance, including "fines for companies and/or fines and imprisonment for directors and officers of the company."

Khazaksthan

On November 26, 2013, Kazakhstani Law No. 94-V on Personal Data and its Protection came into force, defining such concepts as "personal data" among others, but left some ambiguity in how data might be transferred and/or stored internationally. It also contained a number of limitations: Law No. 94-V does not extend to the collection of personal data for personal and family needs; the use of information for the Kazakhstani National Archive; the collection, processing, and protection of personal data related to Kazakhstani state secrets; or the use of information related to intelligence, counter-intelligence, and criminal activities, within legal limits.

South Korea

Article 16 of South Korea's Personal Information Protection Act (effective September 30, 2011) was amended on August 6, 2013 to incorporate an affirmative obligation on the part of a personal information processor, requiring notification to data subjects that data subjects may deny consent for the collection of any personal information other than for any purposes under Article 15(1). This continues South Korea's stringent efforts to promote data privacy, and provides another instance of South Korea's articulation of a minimum data collection regime.

Singapore

Singapore's Personal Data Protection Act (PDPA), passed in 2012, went into effect on January 2, 2013, the same day Singapore's Personal Data Protection Commission (PDPC) was established; some portion of PDPA does not come into full effect until July 2, 2014. The PDPC followed-up the implementation of the PDPA with a further guidance note on September 24, 2013 which, among other topics, gave direction to organizations regarding notification requirements for the collection, use, or disclosure of personal data as well as the anonymization of personal data. This guidance outlined the use of 'cookies' for internet user's online activity, distinguishing in part between active consent on one hand, and "the mere failure of an individual to actively manage his browser settings" on the other.

Hong Kong

Revisions to Hong Kong's Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance – Code of Practice on Consumer Credit Data – took effect on April 1, 2013. These revisions require consent prior to the use of personal data in the context of targeted, direct advertising, and instruct individuals that, while direct marketers must notify individuals of their opt-out right prior to using personal data for the first time, individuals may choose to opt out at any time at no cost to the individual opting out. The Ordinance also provides for the following penalties: if "the transfer of personal data to third parties [is] for gain, the maximum penalty is a fine of HK$1,000,000 and imprisonment for 5 years. For other direct marketing contraventions, the maximum penalty is a fine of HK$500,000 and imprisonment for 3 years."

India

While India currently adheres to the Information Technology (Reasonable Security Practices and Procedures and Sensitive Personal Data or Information) Rules, 2011 (Rules) enacted in 2011, the Centre for Internet and Society presented a new Privacy (Protection) Bill, 2013 (Bill), on September 30, 2013. The Bill seeks to further refine provisions of the Rules, with a focus on protection of personal data through limitations on use and requirements for notice. The collection of personal data would be prohibited unless "necessary for the achievement of a purpose of the person seeking its collection," and, subject to sections 6 and 7 of the Bill, "no personal data may be collected under this Act prior to the data subject being given notice, in such form and manner as may be prescribed, of the collection." The Bill acknowledges the collection of data with and without consent; the regulation of personal data storage, processing, transfer, and security; and discusses the different types of disclosure.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/news/mondaq-january-8-2014-gonzalo-s-zeballos-james-a-sherer-alan-m-pate-worldwide-international-privacy-2013-year-in-review-asia

Worldwide - 1

praskrishna — 2011-03-30T13:13:58Z

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/home-images/Worldwide1.jpg

World Wide Web Consortium for All

praskrishna — 2011-04-02T12:08:15Z

Indian web designers have long ignored needs of people with different disabilities but a new dedicated wiki aspires to change that, writes Malvika Tegta

Mobility can also mean being able to seamlessly steer through and negotiate one’s way in a jungle of online information to get work done. Any good website should enable that.Yet, not many Indian ones do. At least not for those who can’t see or hear or operate the mouse with ease.

For them, e-mobility or e-access remains as ignored an aspect as mobility in the physical space.

And to think that all it takes to fix this is to conform to the accessibility standards laid down by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) at minimal extra cost. Any good web designer should follow that. And any good government must put a policy in place to ensure that it happens, especially when it is signatory to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of People with Disability, which warrants such action.

Intent, however, isn’t the problem. But limited awareness about how information and services can be best delivered to persons with disabilities is. And for a country with close to 70 million people with disabilities, awareness can mean the difference between booking an e-ticket and buying one from the railways counter, between living independently and relying on others for things they can easily do for themselves.

Addressing this is the recently launched 125-article-rich wiki, being executed by the Centre of Internet and Society (CIS) Bangalore and funded by the National Internet Exchange of India, New Delhi. The wiki intends to be a comprehensive resource for users, caretakers, web developers, NGOs, teachers, and members of legal communities for information on what technology — hardware and software — and related legislations offer persons with disabilities.

Web standards prescribe that a description of a graphic or a visual be added for the benefit of visually impaired persons so that any screen-reader can read it. For someone with hearing disability, sound alerts should be accompanied by visual cues, and audios tagged. For those who cannot operate the mouse and hence rely on desk keyboards or onscreen keyboards, developers should incorporate built-in shortcut keys for efficient access.

“But the W3C standards are not binding; it is something countries adopt. In India, these guidelines have been made advisory for Government websites, not mandatory,” says Nirmita Narasimhan, programme manager, CIS, who is also working on drafting the accessibility policy for the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology.

Mumbai-based disability activist Nilesh Singlit, who has been working on access audits, accessibility and inclusive design, training and research for the past 12 years, says that the standards are simple enough to be used by anyone with basic grasp of HTML. “But some specialised website designers charge high amounts to make websites disabled-friendly. Yes, there are issues of extensive testing of websites to adhere to the standards required. However, there is no relation between the cost and the end product. More awareness needs to be created to break the myth that accessible websites are expensive,” he says.

The Government of India has made accessibility of its websites advisory. But as Singlit says, if they’re anything like the current railways website — which does little for persons with disability — then it remains to be seen how effective the implementation will be.

Furthermore, the government does not proactively share information with outsiders. “How is one to approach the government unless one knows about the incentives on procurement of assistive technologies, training and awareness camps and educational awareness. Unless this research is made available, you don’t have the base to build on,” says a researcher from the field.

Read the article in DNA

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/news/www-for-all

WORLD WIDE PLAYGROUND

praskrishna — 2013-06-05T09:47:33Z

The Delhi High Court recently asked the central government to explain why minors are allowed to create online accounts on social networking sites such as Facebook or Orkut. The High Court’s question stems from a petition filed by former senior BJP leader K.N. Govindacharya last year.

The Op-ed was published in the Telegraph on May 15, 2013. Pranesh Prakash is quoted.

Govindacharya argued that by allowing minors to open accounts on social media sites, the companies of these sites were violating the Indian Majority Act, 1875, the Indian Contract Act, 1872, and the Information Technology Act, 2000.

One of Govindacharya’s main concerns is that when minors give false information to open an account on an online portal, they are liable to be held guilty for a criminal offence.

“Providing false information about oneself is more of a crime than a civil wrong,” explains Debsankar Chowdhury, a Calcutta-based cyber law expert. “However, if it is provided with an intention to enter into a contract which otherwise is not allowed, it is tantamount to fraud under Section 17 of the Contract Act of 1872.”

For minors, though, Chowdhury points out that the Juvenile Justice Act, 2005, will be brought into play, and they will face lighter sentences.

As for the social networking companies themselves, according to the law of the land they can be held accountable if a user provides them with false information. As Pavan Duggal, a Supreme Court advocate and expert on cyber law, points out, “All social networking sites are intermediaries under Section 2(1)(w) of the amended Information Technology Act, 2000. They are made responsible for all third party data or information made available by them under Section 79 of the Information Technology Act, 2000.” As such, social networking sites would be held accountable for allowing people, especially minors, to create fake profiles on their networks under Section 79 and 85 of the Information Technology Act, 2000, he adds.

The other problem here is that while a social networking site like Facebook allows anyone over 13 to open an account, according to Indian law, anyone under 18 years of age is a minor; and a minor cannot enter into a contract with any entity. “The issue raised in Govindacharya’s petition is of a fundamental nature,” opines Duggal. “Section 3 of the Indian Majority Act, 1875, clearly states that every person domiciled in India shall attain the age of majority on his completing the age of 18 years. However, Facebook allows 13-year-olds to become its members. Since children lack the inherent capacity to contract under the Indian Contract Act, 1872, the contract entered into between Indian children below the age of 18 years and Facebook is null and void.”

But though the nitty gritty of the law seems to be weighted against children below 18 — or even 13 — joining social networking sites, not everyone believes that kids should be prevented from having a presence online. Six months ago, 10-year-old Shruti (name changed) met with an accident, and was bedridden for some time. She was bored and miserable. To cheer her up, her father signed her on to Facebook — yes, by providing false information about her age.

Other parents may not take a similar view of their young children joining Facebook under false pretexts. But Ashok Agarwal, a Delhi-based lawyer and child rights activist, believes that Govindacharya’s petition demonstrates an outdated way of thinking. “We are letting children speak at the UN and in Parliament, but we don’t want to let them speak online,” he says. “Allowing children to use sites like Facebook doesn’t hurt them, and if anything, denying them access to it would be denying them their universal Right to Participate. This right is part of Unicef’s Convention on the Rights of the Child.” And also it’s denying them access to a tool and medium that is, and will be, an integral part of their lives, adds Agarwal.

Leaving aside the debate on whether or not children below a certain age should be allowed on social networking sites, Chowdhury points out that right now there is no means of checking the age of those who are signing in to these online portals.

In fact, Section D of Govindacharya’s petition does point out the need for some kind of verification process when people create an online account, much like what phone service providers do when someone applies for a new connection.

But experts point out that this is not feasible in the case of social networking sites. Says Chowdhury, “Mobile companies operate their network in specific locations, whereas sites like Facebook exist worldwide. Moreover, these portals don’t take a single penny from their users. So do you really think it is possible to make offline verification?”

Indeed, verification of user data — ostensibly to cut out underage persons from logging on to social networking sites — has much wider ramifications. Pranesh Prakash, policy director at the Centre for Internet and Society in Bangalore, points out that it could start a downward spiral towards loss of online privacy. “If anyone wants to create an account on a website, but has to provide some sort of verifiable data, you’re going to remove a person’s ability to post anonymously on the Internet. Then what happens to freedom of speech? People like to post online anonymously, but if everyone’s identity is known, that privacy is revoked.”

The effect of social networking sites on children will be debated for a long time. But clearly, it would be tough to enforce laws to prevent children from logging on to these sites.

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/news/the-telegraph-op-ed-may-15-2013-world-wide-playground

World Press Freedom Day 2017

praskrishna — 2017-05-20T02:52:39Z

Udbhav Tiwari represented the Centre for Internet & Society at the World Press Day event organised by UNESCO and the Digital Empowerment Foundation (DEF) at UNESCO House, New Delhi on May 3, 2017.

The event had the release of two reports, one on Violence against Journalists in South Asia and one of Internet Shutdowns in India, with a panel accompanying the last one. The panel was quite interesting, with perspectives from Osama Manzar and a Editor from The Hoot standing out in particular about how social media websites are being used for rapid response governance and how these bans negatively affect those attempts. The agenda for the event is attached to this email.

Click to read about the Internet Shutdown report from the event.

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/world-press-freedom-day-2017

World Press Freedom Day

praskrishna — 2011-06-23T06:18:09Z

conference in Delhi

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/publications/world-press-freedom-day.pdf

World Internet Usage

praskrishna — 2013-01-07T06:48:45Z

World Internet Usage

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/home-images/32_20130115.jpg

World Book Day (Coverage in Vijayavani)

praskrishna — 2014-05-05T09:40:16Z

Dr. U.B. Pavanaja participated in the event as a speaker. A scanned version of the report is below:

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/news/vijayavani-april-23-2014-world-book-day

World Book Day

praskrishna — 2014-05-05T09:33:11Z

Dr. U.B.Pavanaja was one of the speakers on the program arranged on account of World Book Day by Karnataka Publishers’ Association at the Indian Institute of World Culture, Basavanagudi.

He spoke about the importance of giving info about Kannada books in Kannada Wikipedia, about digitization of books, ebooks and audio books.

Click to read the media coverage in the Hindu.

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/news/world-book-day

Workshop: Social Justice in an Internet-mediated World

praskrishna — 2014-02-02T16:24:29Z

IT for Change and the Manipal Centre for Philosophy and Humanities invite you to a workshop on social justice in an internet-mediated world at the Manipal Centre for Philosophy and Humanities on January 31, 2014. T. Vishnu Vardhan, Program Director, Access to Knowledge from the Centre for Internet and Society will deliver a lecture on Where are the Alternatives ? Is distributed power possible?

IT for Change and Manipal Centre for Philosophy and Humanities, University of Manipal are pleased to announce a workshop on Social Justice in an Internet-mediated World that will examine themes such as: Role of Technology in Oppression and Emancipation through History, Digital Technologies and the Discourse of Social Justice in India, Globalisation and Democracy in an Internet-mediated world, and the Place of Media, Culture and Community in Network Society. The workshop will be conducted by subject-experts from the two organising institutions and other scholar-activists, researchers and practitioners.

The fundamental objective of this workshop is to bring together researchers, students, NGO representatives to explore conceptual frameworks in an emerging field through dialogue and deliberation.

The workshop fee is Rs. 3000 and participants are expected to make their own travel arrangements. Scholarships to cover travel and course fee are applicable to India based applicants only. However, accommodation would be provided free of cost to all participants, at the University campus during the period of the workshop.

To apply, please send your CV with contacts and a 500-word statement that elaborates the reasons you want to attend this workshop, to itfc-mcph@itforchange.net. Selected candidates will be intimated by email.

More info at IT for Change website

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/news/social-justice-in-an-internet-mediated-world

Workshop on Water Activities

praskrishna — 2019-03-07T14:14:35Z

Workshop on Water Rejuvenation

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

Workshop on the Standardization of Kannada Computing Terminology

praskrishna — 2012-01-27T04:55:14Z

A two day workshop on the standardization of Kannada computing terminologies will be organized on January 28-29, 2012 at the Centre for Internet & Society (CIS), Bangalore. CIS is co-organizing this event along with Sanchaya under the Frequently Used Entries for Localization (FUEL) project.

The workshop aims at the community review and standardization of frequently encountered computing terminologies in Kannada. Also, this workshop is a first of its kind wherein discussion amongst Kannada linguists, translators, journalists, writers and users would take place and a consensus would reach upon the final translation of computing terminologies in Kannada. FUEL Kannada Evaluation meet mainly aims at solving the problem of inconsistency and lack of standardization in software translations.

FUEL tries to provide a standardized and consistent computer interface for users. FUEL Kannada Evaluation meet will be a concrete move towards the aforementioned problem and after the meet, FUEL will come with the standard translation of entries in Kannada language for the first time that are frequently being used by a normal user. This is a community project initiated by Red Hat. We invite linguists, translators, and users to participate who are serious to the cause of localization of computer in Kannada language.

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/standardization-of-kannada-computing-terminology

Workshop on River Activities

praskrishna — 2019-03-07T14:13:13Z

Workshop on River Rejuvenation

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