November 2019 Newsletter
CIS newsletter for November 2019
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CIS and the News
The following articles and research papers were authored by CIS secretariat during the month:
- India’s Role in Global Cyber Policy Formulation (Arindrajit Basu; Lawfare; November 7, 2019). The article was reviewed and edited by Elonnai Hickok and Justin Sherman.
- The Telecom Crisis is an NPA Problem (Shyam Ponappa; Business Standard; November 7, 2019).
CIS in the News
CIS secretariat was consulted for the following articles published during the month in various publications:
- Why having more CCTV cameras does not translate to crime prevention (Manasa Rao; News Minute; September 3, 2019). Published on the CIS website on December 5, 2019.
- Activists demand judicial probe into WhatsApp snooping (K.V. Kuramath; Hindu Businessline; November 1, 2019).
- Cyber law experts asks why CERT-In removed advisory warning about WhatsApp vulnerability (Megha Mandavia; ET Tech.com; November 4, 2019).
- WhatsApp spy attack and after (Theres Sudeep; Deccan Herald; November 6, 2019).
- Should online political advertising be regulated? (P.J. George; Hindu; November 8, 2019).
- India facial recognition: How effective will it be? (Al Jazeera; November 8, 2019).
- Proposals to regulate social media run into multiple roadblocks ( Saumya Tewari and Abhijit Ahaskar; Livemint; November 27, 2019).
Access to Knowledge
Access to Knowledge is a campaign to promote the fundamental principles of justice, freedom, and economic development. It deals with issues like copyrights, patents and trademarks, which are an important part of the digital landscape.
Wikipedia
Under a grant from Wikimedia Foundation we are doing a project for the growth of Indic language communities and projects by designing community collaborations and partnerships that recruit and cultivate new editors and explore innovative approaches to building projects.
Blog Entries
- Project Tiger 2.0 (Suswetha Kolluru and Nitesh Gill; November 22, 2019). in English
- Project Tiger 2.0 (Suswetha Kolluru and Nitesh Gill; November 22, 2019). in Punjabi
- Project Tiger 2.0 (Suswetha Kolluru and Nitesh Gill; November 22, 2019). in Hindi
- Project Tiger 2.0 (Suswetha Kolluru and Nitesh Gill; November 22, 2019). in Telugu
Internet Governance
The Tunis Agenda of the second World Summit on the Information Society has defined internet governance as the development and application by governments, the private sector and civil society, in their respective roles of shared principles, norms, rules, decision making procedures and programmes that shape the evolution and use of the Internet. As part of internet governance work we work on policy issues relating to freedom of expression primarily focusing on the Information Technology Act and issues of liability of intermediaries for unlawful speech and simultaneously ensuring that the right to privacy is safeguarded as well.
Freedom of Speech & Expression
Under a grant from the MacArthur Foundation, CIS is doing research on the restrictions placed on freedom of expression online by the Indian government and contribute studies, reports and policy briefs to feed into the ongoing debates at the national as well as international level. As part of the project we bring you the following outputs:
Blog Entry
- Reliance Jio is using SNI inspection to block websites (Gurshabad Grover and Kushagra Singh, and edited by Elonnai Hickok; November 7, 2019).
Participation in Events
- Roundtable Discussion on Intermediary Liability (Organized by SFLC and the Dialogue; New Delhi; October 17, 2019). Tanaya Rajwade participated in a roundtable discussion on intermediary liability.
Gender
Blog Entry
- Project on Gender, Health Communications and Online Activism with City University (Ambika Tandon; November 28, 2019).
Cyber Security
Research Paper
- Introducing the Cybersecurity Visuals Media Handbook (Handbook concept, content and design by: Padmini Ray Murray and Paulanthony George; Blog post authored by: Saumyaa Naidu and Arindrajit Basu; With inputs from: Karan Saini; Edited by: Shweta Mohandas; November 15, 2019).
Blog Entry
- Before cyber norms, let’s talk about disanalogy and disintermediation (Pukhraj Singh; November 15, 2019).
Information Technology / Financial Technology
Research Papers
- Draft Security Standards for The Financial Technology Sector in India (Vipul Kharbanda with inputs from Prem Sylvester; November 15, 2019).
- Blockchain: A primer for India (Anusha Madhusudhan; with inputs from Karan Saini and Mira Swaminathan; edited by Elonnai Hickok, Siddharth Sonkar and Aayush Rathi; November 18, 2019).
Blog Entry
- Event Report: Consultation on Draft Information Technology (Fintech Security Standards) Rules (Anindya Kanan; reviewed and edited by Vipul Kharbanda, Elonnai Hickok and Arindrajit Basu; November 12, 2019).
Privacy
Under a grant from Privacy International and IDRC we are doing a project on surveillance. CIS is researching the history of privacy in India and how it shapes the contemporary debates around technology mediated identity projects like Aadhar. As part of our ongoing research, we bring you the following outputs:
Participation in Event
- IETF106 (Organized by IETF; Singapore; November 16 - 22, 2019). Gurshabad Grover participated in the meeting.
Researchers@Work
The researchers@work programme at CIS produces and supports pioneering and sustained trans-disciplinary research on key thematics at the intersections of internet and society; organise and incubate networks of and fora for researchers and practitioners studying and making internet in India; and contribute to development of critical digital pedagogy, research methodology, and creative practice.
Event Organized
- Domestic Work in the ‘Gig Economy’ (Organized by CIS and Domestic Workers’ Rights Union; November 16, 2019; Student Christian Movement of India, Mission Road, Bangalore).
Telecom
The growth in telecommunications in India has been impressive. While the potential for growth and returns exist, a range of issues need to be addressed for this potential to be realized. One aspect is more extensive rural coverage and the second aspect is a countrywide access to broadband which is low at about eight million subscriptions. Both require effective and efficient use of networks and resources, including spectrum.
Monthly Blog
- The Telecom Crisis is an NPA Problem (Shyam Ponappa; Business Standard and Organizing India Blogspot; November 7, 2019).
About CIS
CIS is a non-profit organisation that undertakes interdisciplinary research on internet and digital technologies from policy and academic perspectives. The areas of focus include digital accessibility for persons with disabilities, access to knowledge, intellectual property rights, openness (including open data, free and open source software, open standards, open access, open educational resources, and open video), internet governance, telecommunication reform, digital privacy, and cyber-security. The academic research at CIS seeks to understand the reconfigurations of social and cultural processes and structures as mediated through the internet and digital media technologies.
Follow CIS on:
- Twitter: http://twitter.com/cis_india
- Twitter - Access to Knowledge: https://twitter.com/CISA2K
- Twitter - Information Policy: https://twitter.com/CIS_InfoPolicy
- Facebook - Access to Knowledge: https://www.facebook.com/cisa2k
- E-Mail - Access to Knowledge: [email protected]
- E-Mail - Researchers at Work: [email protected]
- List - Researchers at Work: https://lists.ghserv.net/mailman/listinfo/researchers
Support CIS:
Please help us defend consumer and citizen rights on the Internet! Write a cheque in favour of 'The Centre for Internet and Society' and mail it to us at No. 194, 2nd 'C' Cross, Domlur, 2nd Stage, Bengaluru - 5600 71.
Collaborate with CIS:
We invite researchers, practitioners, artists, and theoreticians, both organisationally and as individuals, to engage with us on topics related internet and society, and improve our collective understanding of this field. To discuss such possibilities, please write to Sunil Abraham, Executive Director, at [email protected] (for policy research), or Sumandro Chattapadhyay, Research Director, at [email protected] (for academic research), with an indication of the form and the content of the collaboration you might be interested in. To discuss collaborations on Indic language Wikipedia projects, write to Tanveer Hasan, Programme Officer, at [email protected].
CIS is grateful to its primary donor the Kusuma Trust founded by Anurag Dikshit and Soma Pujari, philanthropists of Indian origin for its core funding and support for most of its projects. CIS is also grateful to its other donors, Wikimedia Foundation, Ford Foundation, Privacy International, UK, Hans Foundation, MacArthur Foundation, and IDRC for funding its various projects.
