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Sexual Harassment at ICANN
Padmini Baruah represented the Centre for Internet & Society at ICANN in the month of March 2016. In a submission to ICANN she is calling upon the ICANN board for implementing a system for investigating cases related to sexual harassments.
Analysis of Aadhaar Act in the Context of A.P. Shah Committee Principles
Whilst there are a number of controversies relating to the Aadhaar Act including the fact that it was introduced in a manner so as to circumvent the majority of the opposition in the upper house of the Parliament and that it was rushed through the Lok Sabha in a mere eight days, in this paper we shall discuss the substantial aspects of the Act in relation to privacy concerns which have been raised by a number of experts. In October 2012, the Group of Experts on Privacy constituted by the Planning Commission under the chairmanship of Justice AP Shah Committee submitted its report which listed nine principles of privacy which all legislations, especially those dealing with personal should adhere to. In this paper, we shall discuss how the Aadhaar Act fares vis-à-vis these nine principles.
Privacy Concerns Overshadow Monetary Benefits of Aadhaar Scheme
Since its inception in 2009, the Aadhaar system has been shrouded in controversy over issues of privacy, security and viability. It has been implemented without a legislative mandate and has resulted in a PIL in the Supreme Court, which referred it to a Constitution bench. On Friday, it kicked up more dust when the Lok Sabha passed a Bill to give statutory backing to the unique identity number scheme.
Studying Digital Creative Industries in India: Initial Questions
This brief overview of the discourse around creative industries is an attempt to explore some ways of identifying what could be digital creative industries in India, and the questions they raise and problematize for us in terms of cultural expression, knowledge production, creativity and labour. The term ‘creative industries’ has been around for a while now, but with the advent of the digital, and with interest from different sectors, especially with a focus on policy and economic development, it would be essential to critically examine the discourse around the term, and see where it may be changing to open up new possibilities, particularly for the arts, humanities and design.
Fueling the Affordable Smartphone Revolution in India
Smartphones have emerged as the exemplar of mankind's quest for shrinking technologies. They embody the realization of a simple premise – that computing devices would do more and cost less. This realization has been responsible for modern society's profound transformations in communication, governance, and knowledge distribution.
List of Recommendations on the Aadhaar Bill, 2016 - Letter Submitted to the Members of Parliament
On Friday, March 11, the Lok Sabha passed the Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and Other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Bill, 2016. The Bill was introduced as a money bill and there was no public consultation to evaluate the provisions therein even though there are very serious ramifications for the Right to Privacy and the Right to Association and Assembly. Based on these concerns, and numerous others, we submitted an initial list of recommendations to the Members of Parliaments to highlight the aspects of the Bill that require immediate attention.
Press Release, March 15, 2016: The New Bill Makes Aadhaar Compulsory!
We published and circulated the following press release on March 15, 2016, to highlight the fact that the Section 7 of the Aadhaar Bill, 2016 states that authentication of the person using her/his Aadhaar number can be made mandatory for the purpose of disbursement of government subsidies, benefits, and services; and in case the person does not have an Aadhaar number, s/he will have to apply for Aadhaar enrolment.
Press Release, March 11, 2016: The Law cannot Fix what Technology has Broken!
We published and circulated the following press release on March 11, 2016, as the Lok Sabha passed the Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and Other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Bill, 2016. This Bill was proposed by finance minister, Mr. Arun Jaitley to give legislative backing to Aadhaar, being implemented by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI).
An Urgent Need for the Right to Privacy
Along with a group of individuals and organisations from academia and civil society, we have drafted and are signatories to an open letter addressed to the Union government and urging the same to "urgently take steps to uphold the constitutional basis to the right to privacy and fulfil it’s constitutional and international obligations." Here we publish the text of the open letter. Please follow the link below to support it by joining the signatories.
Critique of the Aadhaar Bill 2016
The Lok Sabha passed the Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and Other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Bill, 2016 on March 11, 2016, to give legislative basis to the Aadhaar number assigning being done by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI). The Bill was introduced, by Finance Minister, Mr. Arun Jaitley, as a money bill, and there was no public consultation to evaluate the provisions therein even though there are very serious ramifications for the Right to Privacy and the Right to Association and Assembly. Since its inception in 2009, the UIDAI project has been shrouded in controversy due to various questions raised about privacy, technological limitations, security concerns, and legal basis. We have documented various concerns with the Aadhaar Bill 2016, as well as with the project at large.
ಅಂತರ್ರಾಷ್ಟ್ರೀಯ ಮಹಿಳಾ ದಿನಾಚರಣೆ ೨೦೧೬, ಕ್ರೈಸ್ಟ್ ವಿಶ್ವವಿದ್ಯಾಲಯ
ಮಾರ್ಚ್ ೮ ನ್ನು ವಿಶ್ವಾದ್ಯಂತ ಅಂತಾರಾಷ್ಟ್ರೀಯ ಮಹಿಳಾ ದಿನ ಎಂದು ಆಚರಿಸಲಾಗುತ್ತಿದೆ. ವಿಕಿಪೀಡಿಯದಲ್ಲಿ ಈ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ವಿಶ್ವದ ಹಲವು ಕಡೆ ವಿಶೇಷ ಕಾರ್ಯಕ್ರಮಗಳನ್ನು ಹಮ್ಮಿಕೊಳ್ಳಲಾಗಿದೆ. ಇದನ್ನು ಒಂದು ತಿಂಗಳ ಪೂರ್ತಿ ನಡೆಯುವ ಕಾರ್ಯಕ್ರಮವನ್ನಾಗಿ ಆಚರಿಸಲಾಗುತ್ತಿದೆ. ಭಾರತದಲ್ಲೂ ಈ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ವಿಶೇಷ ಕಾರ್ಯಕ್ರಮಗಳನ್ನು ಬೇರೆ ಬೇರೆ ಭಾಷೆಯ ವಿಕಿಪೀಡಿಯಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ನಡೆಸಲಾಗುತ್ತಿದೆ. ಕನ್ನಡ ವಿಕಿಪೀಡಿಯವೂ ಈ ಕಾರ್ಯಕ್ರಮಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಭಾಗವಹಿಸುತ್ತಿದೆ.
The New Aadhaar Bill in Plain English
We have put together a plain English version of the The Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and Other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Bill, 2016.
Are we Losing the Right to Privacy and Freedom of Speech on Indian Internet?
The article was published in DNA on March 10, 2016.
Aadhaar Bill fails to incorporate suggestions by the Standing Committee
In 2011, a standing committee report led by Yashwant Sinha had been scathing in its indictments of the Aadhaar BIll introduced by the UPA government. Five years later, the NDA government has introduced a new bill which is a rehash of the same. I look at the concerns raised by the committee report, none of which have been addressed by the new bill.
Aadhaar Bill 2016 & NIAI Bill 2010 - Comparing the Texts
This is a quick comparison of the texts of the Aadhaar Bill 2016 and the National Identification Authority of India Bill 2010. The new sections in the former are highlighed, and the deleted sections (that were part of the latter) are struck out.
A comparison of the 2016 Aadhaar Bill, and the 2010 NIDAI Bill
This blog post does a clause-by-clause comparison of the provisions of National Identification Authority of India Bill, 2010 and the Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and Other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Act, 2016
Aadhaar: Still Too Many Problems
While one wishes to welcome govt’s attempt to bring Aadhaar within a legislative framework, the fact is there are too many problems that still remain unaddressed for one to be optimistic.
Report on NVDA with E-Speak and BookShare Online Library
With the objective to sensitize and impart the skillset in handling NVDA – the Screen Reader and the usage of BookShare Online Library for the print disabled to the Special Educators, Karna Vidya Technology Centre in collaboration with Computer and Internet Society conducted a one-day Workshop on NVDA with E-Speak and BookShare Online Library on 27 02 2016 (Saturday) at Karna Vidya Technology Centre. Special Educators from Chennai, Kanchipuram and Thiruvallur totaling 48 have participated actively and got benefited from the Workshop.
Flaws in the UIDAI Process
The accuracy of biometric identification depends on the chance of a false positive: the probability that the identifiers of two persons will match. Individuals whose identifiers match might be termed duplicands. When very many people are to be identified success can be measured by the (low) proportion of duplicands. The Government of India is engaged upon biometrically identifying the entire population of India. An experiment performed at an early stage of the programme has allowed us to estimate the chance of a false positive: and from that to estimate the proportion of duplicands. For the current population of 1.2 billion the expected proportion of duplicands is 1/121, a ratio which is far too high.
Connectivity: Let's Apply What We Know
Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it - George Santayana. Reprise good decisions, and avoid the missteps.
