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How to make EVMs hack-proof, and elections more trustworthy
Free and fair elections are the expression of democratic emancipation. India has always led by example: the Nehru Committee sought universal adult franchise in 1928, at a time when France didnât let women vote, and laws in the USA allowed disqualification of poor, illiterate, and African-American voters. But how reliable are our voting systems, particularly in terms of security?
Response to TRAI Consultation Paper on Regulatory Framework for Over-The-Top (OTT) Communication Services
This submission presents a response to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India’s Consultation Paper on Regulatory Framework for Over-The-Top (OTT) Communication Services.
Internet Researchers' Conference 2019 (IRC19): #List, Jan 30 - Feb 1, Lamakaan
Who makes lists? How are lists made? Who can be on a list, and who is missing? What new subjectivities - indicative of different asymmetries of power/knowledge - do list-making, and being listed, engender? What makes lists legitimate information artifacts, and what makes their knowledge contentious? Much debate has emerged about specificities and implications of the list as an information artifact, especially in the case of #LoSHA and NRC - its role in creation and curation of information, in building solidarities and communities of practice, its dependencies on networked media infrastructures, its deployment by hegemonic entities and in turn for countering dominant discourses. For the fourth edition of the Internet Researchers’ Conference (IRC19), we invited sessions and papers that engage critically with the form, imagination, and politics of the *list* - to present or propose academic, applied, or creative works that explore its social, economic, cultural, material, political, affective, or aesthetic dimensions. IRC19 will be organised in Lamakaan, Hyderabad, during January 30 - February 1, 2019.
Registering for Aadhaar in 2019
It is a lot less scary registering for Aadhaar in 2019 than it was in 2010, given how the authentication modalities have since evolved.
Welcome to r@w blog!
We from the researchers@work programme at the Centre for Internet and Society (CIS) are delighted to announce the launch of our new blog, hosted on Medium. It will feature works by researchers and practitioners working in India and elsewhere at the intersections of internet, digital media, and society; and highlights and materials from ongoing research and events at the researchers@work programme.
Internet Researchers' Conference 2019 (IRC19): #List - Selected Sessions and Papers
Here is the list of selected sessions and papers for the Internet Researchers' Conference 2019 (IRC19) - #List. IRC19 will be held in Lamakaan, Hyderabad, from Jan 30 to Feb 1, 2019. The conference announcement, along with the final agenda, will be published on Monday, January 7.
Digital Native: System Needs a Reboot
It’s time to replace the schizophrenic need for variety with ingenuity — the truthiness of the information.
Economics of Cybersecurity: Literature Review Compendium
The twenty first century has witnessed an unprecedented conflation of everyday experiences and technosocial practices. The emergence of technologies like the Internet of Things, Cloud Computing, Digital Payment infrastructures are all emblematic of this conflation of technology with economic, social and political modes of existence.
Is the new ‘interception’ order old wine in a new bottle?
The government could always authorise intelligence agencies to intercept and monitor communications, but the lack of clarity is problematic.
Private-public partnership for cyber security
Given the decentralised nature of cyberspace, the private sector will have to play a vital role in enforcing rules for security.
Mapping cybersecurity in India: An infographic
This infographic maps the key stakeholder, areas of focus and threat vectors that impact cybersecurity policy in India. Broadly, policy-makers should concentrate on establishing a framework where individuals feel secure and trust the growing digital ecosystem. The infographic therefore serves as a ready reference point for the research that we have done and hope to continue through our cybersecurity work at CIS.
European E-Evidence Proposal and Indian Law
In April of 2018, the European Union issued the proposal for a new regime dealing with cross border sharing of data and information by issuing two draft instruments, an E-evidence Regulation (“Regulation”) and an E-evidence Directive (“Directive”), (together the “E-evidence Proposal”). The Regulation is a direction to states to put in place the proper legislative and regulatory machinery for the implementation of this regime while the Directive requires the states to enact laws governing service providers so that they would comply with the proposed regime.
Feminist Methodology in Technology Research: A Literature Review
This literature review has been authored by Ambika Tandon, with contributions from Mukta Joshi. Research assistance was provided by Kumarjeet Ray and Navya Sharma. The publication has been designed by Saumyaa Naidu.
Event Report on Intermediary Liability and Gender Based Violence
This report is a summary of the proceedings of the Roundtable Conference organized by the Centre for Internet and Society (CIS) at the Digital Citizen Summit, an annual summit organized by the Digital Empowerment Foundation. It was conducted at the India International Centre in New Delhi on November 1, 2018 from 11.30 a.m. to 12.30 p.m.
Silicon Plateau: Volume Two
Silicon Plateau is an art project and publishing series that explores the intersection of technology, culture and society in the Indian city of Bangalore. Each volume of the series is a themed repository for research, artworks, essays and interviews that observe the ways technology permeates the urban environment and the lives of its inhabitants. This project is an attempt at creating collaborative research into art and technology, beginning by inviting an interdisciplinary group of contributors (from artists, designers and writers, to researchers, anthropologists and entrepreneurs) to participate in the making of each volume.
CIS Signs MoU with Odia Virtual Academy
On October 26, 2018, the Centre for Internet and Society (CIS) signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Odia Virtual Academy (OVA) to work on drafting an open content policy for the state, to promote use of Wikimedia projects by various user types and to ensure sustainability of Wikimedia projects, and to facilitate development of relevant free and open source software projects. This partnership between OVA and CIS will be carried out from December 2018 to November 2019, and we are sharing an overview of the activities and their objectives in this post.
A Gendered Future of Work
This paper aims to contextualise the narrative around digitalisation and automation with reference to women's labour in India. The paper has been authored by Ambika Tandon and Aayush Rathi, edited by Elonnai Hickok and Rakhi Sehgal. Research assistance has been provided by Divya Kushwaha.
A Critical Look at the Visual Representation of Cybersecurity
The Centre for Internet and Society and design collective Design Beku came together on the 15th of November for a workshop on Illustrations and Visual Representations of Cybersecurity. Images in the public sphere such as visuals in the media, Wikipedia commons, and stock images - play a vital role in the public’s perception of cybercrime and cybersecurity.
Indic Wikisource Community Consultation 2018
A group of Indian Wikisource leader from 12 different language communities gathered in Kolkata to attend the Indic Wikisource Community Consultation 2018
Punjabi Wikisource Training Workshop, Patiala
A two-day long First Indic Wikisource Workshop training programme was organised by Punjabi Wikimedian during November 17-18th 2018 in Patiala, Punjab to better capacity of Wikisourcers both technically, and outreach and community building.

