All Blogs
Digital Native: Lessons from Facebook, Instagram and Whatsapp going down
The day when three social-media apps refused to load.
Comments and Suggestions to the Draft Patent Manual March 2019
A coordinated civil society response to the consultation on the Patent Manual. CIS provided comments on patenting of computer related inventions.
Improving the Processes for Disclosing Security Vulnerabilities to Government Entities in India
The aim of this policy brief is to recommend changes pertaining to current legislation, policy and practice to the Government of India regarding external vulnerability reporting and disclosure. The changes we recommend within this brief aim to strengthen the processes around voluntary vulnerability and bug disclosure by third parties.
The Localisation Gambit: Unpacking policy moves for the sovereign control of data in India
Edited by: Pranav M.B., Vipul Kharbanda and Amber Sinha Research Assistance: Anjanaa Aravindan
Vacancy: Programme Officer (Delhi)
The Centre for Internet & Society (CIS) is seeking applications for the position of Programme Officer, for research on intellectual property rights and access to knowledge. The position is full time and will be based in CIS’ Delhi office.
Digital Native: How an information overload affects what you forward
The information overload of social media sharing can make us act against our better judgement.
Vacancy for Chief Finance Officer
The Centre for Internet & Society (CIS) is seeking applications for the position of Chief Finance Officer. The position is full time and will be based in CIS’ Bangalore office (No. 194, 2nd ‘C’ Cross, Domlur, 2nd Stage, Bengaluru, 560071). The Chief Finance Officer will work closely with the CIS administrative and accounts team and will report to the Executive Director, as well as Directors/Managers of Projects.
Recapturing the Commons
Regulations that facilitate infrastructure with appropriate public resource use will enhance productivity.
Rejuvenating India’s Rivers the Wiki Way
Tarun Bharat Sangh (TBS), an organisation working on rejuvenation of rivers in India, has began documentation of rivers on Wiki, especially to draw attention to and mitigate the crisis of toxic deposits facing more than 40 rivers in India. The work was started by Jal Biradari, TBS’s Maharashtra based group, in Sangli district with the help of the Access to Knowledge (CIS-A2K) team of CIS. Here is the report from the first pilot workshop conducted by CIS-A2K during 22-25 December 2018 at Tarun Bharat Sangh Ashram, in Alwar, Rajasthan.
The city of Bhubaneswar is going Open
Bhubaneswar supporting the concept of Openness movement has joined as one of the ambassadors of the movement in the world by giving citizens the right to access the content online produced by the government and make use of the work.
CIS-A2K Finance Officer: Call for application
The Access to Knowledge team of the Centre for Internet and Society is seeking applications for the position of Finance Officer, to support its Access to Knowledge (CIS-A2K) Programme. The job application is open to women only.
ಕನ್ನಡ ವಿಕಿಪೀಡಿಯ ಶಿಕ್ಷಣ ಯೋಜನೆ ಸಮಾವೇಶ ಮತ್ತು ತರಬೇತಿಯ ವರದಿ
ಕನ್ನಡ ಭಾಷೆಯು ದಿನದಿಂದ ದಿನಕ್ಕೆ ಬಳಕೆಯಿಲ್ಲದೇ ಕುಂದುತ್ತಿದೆ. ಗ್ರಾಮೀಣ ಭಾಗದ ಕನ್ನಡ ಮಾಧ್ಯಮದ ಮಕ್ಕಳಿಗೆ ಸರಿಯಾದ ಕನ್ನಡ ಆಕರಗಳು ಸಿಗುತ್ತಿಲ್ಲ. ಇಂತಹ ಸಂದರ್ಭದಲ್ಲಿ, ಕನ್ನಡವನ್ನು ಉಳಿಸಿ ಬೆಳೆಸುವುದು ಪ್ರತಿಯೊಬ್ಬ ಕನ್ನಡಿಗನ ಕರ್ತವ್ಯ. ಇದನ್ನೆಲ್ಲ ಗಮನದಲ್ಲಿಟ್ಟುಕೊಂಡು, ಸಂತ ಅಲೋಶಿಯಸ್ ಕಾಲೇಜಿನ ಆಶ್ರಯದಲ್ಲಿ ದಿನಾಂಕ ೦೯ ಹಾಗೂ ೧೦ ನೇ ಫೆಬ್ರುವರಿ, ೨೦೧೯ ರಂದು ಕನ್ನಡ ವಿಕಿಪೀಡಿಯ ಶಿಕ್ಷಣ ಯೋಜನೆ ಸಮಾವೇಶ ಮತ್ತು ತರಬೇತಿಯನ್ನು ನಡೆಸಲಾಯಿತು.
Train the Trainer program 2018
Trainer the Trainer program is an annual three days residential program organised by the Access to Knowledge Program of Centre for Internet and Society. The program identifies the community leaders and brings Wikimedians from and around the SAARC countries to train them and provide mentorship in their work.
Marathi Language Fortnight Workshops 2019
Maharashtra is a state which is rich in diversity in terms of language and culture seen in its various regions such as Konkan, Marathwada, Western Maharashtra, Northern Maharashtra and Vidarbha. Awareness needs to be created to make Wikimedia movement inclusive and diverse in these geographical regions as well as in their social strata.
Comments on the Draft Second Protocol to the Convention on Cybercrime (Budapest Convention)
Following consultations with data protection, civil society, industry and others, during the Cybercrime Convention Committee (T-CY) meeting from 29 November 2018 onwards, the Cybercrime Convention Committee has sought additional contributions regarding the provisional draft text for a Second Additional Protocol to the Budapest Convention on Cybercrime (“Budapest Convention”).
What I learned from going offline for 48 hours
A weekend without the internet shows just how much control we surrender to online chatter.
Resurrecting the marketplace of ideas
There is no ‘silver bullet’ for regulating content on the web. It requires a mix of legal and empirical analysis.
CIS Submission to the UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Speech and Expression: Surveillance Industry and Human Rights
CIS responded to the call for submissions from the UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Speech and Expression. The submission was on the Surveillance Industry and Human Rights.
Unbox Festival 2019: CIS organizes two Workshops
Centre for Internet & Society organized two workshops at the Unbox Festival 2019, in Bangalore, on 15 and 17 February 2019.
Data Infrastructures and Inequities: Why Does Reproductive Health Surveillance in India Need Our Urgent Attention?
In order to bring out certain conceptual and procedural problems with health monitoring in the Indian context, this article by Aayush Rathi and Ambika Tandon posits health monitoring as surveillance and not merely as a “data problem.” Casting a critical feminist lens, the historicity of surveillance practices unveils the gendered power differentials wedded into taken-for-granted “benign” monitoring processes. The unpacking of the Mother and Child Tracking System and the National Health Stack reveals the neo-liberal aspirations of the Indian state.
