Centre for Internet & Society

Digital native: Are You Still Having Fun?

Posted by Nishant Shah at Apr 17, 2017 08:00 PM |

Before you accept a fun app into your digital ecosystem, prepare yourself for the data you will be giving away.

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Brainstorming Session on the Global Conference on Cyberspace (GCCS 2017)

Posted by Japreet Grewal at Apr 14, 2017 04:43 PM |
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I attended a brainstorming session on the Global Conference on Cyber Space 2017 on April 12, 2017 at Electronics Niketan that was organised by the Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology. The Global Conference on Cyber Space was first held in London in 2011. Thereafter, it was held in Budapest (2012), Seoul (2013) and the Hague (2015).

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Marathi Wikipedia Edit-a-thon at Savitribai Phule Mahila Ekatma Samaj Mandal, Aurangabad

Marathi Wikipedia Edit-a-thon at Savitribai Phule Mahila Ekatma Samaj Mandal, Aurangabad

Posted by Subodh Kulkarni at Apr 13, 2017 12:00 AM |

A Marathi Wikipedia edit-a-thon was conducted at Savitribai Phule Mahila Ekatma Samaj Mandal in Aurangabad

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Mobile Accessibility Practices

Posted by Nirmita Narasimhan at Apr 12, 2017 01:48 PM |
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Over the past few months the Centre for Internet & Society along with some like minded organizations had been working on framing a feasible accessibility guidelines for mobile apps which they could recommend to the Government of India, since there is no single standard in existence at the moment.

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Privacy in the Age of Big Data

Privacy in the Age of Big Data

Posted by Amber Sinha at Apr 11, 2017 02:43 PM |

Personal data is freely accessible, shared and even sold, and those to whom this information belongs have little control over its flow.

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Right to be Forgotten: A Tale of Two Judgements

Posted by Amber Sinha at Apr 07, 2017 02:27 AM |

In the last few months, there have been contrasting judgments from two Indian high courts, Karnataka and Gujarat, on matters relating to the right to be forgotten. The two high courts heard pleas on issues to do the right of individuals to have either personal information redacted from the text of judgments available online or removal of such judgment from publically available sources.

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Aadhaar marks a fundamental shift in citizen-state relations: From ‘We the People’ to ‘We the Government’

Posted by Pranesh Prakash at Apr 04, 2017 04:10 PM |

Your fingerprints, iris scans, details of where you shop. Compulsory Aadhaar means all this data is out there. And it’s still not clear who can view or use it.

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Organisational Hurdles in Telecom

Posted by Shyam Ponappa at Apr 04, 2017 03:28 PM |

The mobile telephony sector has not just plateaued but begun a downward spiral, with revenues dropping for the first time in a decade after Reliance Jio’s entry, by about 20 per cent. Considering the staggering government collections of around Rs 3,00,000 crore by way of charges and taxes over the past decade from investments of about Rs 2,00,000 crore, it would appear that the sector has paid too dearly.

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Digitisation, Wikimedia Commons and Wikisource Orientation Workshop at Vigyan Ashram, Pabal, Pune District

Posted by Subodh Kulkarni at Apr 04, 2017 12:00 AM |

A digitization workshop was held at Vigyan Ashram, following the success of the introductory workshop in February.

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Digital native: You can check out, you can never leave

Posted by Nishant Shah at Apr 02, 2017 05:00 PM |

Aadhaar is not something you define and opt into, it is something that defines you.

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Analysis of Key Provisions of the Aadhaar Act Regulations

Posted by Amber Sinha at Mar 31, 2017 10:00 PM |

In exercise of their powers under of the powers conferred by Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Act, 2016, (Aadhaar Act) the UIDAI has come out with a set of five regulations in late 2016 last year. In this policy brief, we look at the five regulations, their key provisions and highlight point out the unresolved, issues, unaddressed, and created issues as result of these regulations.

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It’s the technology, stupid

Posted by Sunil Abraham at Mar 31, 2017 10:00 PM |

Eleven reasons why the Aadhaar is not just non-smart but also insecure.

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How Aadhaar compromises privacy? And how to fix it?

Posted by Sunil Abraham at Mar 31, 2017 09:00 PM |

Aadhaar is mass surveillance technology. Unlike targeted surveillance which is a good thing, and essential for national security and public order – mass surveillance undermines security. And while biometrics is appropriate for targeted surveillance by the state – it is wholly inappropriate for everyday transactions between the state and law abiding citizens.

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Exploring Big Data for Development: An Electricity Sector Case Study from India

This working paper by Ritam Sengupta, Dr. Richard Heeks, Sumandro Chattapadhyay, and Dr. Christopher Foster draws from the field study undertaken by Ritam Sengupta, and is published by the Global Development Institute, University of Manchester. The field study was commissioned by the CIS, with support from the University of Manchester and the University of Sheffield.

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Comments on the draft Rights of Persons with Disabilities Rules

Posted by Nirmita Narasimhan at Mar 29, 2017 03:41 AM |
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The Centre for Internet & Society (CIS) submitted comments on the draft Rights of Persons with Disabilities Rules for the consideration of the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities, Government of India.

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Wikisource:Internship Project at New Law College, Pune

Posted by Subodh Kulkarni at Mar 28, 2017 03:37 PM |

This Wiki - internship project is being conducted for New Law College (Pune),under the guidance of Prof.Dr.Mukund Sarda, Dean and Principal of NLC by CIS A2K as part of this project at en wikisource; teams of students will acomplish proof reading, validation, compilation annotation etc. of Indian Laws and to begin with Copyright laws and Intellectual property laws at Portal:Copyright law/Copyright law of India.

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Evaluating Safety Buttons on Mobile Devices: Preview

Posted by Rohini Lakshané and Chinmayi S.K. at Mar 27, 2017 01:05 PM |

Much technological innovation for women is aimed at addressing violence against women. One such ubiquitous intervention is mobile device-based safety applications, also known as emergency applications. Several police departments in India, public transport services, and commercial services such as taxi-hailing apps deploy a mobile device-based “panic button” for the safety of citizens or customers, especially women. However, the proliferation of safety apps through both public and private players raises several concerns, which will be studied through this study by Rohini Lakshané of the CIS and Chinmayi S.K. of The Bachchao Project. Research assistance for this report was provided by CIS intern Harish R.S.K. Visualisations by Saumyaa Naidu.

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State of Digital Rights in India (Delhi, March 24)

Posted by Japreet Grewal and Sumandro Chattapadhyay at Mar 23, 2017 04:50 AM |

The Centre for Communication Governance at National Law University, Delhi and the Internet Freedom Foundation, in association with Access Now, are hosting a discussion on The State of Digital Rights in India on March 24, 2017 (Friday) from 6.00 pm onwards at Lecture Room-I, India International Centre- Annexe, New Delhi. Japreet Grewal and Sumandro Chattapadhyay will participate in the panel discussions.

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Benefits, Harms, Rights and Regulation: A Survey of Literature on Big Data

Posted by Amber Sinha, Vanya Rakesh, Vidushi Marda and Geethanjali Jujjavarapu at Mar 23, 2017 02:17 AM |

This survey draws upon a range of literature including news articles, academic articles, and presentations and seeks to disaggregate the potential benefits and harms of big data, organising them into several broad categories that reflect the existing scholarly literature. The survey also recognises the non-technical big data regulatory options which are in place as well as those which have been proposed by various governments, civil society groups and academics.

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Comments on Information Technology (Security of Prepaid Payment Instruments) Rules, 2017

Posted by Amber Sinha at Mar 23, 2017 01:54 AM |

The Centre for Internet and Society submitted comments on the Information Technology (Security of Prepaid Payment Instruments) Rules, 2017. The comments were prepared by Udbhav Tiwari, Pranesh Prakash, Abhay Rana, Amber Sinha and Sunil Abraham.

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