Internet Governance Blog
Rethinking the intermediary liability regime in India
The article consolidates some of our broad thematic concerns with the draft amendments to the intermediary liability rules, published by MeitY last December.
Design and Uses of Digital Identities - Research Plan
In our research project about uses and design of digital identity systems, we ask two core questions: a) What are appropriate uses of ID?, and b) How should we think about the technological design of ID? Towards the first research question, we have worked on first principles and will further develop definitions, legal tests and applications of these principles. Towards the second research question, we have first identified a set of existing and planned digital identity systems that represent a paradigm of how such a system can be envisioned and implemented, and will look to identify key design choices which are causing divergence in paradigm.
Holding ID Issuers Accountable, What Works?
Together with the Institute of Technology & Society (ITS), Brazil, and the Centre for Intellectual Property and Information Technology Law (CIPIT), Kenya, CIS participated at a side event in RightsCon 2019 held in Tunisia, titled Holding ID Issuers Accountable, What Works?, organised by the Omidyar Network. The event was attended by researchers and advocates from nearly 20 countries. Read the event report here.
The Appropriate Use of Digital Identity
As governments across the globe implement new, foundational, digital identification systems (“Digital ID”), or modernize existing ID programs, there is dire need for greater research and discussion about appropriate uses of Digital ID systems. This significant momentum for creating Digital ID in several parts of the world has been accompanied with concerns about the privacy and exclusion harms of a state issued Digital ID system, resulting in campaigns and litigations in countries such as UK, India, Kenya, and Jamaica. Given the very large range of considerations required to evaluate Digital ID projects, it is necessary to think of evaluation frameworks that can be used for this purpose.
At RightsCon 2019 in Tunis, we presented working drafts on appropriate use of Digital ID by the partner organisations of this three-region research alliance - ITS from Brazil, CIPIT from Kenya, and CIS from India.
In the draft by CIS, we propose a set of principles against which Digital ID may be evaluated. We hope that these draft principles can evolve into a set of best practices that can be used by policymakers when they create and implement Digital ID systems, provide guidance to civil society examinations of Digital ID and highlight questions for further research on the subject. We have drawn from approaches used in documents such as the necessary and proportionate principles, the OECD privacy guidelines and scholarship on harms based approach.
Read and comment on CIS’s Draft framework here.
Download Working drafts by CIPIT, CIS, and ITS here.
Comments to the ID4D Practitioners’ Guide
This post presents our comments to the ID4D Practitioners’ Guide: Draft For Consultation released by ID4D in June, 2019. CIS has conducted research on issues related to digital identity since 2012. This submission is divided into three main parts. The first part (General Comments) contains the high-level comments on the Practitioners’ Guide, while the second part (Specific Comments) addresses individual sections in the Guide. The third and final part (Additional Comments) does not relate to particulars in the Practitioners' Guide but other documents that it relies upon. We submitted these comments to ID4D on August 5, 2019. Read our comments here.
Private Sector and the cultivation of cyber norms in India
Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) have become a regular facet of modern existence. The growth of cyberspace has challenged traditional notions of global order and uprooted the notion of governance itself. All over the world, the private sector has become a critical player, both in framing cyber regulations and in implementing them.
Comments on the National Digital Health Blueprint
The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare had released the National Digital Health Blueprint on 15 July 2019 for comments. The Centre for Internet & Society submitted its comments.
In India, Privacy Policies of Fintech Companies Pay Lip Service to User Rights
A study of the privacy policies of 48 fintech companies that operate in India shows that none comply with even the basic requirements of the IT Rules, 2011.
The Digital Identification Parade
NCRB’s proposed Automated Facial Recognition System impinges on right to privacy, is likely to target certain groups.
What is the problem with ‘Ethical AI’? An Indian Perspective
On 22 May 2019, the OECD member countries adopted the OECD Council Recommendation on Artificial Intelligence. The Principles, meant to provide an “ethical framework” for governing Artificial Intelligence (AI), were the first set of guidelines signed by multiple governments, including non-OECD members: Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Peru, and Romania.
Old Isn't Always Gold: FaceApp and Its Privacy Policies
Leaving aside the Red Scare for a moment, FaceApp's own rebuttal of privacy worries are highly problematic in nature.
DIDP #34 On granular detail on ICANN's budget for policy development process
ICANN has Advisory Committees which help guide the policy recommendations that the ICANN community develops while its Supporting Organizations are charged with developing policy recommendations for a particular aspect of ICANN's operations. Supporting Organizations are composed of volunteers from the community. ICANN publishes a combined budget for all these bodies under the head of policy development and CIS inquired about the financial resources allocated to each of them specifically.
The Impact of Consolidation in the Internet Economy on the Evolution of the Internet
The Centre for Internet and Society in partnership with the Internet Society organized an event on the impact of consolidation in the Internet economy. It was divided into two roundtable discussions, the first one focusing on the policies and regulation while the latter dealt with the technical evolution of the Internet. This report contributed to the Internet Society’s 2019 Global Internet Report on Consolidation in the Internet Economy.
Picking ‘Wholes’ - Thinking in Systems Workshop
A System's Thinking masterclass was conducted by Dinesh Korjan on 27th and 28th May in the CIS Delhi office.
Announcement of a Three-Region Research Alliance on the Appropriate Use of Digital Identity
Omidyar Network has recently announced its decision to invest in establishment of a three-region research alliance — to be co-led by the Institute for Technology & Society (ITS), Brazil, the Centre for Intellectual Property and Information Technology Law (CIPIT) , Kenya, and the CIS, India — on the Appropriate Use of Digital Identity. As part of this Alliance, we at the CIS will look at the policy objectives of digital identity projects, how technological policy choices can be thought through to meet the objectives, and how legitimate uses of a digital identity framework may be evaluated.
Workshop on Feminist Information Infrastructure
The Centre for Internet and Society (CIS) organised a workshop on feminist infrastructure in collaboration with Blank Noise and Sangama, on 29th October, 2018. The purpose of the workshop was to disseminate the findings from a two-month long project being undertaken by researchers at Blank Noise and Sangama, with research support and training from CIS.
Will the WTO Finally Tackle the ‘Trump’ Card of National Security?
The election of Donald Trump has marked a foundational challenge to the rules-based international order based on “free and fair trade”.
An Analysis of the RBI’s Draft Framework on Regulatory Sandbox for Fintech
The term Fintech is generally used to describe innovative technology and technological processes being used in the financial services sector.
Why the TikTok ban is worrying
Rather than critically examining the infringement of liberties by the political executive, the Indian courts are becoming an additional threat to the right to freedom of expression, which we must be increasingly wary of.
How privacy fares in the 2019 election manifestos | Opinion
We now have a rights-based language around privacy in the mainstream political discourse but that’s where it ends.
