Internet Governance Blog
DNA Database for Missing Persons and Unidentified Dead Bodies
This blog discusses the possible implications of the public interest litigation that has been placed before the Supreme Court petitioning for the establishment of a DNA database in respect to unidentified bodies.
Good Intentions, Recalcitrant Text - I: Why India’s Proposal at the ITU is Troubling for Internet Freedoms
The UN's International Telecommunications Union (ITU) is hosting its Plenipotentiary Conference (PP-14) this year in South Korea. At PP-14, India introduced a new draft resolution on ITU's Role in Realising Secure Information Society. The Draft Resolution has grave implications for human rights and Internet governance. Geetha Hariharan explores.
The Gujarat High Court Judgment on the Snoopgate Issue
Pranlal N. Soni v. State of Gujarat, C/SCA/14389/2014
In the year 2013 the media widely reported that a female civil services officer was regularly spied upon in 2009 due to her acquaintance with the then Chief Minister of Gujarat (and current Prime Minister of India) Mr. Narendra Modi. It was reported that the surveillance was being supervised by the current president of the BJP, Mr. Amit Shah at the behest of Mr. Modi. The case took another twist when the officer and her father said that they had no problems with such surveillance, and had repeatedly conveyed to various statutory authorities including the National Commission for Women, the State Commission for Women, as also before the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India, that they never felt that their privacy was being interfered with by any of the actions of the State Authorities. Infact, para 3.5 of the petition indicated that it was at the behest of the father of the female officer that the State government had carried out the surveillance on his daughter as a security measure.
Inspite of the repeated claims of the subject of surveillance and her father, the Gujarat Government passed a Notification under the Commissions of Inquiry Act, 1952 appointing a two member Commission of Inquiry to enquire into this incident without jeopardizing the identity or interest of the female officer. This Notification was challenged in the Gujarat High Court by the very same female officer and her father on the ground that it violated their fundamental right to life and liberty. The petitioners claimed that they had to change their residential accommodation four times in the preceding few months due to the constant media glare. The print, electronic and social media, so called social workers and other busybodies constantly intruded into the private life of the petitioners and their family members. The petitioner's email accounts were hacked and scores of indecent calls were received from all over. Under the guise of protecting the petitioner's privacy, every action undertaken by the so called custodians for and on behalf of the petitioners resulted into a breach of privacy of the petitioners, making life impossible for them on a day to day basis.
After hearing the arguments of the petitioners, including arguments on technical points the Court struck down the Notification issued by the State government to enquire into the issue of the alleged illegal surveillance. However the Court also briefly touched upon the issue of violation of the privacy of the female officer in this whole episode. However, instead of enquiring into whether there was any breach of privacy in the facts of the case, the Court relied upon the statement made by the female officer that whatever surveillance was done did not cause any invasion into her privacy, rather it was the unwelcome media glare that followed the revelations regarding the surveillance which had caused an invasion of her privacy.
Thus we see that even though the whole snoopgate episode started out as one of “alleged” unwarranted and illegal surveillance this particular judgment is limited only to challenging the validity of the Inquiry Commission appointed by the State Government. In order to challenge the Notification in a PIL the female officer had to show that some fundamental right of hers was violated and in such circumstances privacy is the most obvious fundamental right which was violated.
Although this judgment talks about privacy, it does not have enough legal analysis of the right to privacy to have any significant ramifications for how privacy is interpreted in the Indian context. The only issue that could possibly be of some importance is that the we could interpret the Court’s reliance on the statement of the female officer that there was no breach of privacy rather than its own examination of facts to mean that in cases of breach of privacy, if the person whose privacy has been breached did not feel his or her privacy to have been invaded then the Courts would rely on the person’s statements rather than the facts. However this is only an interpretation from the facts and it does not seem that the Court has spent any significant amount of time to examine this issue, therefore it may not be prudent to consider this as establishing any legal principle.
Note: The details of the case as well as the judgment can be found at http://gujarathc-casestatus.nic.in/gujarathc/tabhome.jsp
Big Data and Positive Social Change in the Developing World: A White Paper for Practitioners and Researchers
I was a part of a working group writing a white paper on big data and social change, over the last six months. This white paper was produced by a group of activists, researchers and data experts who met at the Rockefeller Foundation’s Bellagio Centre to discuss the question of whether, and how, big data is becoming a resource for positive social change in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).
Anvar v. Basheer and the New (Old) Law of Electronic Evidence
The Supreme Court of India revised the law on electronic evidence. The judgment will have an impact on the manner in which wiretap tapes are brought before a court.
Centre for Internet and Society joins the Dynamic Coalition for Platform Responsibility
The Centre for Internet and Society (CIS) has joined the multistakeholder cooperative engagement amidst stakeholders towards creating Due Diligence Recommendations for online platforms and Model Contractual Provisions to be enshrined in ToS. This blog provides a brief background of the role of dynamic coalitions within the IGF structure, establishes the need for the coalition and provides an update on the action plan and next steps for interested stakeholders.
Report on CIS' Workshop at the IGF:'An Evidence Based Framework for Intermediary Liability'
An evidence based framework for intermediary liability' was organised to present evidence and discuss ongoing research on the changing definition, function and responsibilities of intermediaries across jurisdictions.
Biometrics: An ‘Angootha Chaap’ nation?
This blog post throws light on the inconsistencies in biometric collection under the UID and NPR Schemes.
UID and NPR: Towards Common Ground
The UID (Unique Identification) and NPR (National Population Register) are both government identity schemes that aggregate personal data, including biometric data for the provision of an identification factor, and aim to link them with the delivery of public utility services.
Roundtable on Indian Privacy Law and Policy
This event was hosted by the Centre for Law and Development of the National University of Advanced Legal Studies (NUALS) in Kochi. It was attended by members of the faculty of NUALS, some students from the 2nd year, 3rd year, 4th year, and 5th year.
UID: A Data Subject's Registration Tale
A person who registered for UIDAI shares their experience of registering for the UID Number, on the condition of anonymity.
CIS@IGF 2014
The ninth Internet Governance Forum (“IGF2014”) was hosted by Turkey in Istanbul from September 2 to 5, 2014.
The Aadhaar Case
In 2012 a writ petition was filed by Justice K.S. Puttaswamy in the Supreme Court of India challenging the policy of the government in making an Aadhaar card for every person in India and its later plans to link various government benefit schemes to the same.
Zero Draft of Content Removal Best Practices White Paper
EFF and CIS Intermediary Liability Project is aimed towards the creation of a set of principles for intermediary liability in consultation with groups of Internet-focused NGOs and the academic community.
CIS Cybersecurity Series (Part 21) – Gyanak Tsering
CIS interviews Gyanak Tsering, Tibetan monk in exile, as part of the Cybersecurity Series.
CIS Cybersecurity Series (Part 20) – Saumil Shah
CIS interviews Saumil Shah, security expert, as part of the Cybersecurity Series.
Privacy in Healthcare: Policy Guide
The Health Policy Guide seeks to understand what are the legal regulations governing data flow in the health sector — particularly hospitals, and how are these regulations implemented. Towards this objective, the research reviews data practices in a variety of public and private hospitals and diagnostics labs. The research is based on legislation, case law, publicly available documents, and anonymous interviews.
Learning to Forget the ECJ's Decision on the Right to be Forgotten and its Implications
“The internet never forgets” is a proposition which is equally threatening and promising.
Second Privacy and Surveillance Roundtable
On July 4, 2014, the Centre for Internet and Society in association with the Cellular Operators Association of India organized a privacy roundtable at the India International Centre. The primary aim was to gain inputs on what would constitute an ideal surveillance regime in India.
Surat’s Massive Surveillance Network Should Cause Concern, Not Celebration
The blog post examines the surveillance network of Surat, a city in Gujarat state in India.
