Internet Governance Blog
Out of the Bedroom
We have shared it with our friends. We have watched it with our lovers. We have discussed it with our children and talked about it with our partners. It is in our bedrooms, hidden in sock drawers. It is in our laptops, in a folder marked "Miscellaneous". It is in our cellphones and tablets, protected under passwords. It is the biggest reason why people have learned to clean their browsing history and cookies from their browsers.
Freedom from Monitoring: India Inc Should Push For Privacy Laws
More surveillance than absolutely necessary actually undermines the security objective.
FinFisher in India and the Myth of Harmless Metadata
In this article, Maria Xynou argues that metadata is anything but harmless, especially since FinFisher — one of the world's most controversial types of spyware — uses metadata to target individuals.
Ethical Issues in Open Data
On August 1, 2013, I took part in a web meeting, organized and hosted by Tim Davies of the World Wide Web foundation. The meeting, titled “Ethical issues in Open Data,” had an agenda focused around privacy considerations in the context of the open data movement.
'Ethical Hacker' Saket Modi Calls for Stronger Cyber Security Discussions
Twenty-two year old Saket Modi is the CEO and co-founder of Lucideus, a leading cyber security company in India which claims to have worked with 4 out of 5 top global e-commerce companies, 4 out of 10 top IT companies in the world, and 3 out of 5 top banks of the Asia Pacific.
Guidelines for the Protection of National Critical Information Infrastructure: How Much Regulation?
July has been a busy month for cyber security in India. Beginning with the release of the country’s first National Cyber Security Policy on July 2 and followed just this past week by a set of guidelines for the protection of national critical information infrastructure (CII) developed under the direction of the National Technical Research Organization (NTRO), India has made respectable progress in its thinking on national cyber security.
More than a Hundred Global Groups Make a Principled Stand against Surveillance
For some time now there has been a need to update understandings of existing human rights law to reflect modern surveillance technologies and techniques.
India's National Cyber Security Policy in Review
Earlier this month, the Department of Electronics and Information Technology released India’s first National Cyber Security Policy. Years in the making, the Policy sets high goals for cyber security in India and covers a wide range of topics, from institutional frameworks for emergency response to indigenous capacity building.
The Audacious ‘Right to Be Forgotten’
There has long been speculation over the permanency of our online presence. Posting about excessively-personal details, commenting in a way which is later embarrassing, being caught in unflattering public photos; to our chagrin, all of these unfortunate situations often persist on the web, and can continue to haunt us in future years.
Report on the 5th Privacy Round Table meeting
This report entails an overview of the discussions and recommendations of the fifth Privacy Round Table in Calcutta, on 13th July 2013.
You Have the Right to Remain Silent
Reflecting upon the state of freedom of speech and expression in India, in the wake of the shut-down of the political satire website narendramodiplans.com.
Parsing the Cyber Security Policy
An effective cyber-security policy must keep up with the rapid evolution of technology, and must never become obsolete. The standard-setting and review bodies will therefore need to be very nimble, says Chinmayi Arun.
CII Conference on "ACT": Achieve Cyber Security Together"
The Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) organized a conference on facing cyber threats and challenges at Hotel Hilton in Chennai on July 13, 2013. Kovey Coles attended this conference and shares a summary of the event in this blog post.
DSCI Best Practices Meet 2013
The DSCI Best Practices Meet 2013 was organized on July 12, 2013 at Hyatt Regency, Anna Salai in Chennai. Kovey Coles attended the meet and shares a summary of the happenings in this blog post.
Interview with Mr. Reijo Aarnio - Finnish Data Protection Ombudsman
Maria Xynou recently interviewed Mr. Reijo Aarnio, the Finnish Data Protection Ombudsman, at the CIS' 5th Privacy Round Table. View this interview and gain an insight on recommendations for better data protection in India!
Can India Trust Its Government on Privacy?
In response to criticisms of the Centralized Monitoring System, India’s new surveillance program, the government could contend that merely having the capability to engage in mass surveillance won’t mean that it will. Officials will argue that they will still abide by the law and will ensure that each instance of interception will be authorized.
How Surveillance Works in India
When the Indian government announced it would start a Centralized Monitoring System in 2009 to monitor telecommunications in the country, the public seemed unconcerned. When the government announced that the system, also known as C.M.S., commenced in April, the news didn’t receive much attention.
CIS Cybersecurity Series (Part 6) - Lhadon Tethong
CIS interviews Lhadon Tethong, Tibetan human rights activist, as part of the Cybersecurity Series
Moving Towards a Surveillance State
The cyberspace is a modern construct of communication and today, a large part of human activity takes place in cyberspace. It has become the universal platform where business is executed, discourse is conducted and personal information is exchanged. However, the underbelly of the internet is also seen to host activities and persons who are motivated by nefarious intent.
India:Privacy in Peril
The danger of mass surveillance in India is for real. The absence of a regulating law is damning for Indians who want to protect their privacy against the juggernaut of state and private surveillance.
