Centre for Internet & Society

The Present — and Future — Dangers of India's Draconian New Internet Regulations

Posted by Anja Kovacs at May 31, 2011 09:15 AM |

The uproar surrounding India's Internet Control Rules makes clear that in the Internet age, as before, the active chilling of freedom of expression by the state is unacceptable in a democracy. Yet if India's old censorship regimes are to be maintained in this new context, the state will have little choice but to do just that. Are we ready to rethink the ways in which we deal with free speech and censorship as a society? Asks Anja Kovacs in this article, published in Caravan, 1 June 2011.

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Killing the Internet Softly with Its Rules

Posted by Pranesh Prakash at May 25, 2011 11:05 AM |

While regulation of the Internet is a necessity, the Department of IT, through recent Rules under the IT Act, is guilty of over-regulation. This over-regulation is not only a bad idea, but is unconstitutional, and gravely endangers freedom of speech and privacy online.

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Power to the People

Posted by Nishant Shah at May 15, 2011 05:20 PM |
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The digital revolution has helped make NGOs and civil society more influential, independent and transparent, writes Nishant Shah in this article published in the Indian Express on Sunday, May 15, 2011.

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Limits to Privacy

Posted by Prashant Iyengar at May 06, 2011 11:15 AM |

In his research article, Prashant Iyengar examines the limits to privacy for individuals in light of the provisions of the Constitution of India, public interest, security of state and maintenance of law and order. The article attempts to build a catalogue of all these justifications and arrive at a classification of all such frequently used terms invoked in statutes and upheld by courts to deprive persons of their privacy.

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Privacy By Design — Conference Report

Posted by Prasad Krishna at May 02, 2011 05:35 AM |

How do we imagine privacy? How is privacy being built into technological systems? On April 16th,The Center for Internet and Society hosted Privacy by Design, an Open Space meant to answer these questions and more around the topic of privacy. Below is a summary of the conversations and dialogs from the event.

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CDT Provides Answers to Questions on Internet Neutrality

Posted by Pranesh Prakash at Apr 26, 2011 02:15 PM |

Pranesh Prakash of CIS asked David Sohn of CDT a few pointed questions on the emerging hot topic of 'Internet neutrality', and received very useful responses. Those questions and Mr. Sohn's responses are documented in this blog post.

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The DNA Profiling Bill 2007 and Privacy

Posted by Elonnai Hickok at Apr 25, 2011 11:30 AM |

In 2007 a bill known as the Draft DNA Profiling Bill was piloted by the Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics, an autonomous organization funded by the Department of Biotechnology, Ministry of Science and Technology, Government of India. The below is a background to DNA collection/analysis in India, and a critique of the Bill a from a privacy perspective.

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An Interview with Activist Shubha Chacko: Privacy and Sex Workers

Posted by Elonnai Hickok at Apr 25, 2011 08:45 AM |

On February 20th I had the opportunity to speak with Shubha Chacko on privacy and sex workers. Ms. Chacko is an activist who works for Aneka, an NGO based in Bangalore, which fights for the human rights of sexual minorities. In my interview with Ms. Chacko I tried to understand how privacy impacts the lives of sex workers in India. The below is an account of our conversation.

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We are anonymous, we are legion

Posted by Sunil Abraham at Apr 19, 2011 05:00 PM |
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Online anonymity is vital for creativity and entrepreneurship on the Web, writes Sunil Abraham. The article was published in the Hindu on April 18, 2011.

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You Have the Right to Remain Silent

India has a long history of censorship that it justifies in the name of national security. But new laws governing the Internet are unreasonable and — given the multitude of online voices — poorly thought out, argues Anja Kovacs in this article published in the Sunday Guardian on 17 April 2011.

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Iraq Delegation to Visit India for Study of E-Governance in Indian Cities ― Meetings in Bangalore and Delhi

Posted by Prasad Krishna at Apr 12, 2011 06:05 AM |
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An Iraqi Government delegation headed by HE Mr. Abdul Kareem Al-Samarai, Minister of Science & Technology, Government of Iraq will be in India on a e-governance tour. The study tour is organised by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA).

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Privacy and the Information Technology Act — Do we have the Safeguards for Electronic Privacy?

Posted by Prashant Iyengar at Apr 07, 2011 11:10 AM |

How do the provisions of the Information Technology Act measure up to the challenges of privacy infringement? Does it provide an adequate and useful safeguard for our electronic privacy? Prashant Iyengar gives a comprehensive analysis on whether and how the Act fulfils the challenges and needs through a series of FAQs while drawing upon real life examples.

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DIT's Response to RTI on Website Blocking

Posted by Pranesh Prakash at Apr 07, 2011 10:40 AM |

For the first time in India, we have a list of websites that are blocked by order of the Indian government. This data was received from the Department of Information Technology in response to an RTI that CIS filed. Pranesh Prakash of CIS analyzes the implications of these blocks, as well as the shortcomings of the DIT's response.

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Is Data Protection Enough?

Posted by Elonnai Hickok at Apr 05, 2011 08:30 AM |

The following note looks briefly at different sides of the privacy debate, and asks the question whether a Data Protection law is enough privacy protection for India.

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Surveillance Technologies

Posted by Elonnai Hickok at Apr 05, 2011 08:25 AM |

The following post briefly looks at different surveillance technologies, and the growing use of the them in India.

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The Draft Electronic Delivery of Services Bill, 2011 – Comments by CIS

Posted by Prasad Krishna at Mar 29, 2011 10:35 AM |
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The Draft Electronic Delivery of Services Bill, 2011 (“Bill”) is a Bill to provide for delivery of government services manadatorily through electronic means by phasing out manual delivery of services. It is heartening to note that the Bill shifts the approach to electronic delivery of services by Government agencies to one as part of the citizens' right to service delivery through electronic means rather than a luxury or benefit doled out by the Government. The Bill introduces bodies exclusively accountable for ensuring that electronic delivery of services by the Government at the state and central levels. While this is a welcome move on the part of the Government there are a few comments we, at the Centre for Internet and Society, have on the present version of the Bill:

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Privacy and Governmental Databases

Posted by Elonnai Hickok at Mar 23, 2011 12:00 PM |

In our research we have found that most government databases are incrementally designed in response to developments and improvements that need to be incorporated from time to time. This method of architecting a system leads to a poorly designed database with many privacy risks such as: inaccurate data, incomplete data, inappropriate disclosure of data, inappropriate access to data, and inappropriate security over data. To address these privacy concerns it is important to analyze the problem that is being addressed from the perspective of potential and planned interoperability with other government databases. Below is a list of problems and recommendations concerning privacy, concerning government databases.

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CIS Para-wise Comments on Cyber Café Rules, 2011

Posted by Prashant Iyengar at Feb 25, 2011 03:30 AM |
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On February 7th 2011, the Department of Information Technology, MCIT published draft rules on its website (The Information Technology (Guidelines for Cyber Cafe) Rules, 2011) in exercise of the powers conferred by Section 87(2) (zg), read with Section 79(2) of the Information Technology Act, 2000. Comments were invited from the public before February 25th 2011. Accordingly, Privacy India and Centre for Internet and Society, Bangalore have prepared the following para wise comments for the Ministry’s consideration.

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CIS Para-wise Comments on Draft Reasonable Security Practices Rules, 2011

Posted by Prashant Iyengar at Feb 24, 2011 02:30 PM |
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On February 7th 2011, the Department of Information Technology, MCIT published draft rules on its website (The Information Technology (Reasonable security practices and procedures and sensitive personal information) Rules, 2011) in exercise of the powers conferred by Section 87(2)(ob), read with Section 43A of the Information Technology Act, 2000. Comments were invited from the public before February 25th 2011. Accordingly, Privacy India and Centre for Internet and Society, Bangalore have prepared the following para-wise comments for the Ministry’s consideration.

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Google Policy Fellowship Program: Asia Chapter

Posted by Prasad Krishna at Feb 24, 2011 12:05 PM |

For the ardent followers of free and open Internet and for those who love to debate on technology, media law and Internet-related policy issues, there is some good news. The Centre for Internet and Society, India is conducting a Google Policy Fellowship program this summer!

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