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Thank You To Our 2014 Sponsors

praskrishna — 2014-12-27T14:27:26Z

Today’s the last day of work in 2014 for the editorial team at MediaNama, though we’ll run a Holiday Wire update intermittently this week, we’ll have a brief year end review for each major segment. Thank you for reading us in 2014, and have a great Christmas and New Year.

The blog entry was published in Medianama on December 22, 2014.

From the business side, it’s been a great 2015 for us, and we really appreciate the support we received in 2014 from all our sponsors, especially Spice Digital, our annual sponsor, and Antfarm, which supported us for almost the entire year. We’re still working, for an idea of our 2015 plans and editorial calendar, please see the presentation here.

Annual Sponsor:

- Spice Digital Ltd: a part of Spice Global Group – US$2 Billion conglomerate promoted by Dr. BK Modi, is one of India’s leading Mobile Value Added Services company and offers innovative solutions for Telecom Operators, Enterprises and Government using mobile connectivity media – Voice, SMS, USSD, WAP & 3G. We are preferred partner of all major telecom service providers in India and providing services to international telecom players in over 20 countries across the globe. We are pioneers in innovation and technology and committed to deliver excellent Award winning products and services to the customers.

We have exclusive tie-ups with Hungama and PPL for music streaming services.
We have acquired two leading international VAS players, MMS (Indonesia) and Beoworld (Malaysia).
Recently, we had a major financial investment from MediaTek (Taiwan).

Our sponsors during 2014:

- Antfarm is an innovation sandbox based out of Mumbai. It is led by a team of blue sky thinkers, entrepreneurs and professionals. The company takes great ideas with disruptive potential, puts together all the key ingredients of people, technology, strategy, marketing and capital to build these into scalable companies. The ultimate aim is to create global businesses that are ideated and built out of India. The first set of companies launched are Stylista.com, Arrive.com, Fork Media, and the farm is currently scaling up ideas in education, travel & leisure, retail, ad-tech and healthcare.

- Astro-Vision is a name easily recognized and held in great esteem in the world of astrology services. Its products range from software that run on the latest operating systems to web based solutions for major portals and the latest range of mobile phones. Astro-Vision’s focus has always been on providing innovative astrology solutions using the latest technologies in the field of IT and communications. From Desktop PCs to internet portals and mobiles phones, Astro- Vision’s range of solutions includes stand alone applications, online apps and astro content services. The company has strategic tie-ups with major IT enabled service networks like Suvidhaa, Reliance world, One stop shop and many networks under the Government of India’s CSC scheme, including Spanco and GNG. Many popular Indian websites today are powered by Astro-Vision’s web based astrology solutions and astrology content.

– Bruce Clay

- Buongiorno, founded in 1999, is known in the worldwide mobile commerce ecosystem for developing and managing paid apps and content that help consumers get greater enjoyment from mobile devices. On July 2012, after the settlement of a successful public tender offer, Buongiorno became a wholly-owned subsidiary of NTT DOCOMO – a global leader in mobile telecommunications technologies and services.

With direct connections to more than 130 telecom operators in 25 countries, over 10 years’ experience and a team of 600 professionals, Buongiorno makes the mobile internet experience happen for consumers globally.

- CCAvenue is India’s largest payment gateway solution powering 85% of the eMerchants in India across all verticals & has played the role of a catalyst to the growth of ecommerce with real time, multi-currency, multiple payment options online payment processing services. The solution is powered by proprietary technology that integrates transaction-processing, advance shopping cart, Invoicing, mobile page, risk assessment and fraud control, smart analytical dashboards, live monitoring of bank gateways, financial reporting etc. CCAvenue is the only complete PG solution in the country that has the unique ability to offer the full spectrum of 100+ Internet payment options.

5 Credit Cards
50 Debit Cards
6 ATM cum Debit Cards
50+ Netbankings
Mobile Payments
4 Cash Cards
CCAvenue PhonePay IVRS Based Payment Systems.

– The Centre for Internet and Society (CIS) is a non-profit research organization that works on policy issues relating to freedom of expression, privacy, accessibility for persons with disabilities, access to knowledge and IPR reform, and openness (including open government data, free/open source software, open standards, open access to scholarly literature, open educational resources, and open video), and engages in academic research on digital natives and digital humanities.

CIS critically engages with concerns of digital pluralism, public accountability and pedagogic practices, in the field of Internet and Society, with particular emphasis on South-South dialogues and exchange.

Hosting and Support

- E2E Networks: India’s most clued in dedicated hosting company founded by geeks. E2E Networks Private Limited has been into the business of providing Low latency Dedicated Servers and VPS Servers in India since 2009. E2E Networks goes way beyond merely provisioning servers/cloud infrastructure. Our expertise includes strategies and managed services help for implementing the most suitable cloud architecture based on public, private or hybrid cloud platforms for your web facing or enterprise applications.

- Fortumo allows any developer to set up payment processing for web and mobile services, games or apps using carrier billing. Payments work for PC applications, web services and HTML5, Android, Windows Phone & Windows 8 apps. Fortumo supports payments in 81 countries through 300 mobile operators. Get started with our self-service setup (no monthly fees or minimum volume commitments) at http://fortumo.com.

– Getit Infomedia is India’s digital supermarket for SMEs to get relevant business leads. We seamlessly deliver excellent value across all media platforms be it Voice, Mobile Applications, Online, WAP, Web chat, Print etc. The services provide presence, enquiries and leads to its advertisers while ensuring end users (consumers) have access to the best information, benefits and offers.

Event Sponsor

- Google is a global technology leader focused on improving the ways people connect with information. Google’s innovations in web search and advertising have made its website a top internet property and its brand one of the most recognized in the world.

- India.com is a joint venture between two media giants – Zee Entertainment Enterprise Ltd (ZEEL) and www.PMC.com is all about the new India that is funny, witty, shocking. It shows the new age Indian in their language. India.com provides a perspective that is reflective of the changing dynamic of the role media plays in India. Find out what the new India is saying only at india.com. Discover India and Indians at india.com for no one covers the new India as india.com! Get the latest updates follow @indiacom on Twitter.

– Info Edge (India) Limited is among the leading internet companies in India. Info Edge runs leading internet businesses – Naukri.com -India’s no. 1 job site, Jeevansathi.com – one of the leading matrimonial portal,99acres.com – India’s No.1 real estate portal and Shiksha.com – India’s leading education portal. The company also owns Quadrangle – an offline executive search business, and Naukri Gulf (a leading jobsite in the Middle East market). Info Edge also owns Brijj.com, a professional networking site and Allcheckdeals.com, an online real estate brokerage firm which is run as a subsidiary company.

- OnMobile Global Ltd. is a pioneer in white-labelled, Value Added Products and Services [VAS] for mobile, landline and media service providers. The #1 VAS specialist in emerging and high-growth markets, OnMobile touches the lives of over 1500 million mobile users across 55 countries each month. With our diverse product portfolio of Mobile Music, multi-screen Video Gateway and delivery solutions, Phone Backup and Personal Cloud Management solutions, Voice and Video portals, M-Commerce products and services, we generate 2 – 5% contribution for top customers and top line revenues of over US $800 million for over 92 customers globally. We deliver our products by the best combination of a hosted Cloud with on-site operations at the customer premises or through products deployed in customer networks.

Founded in 2000, OnMobile has business spread across India, U.S., LATAM, Africa, Australia, Middle East and Europe. The company was publicly listed in India in 2008. Recent acquisitions include Voxmobili (2007), Telisma (2008), Dilithium Networks (2010) and LiveWire (2013).

OnMobile is the first Indian telecom VAS Company to go public. The company’s shares are listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) and the National Stock Exchange (NSE) as on March 31, 2010

– Qualcomm Ventures is the investment arm of Qualcomm Inc. (NASDAQ: QCOM), a Fortune 500 company with operations across the globe.As the Venture Capital investment arm of Qualcomm, the world leader in next-generation mobile technologies, Qualcomm Ventures has been making strategic investments in early-stage technology companies since 2000. With a $500 million fund commitment, Qualcomm Ventures seeks to make strategic investments in early stage high-technology companies that have the potential to dramatically transform our world.

QPRIZE (www.qprize.com)

QPrize™ is Qualcomm Venture’s Seed investment competition. It’s designed to provide entrepreneurs their first level of funding so they can launch their idea into a successful start-up business. The QPRIZE competition was first launched in 2009 to promote innovation in the technology industry and is designed to identify the industry’s most promising early-stage technology companies. We are looking for bright, energetic and resourceful entrepreneurs who have a passion for bringing new technologies and services to market. Our goal is to have QPrize act as a catalyst for our winners, providing the initial capital to launch their great ideas and support the company to its first institutional funding round.

– Times Internet (TIL) is a premier digital product company and the digital arm of The Times of India Group. It reaches over 100m visitors and serves 2 billion pageviews every month across web and mobile, with businesses across news, entertainment, sports, local, ecommerce, classifieds, startup investments, local partnerships, and more.TIL’s key properties in the news category includetimesofindia.com, economictimes.com and navbharattimes.com. Under its fold are topmost internet entertainment portals in India — Gaana.com – the music broadcasting service and BoxTV.com – the video streaming site. Indiatimes Shopping emerges as one of the top five e-commerce companies in India & TimesCity, a lifestyle destination covering recommendations across Restaurants, Movies, Events, Nightlife in your city. Times Internet has also entered into partnerships with global companies offering them its tremendous reach through online media platforms under its initiative called Times Global Partners(TGP). The TGP portfolio ranges from licensing partnerships to investments and acquisition. In the last year, TGP has made four acquisitions, twelve global partnerships, four minority investments and over 20 investments into start-ups through TLabs in the Indian ecosystem.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/medianama-december-22-2014-thank-you-to-our-2014-sponsors

Security and Surveillance: A public discussion on Optimizing Security while Safeguarding Human Rights

praskrishna — 2014-12-19T08:46:34Z

The Centre for Internet and Society (CIS) invites you to a public discussion on optimizing security and safeguarding human rights at its Bangalore office on Friday, December 19th, 2014, 16:00 to 18:00.

The Centre for Internet and Society, in collaboration with Privacy International UK, has undertaken exploratory research into surveillance, security, and the security market in India.

Through this research, we hope to understand and document policy and law associated with security, surveillance, and the security market in India and learn about the regulation of security and related technologies such as encryption, filtering, monitoring software, and interception equipment. We also hope to understand the import and export policy regime for dual use technologies.

Such findings will be critical in creating evidence based research to inform security policy and regulation in India and work towards enabling regulatory frameworks that optimize the nation’s security while protecting the rights of citizens.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/events/security-and-surveillance-optimizing-security-human-rights

Identifying Aspects of Privacy in Islamic Law

Vidushi Marda and Bhairav Acharya — 2015-01-01T14:04:44Z

This white paper seeks to identify aspects of privacy in Islamic Law and demonstrate that the notion of privacy was recognized and protected in traditional Islamic law.

I. Introduction

The nuances of privacy have been deliberated by numerous scholars till date, without arriving at a definite answer. It has been perceived as a right to be left alone, as mere secrecy, as the right to a legitimate area of seclusion and solitude. Privacy is a particularly nebulous concept, with a tendency of resting on intuitionist arguments. However, finding refuge in intuitionist arguments has not lent to a clear understanding of the term itself. This presents a peculiar predicament; while privacy is demanded, nobody seems to have a clear understanding of what it truly means. Daniel Solove opines that privacy is a concept in disarray, it is about everything and hence it seems to be about nothing. Solove finds agreement in a variety of literature, where privacy has been described as a "chameleon-like word", a term suffering from an "embarrassment of meanings", a "powerful rhetorical battle cry".

Traditional notions such as bodily privacy, privacy within one's home, or privacy resulting out of private property are received with far less scepticism than more recent aspects of privacy. With the burgeoning increase in information exchange, the ambit of privacy concerns is widened but not always understood. While earlier notions of privacy confined themselves to physical intrusions, it is now possible to invade a person's privacy without physically intruding on their space. As capabilities to intrude on privacy increase, the demand for respecting privacy grows stronger. In their historic article, Warren and Brandeis referred to privacy as an incorporeal notion, referring to cases of defamation, proprietary harms, contractual harms, breach of confidence to conclude that all such cases belonged to an umbrella principle of the right to privacy.

I.II Aspects of Privacy

William Prosser, a torts scholar, in 1860 attempted to classify privacy comprehensively. He contemplated four kinds of activities as impinging on a person's privacy. They were
1. Intrusion upon the plaintiff's seclusion or solitude, or into his private affairs.
2. Public disclosure of embarrassing private facts about the plaintiff.
3. Publicity which places the plaintiff in a false light in the public eye.
4. Appropriation, for the defendant's advantage, of the plaintiff's name or likeness.
While this classification lent some structure to the understanding of privacy, it restricted itself to only tort law.

A wider taxonomy was offered by Daniel Solove, imbibing concerns of digital privacy and information technology. Focussing on activities that invade privacy, Solove argued that information collection, aggregation of information, dissemination of such aggregated information and invasion into people's private affairs are the aspects integral to understanding the privacy concerns of a data subject.

In its policy paper on privacy in India, the Data Security Council of India (DSCI) recognised privacy issues in the context of e-commerce, transactional privacy, cyber crime, national security, and cross border data flows. Similarly the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) in 2011 focussed on understanding privacy in the context of data protection and surveillance. Subsequently, in 2012, the Planning Commission of India set up the A.P. Shah Committee to look into issues of data protection. This Committee classified the dimensions of privacy into four main categories; interception and access, audio and video recording, access and use of personal identifiers, and bodily and genetic material.

The classification of privacy for the purpose of this paper is under the heads of bodily privacy, informational and communications privacy, and territorial and locational privacy. Bodily privacy stems from the notion of personal autonomy and inviolate personality. Battery, rape, voyeurism are all examples of the recognition of the need to protect the privacy of one's body. Communications and informational privacy refers to the protection of sensitive personal information, specific communications and private conversations. Interception of messages, spying, hacking or tapping phone lines are all activities that impinge on privacy under this head. India's ambitious biometric project, Aadhar, has brought to the fore concerns surrounding personal information. Territorial privacy is developed from the notion of private property, the tort of trespass being ample recognition of the same.

I.III Is India a Private Nation?

In October, 2010, the government published an approach paper for legislation on privacy. In explaining the need for privacy legislation in India, the paper states,

"India is not a particularly private nation. Personal information is often shared freely and without thinking twice. Public life is organized without much thought to safeguarding personal data. In fact, the public dissemination of personal information has over time, become a way of demonstrating the transparent functioning of the government."

The notion of privacy being a foreign construct carves the argument that legislation on privacy would mean subjecting India to an alien cultural value. However, this ignores the possibility of privacy being culturally subjective. Cultures have exhibited different measurements by which they measure public and private realms. This paper aims to demonstrate that while the word "privacy" does not find explicit reference in traditional Indian law, the essence of privacy as we understand it today has existed in traditional Indian culture, specifically Indian Islamic culture, pre-dating colonialism in India and modernity in India's legal system.

I.IV Displacement of traditional Indian Law

Contemporary Indian law functions within a rubric that was constructed after the "expropriation" of traditional law. India's colonial legacy rendered the displacement of traditional Indian law with a unified modern legal system abounding in European ideas of modernity and legal systems, leaving it is a state of "fractured modernity". Before the British rule, Indians were governed by their personal laws and these laws did not aim to unify the nation in ways that Western legal systems did.. The decision to establish a modern legal system stemmed from the desire to administer the law as a function of the state, which would have been impractical at best in the absence of a unified legal system.

Edward Said eloquently states that the colonial experience does not end when the last European flag comes down or when the last white policeman leaves. One cannot help but agree with Said, as the understanding of law in contemporary India is constructed on the principles of the English common law and on ideas of a modern legal system. While the word "privacy" does not arise in traditional law, this paper argues that the notions of privacy as we perceive it today did exist hitherto the modernization of India's legal system.

I.V Structure of the paper

While Part I has laid down the foundation of this paper and the arguments it endeavours to make, Part II explains the sources of Islamic law and attempts at locating privacy in them. It also explains certain pervasive concepts that will enhance an understanding of privacy in Islamic law. This paper restricts itself to Sunni Islamic law. Part III gives an indication of privacy rights in India's neighbouring Islamic countries (both predominantly Sunni), Pakistan and Bangladesh; and highlights the legal framework for privacy in these countries.

II. Privacy in Islamic Law

II.I Sources of Islamic Law

Before locating aspects of privacy in Islamic Law, an understanding of its structure and sources will be helpful. Islamic Law is composed of Shariah, and fiqh. Shariah indicates the path a faithful Muslim must undertake to attain guidance in the present world and deliverance to the next. Fiqh, the jurisprudence of Islam, refers to the rational understanding of Shariah and human reasoning to appreciate the practical implications of Islam. While Shariah is divine revelation, fiqh is the human inference of Shariah.

The principle tenet of Islam is unwavering obedience to the teachings of God. According to Muslim belief, the Quran is the divine communication from Allah to the Prophet of Islam. It is the foremost record of the word of God, and for this reason is considered the apex source of Islamic law. It is in the Quran that basic norms of Shariah are found, and it embodies the exact words of God as was revealed to the Prophet over a period of 23 years. Fiqh, or the understanding of Shariah, also finds its origins in the holy Quran.

The Sunnah or Prophetic traditions are the ingredients for the model behaviour of a Muslim as demonstrated by the Prophet. It is a "way, course, rule, mode, or manner, of acting or conduct of life." The Sunnah were compiled through the communications of Prophet Muhammad in the form of Hadiths which are communications, stories or conversations; and may be religious or secular; historical or recent. The narrators of the Hadith are known as "isnad" who convey the "matn" or the substance of the Prophet's actions or words as narrated through oral communications through the years. Due to its very nature, the accuracy of the Sunnah came under considerable scrutiny, with concerns as to its possible fabrication and dilution. However, with a well devised system of recording and verifying sources, the Sunnah accompanies the imperative source of Islamic law, the Quran.

The other sources of Islam are found in human reasoning, or ijtihad. Ijtihad assumes a variety of secondary sources such as analogical reasoning (Qiyas), unanimous consensus (Ijma), decisions in favour of public interest (isthihsan), and presumption of continuity (istishab).
Ijtihad entails a resilient effort; an exertion in interpreting the primary sources in order to understand Shariah, to infer the law which is not explicit or evident. The legitimacy of Ijma is found in the Prophetic tradition, which states that the followers of Islam would never agree on an error, and will never unite on misguidance.

The Quran and Sunnah lie at the pinnacle of Islamic jurisprudence and their authoritativeness lends a ready inference of legal principles derived from them. In exploring the concept of Privacy in Islamic Law, this paper will focus mainly on the material available in the Quran and Sunnah.

II.II The Public and Private in Islam

According to the doctrine of Shariah, every aspect of life is deemed to be private unless shown otherwise. The public sphere is that in which governmental authority operates, making it both transparent and open to scrutiny and observation. Since its inception, Islam has considered the idea of governance with reasonable scepticism, ascribing to the view that there is no concept of a human ruler beyond reproach. This perhaps gave impetus to the idea of a private sphere as one that is inhabited exclusively by an individual and the divine, excluding any interference of the State; except with permission from religious law. In Islamic belief, a pious individual had submitted himself to God, and not the worldly State. Hence, all aspects of his life will align with the tenets of Islamic law and in pursuance with the will of God. Any failure to perform religious duties on the part of a Muslim is beyond the scope of another; it is only a consideration between him and the divine. It is believed that the Prophet said, "Those, who acknowledge God in words, and not at heart, do not find fault with their fellow Muslims. The wrongdoing of those who do so become the subject of God's scrutiny, and when God looks into someone's wrongdoing then all shall be truly exposed" The individual is bestowed with complete freedom of action in the private sphere, subject only to the will of the divine. To govern another is wholly beyond the capacity of any individual, and this forms a pervasive theme in Islamic jurisprudence.

Islamic Law recognizes that it is inevitable for every society to impose certain requirements on individuals both by the law and by societal norms. In respect of a public domain, Islam prescribes an amalgam of requirements of a Muslim community and the teachings of Islam. While committing sins in private is beyond the scope of public or governmental scrutiny, committing a sin in public amounts to a crime, meriting worldly punishment.

Islamic law provides for an individual's obligations to the divine at all times, and to the state in matters within the public domain. This is the most striking difference between Islamic law and modern law, as the function of enforcement of the law and punishment are forfeited to the state in a modern legal system, by virtue of the social contract. However, in Islamic societies, the concept of social contract does not exist. Instead, an individual's obligations lie to the state only if acts meriting worldly punishment occur in the public sphere. It is this distinction in the obligations of individuals that leads to conflicts between the application of Islamic law and modern law.

The Quran is replete with rules for all believers to ordain good and forbid evil (al-amrbi al-Ma'rufwa al-nahy 'an al-munkar'). This divine injunction is a restriction of freedom in the private sphere. The notion of privacy in the public sphere was tested through the office of the muhtasib, or compliance officer. These officers were appointed to ensure that the quality of life is preserved in Islamic societies. Personal or private matters which were visible in the public realm were liable to scrutiny from the muhtasib as well. However, this does not extend to matters such as surveillance and spying even on the authority of the state. The Prophet, according to the hadith of Amir Mu'awiyah remarked, " If you try to find out the secrets of the people, then you will definitely spoil them or at least you will bring them to the verge of ruin." In fact, modern jurists admonish the idea of surveillance as "exactly what Islam has called as the root cause of mischief in politics."

II.III. Privacy in Islamic Law

Bodily Privacy

The sanctity of one's bodily privacy is well recognised in Islamic Law. The Quran (24:58) demarcates certain periods in a day which are times of privacy for an individual, and indicates the need for prior permission before one may enter the private sphere of another. These periods are before the prayer at dawn, during the afternoon where one rests, and after the night prayer. This verse also calls upon children who have not yet reached the age of puberty to get accustomed to asking for permission before entering rooms apart from their own.

As far as bodily seizure of individuals accused of crimes goes, the Traditions indicate a general disinclination towards pre-adjudication restraint of individuals. The very occurrence of it appears to be a cause of discomfort as recorded in the Traditions. One of the Prophet's closest companions, Umar, is believed to have encourages officials to speed up adjudication processes so that the accused could not be deprived of the comfort of their homes and families.

bodily privacy and modesty

Although the Quran stipulates gender equality, the norms of bodily privacy and modesty applicable to men are far less rigorous than the rules of modesty that apply to women. While staring is not contemplated as a crime in modern jurisdictions, the Quran directs "believing men to lower their gaze and be modest." At the same time, it directs women to adhere to strict rules of clothing and conduct, with directions on how to conduct oneself both in private as well as public. Interestingly, with the use of full-body scanners at airports around the world, the bodily privacy of Muslims came to the forefront with several Muslim scholars opining that such use of scanners was in direct violation of the tenets of Islam. According to the Quran, the modesty of a Muslim woman is an indication of her faith.

Communication and Informational Privacy

Privacy is, in many ways, inextricably linked to the notions of personal autonomy, and inviolate personality. Privacy in matters apart from those concerned with proprietary interests was only developed as a legal idea around the ninth century, although the Quran made ample references to it. Whilst the term "privacy" is not directly alluded to in the Quran, it contains verses emphasizing the importance of respecting personal autonomy. The Quran (49:12) rebukes those who wish to pry into matters which do not concern them, or harbour suspicions in respect of others, conceding that some suspicions can even be considered crimes. This implies an injunction against investigation; which complements the prohibition of circulation of information pertaining to an individual's private sphere (24:19). According to this verse, publication of immorality is desirous of punishment. A reasonable conclusion from the reading of these verses is that the Quran mandates respect for the private sphere, guaranteeing that a faithful believer will not violate it. The Prophet is reported to have said that non interference of individuals in matters that do not concern them is a sign of their good faith. Interestingly, the injunction against unwarranted search is for all members of a Muslim community, not just followers of Islam. An extension of the concept of informational privacy is the privacy of one's opinion, which is believed to be beyond reproach regardless of its contents. Deeds in the public sphere can be subject to worldly punishment, but thoughts and opinions everywhere, are not subject to it.

The Sunnah have also emphasized on privacy in communications. The Prophet once said, "He, who looks into a letter belonging to his brother, looks into the Hellfire" , indicating that private communications shall enjoy their privacy even in the public domain. This is evident from another saying of the Prophet,"Private encounters result in entrustment", which entails a restriction on communications arising out of private meetings.

Territorial Privacy

Domestic privacy is considered an important facet of Islamic life and this idea pervades different aspects of Shariah. Privacy in regard to proprietary interests was in fact the first legal conception of privacy recognised by Muslim jurists. The Quran (24:27-8) forbids entering another's house in lieu of permission to do the same. It seeks to ensure that a person visiting another's house is welcome in that house; reminding individuals of their rights during such visits. Further, the Quran (2:189) envisions visits made to other's houses only through the front door, indicating respect and transparency in visiting another's dwelling place. Muslim scholars are of the opinion that such rules were laid down in order to safeguard one's private sphere; to allow people to modify their behaviour to accommodate a visitor in a private domain. Clarifying the reasons for such rules, a jurist offered the following explanation, "The first greeting is for the residents to hear the visitor, the second is for the residents to be cautious( fa-ya khudhu hidhrahum),and the third is for them to either welcome the visitor or send him away."

Privacy in the domestic sphere extends to both physical privacy as well as intangible privacy. The Prophet opined that if one's gaze has entered into a private home before his body does, permission to enter the home would be redundant. This follows from the idea that if a person curiously peeps into another's home, it is equivalent to him entering it himself. The right to privacy is extended to absolve the home owner of any guilt in the event of attack on the intruder. Curiously, the right to privacy within one's home is extended to privacy in respect of sinful behaviour within his private sphere; the accountability of a Muslim to his fellow humans is only to be discerned in respect of his public actions. This is illustrated by an interesting story in the Hadith of Umar ibn al-Khattab. Khattab climbed the wall of a house on the suspicion of wine being consumed within the premises. On his suspicion being confirmed, he chided them for their conduct. They then reminded him that while he pointed out their sins, he himself was guilty of three sins; spying on them, failing to greet them and also not approaching their house through the front door. He agreed with them and walked away.

The rationale behind recognising privacy in the domestic sphere is not just illegal intrusion into one's physical space; it is also intrusion into matters of sensitivity which widens the scope for privacy in Islamic Law.

III Privacy in Shariah Based States

Locating aspects of privacy is Shariah-based states is particularly challenging due to the duality of obligations that exists in their legal framework. While Islamic law focuses on obligations of individuals to the divine in all affairs and the state only in public matters, legal obligations in modern states are understood vis-à-vis the state only. The incorporation of Islam into these modern legal systems represents the attempt at reconciling two distinct sources of law. This Part will consider the legal frameworks for privacy in Pakistan and Bangladesh.

III.I Pakistan

Islamic law has had a profound impact on the legal system of Pakistan. This Islamic Republic integrates Shariah law into its common law system, as is evident from Article 227(1) of the 1973 Constitution of Pakistan ("the 1973 Constitution"). It reads, " All existing laws shall be brought in conformity with the Injunctions of Islam as laid down in the Holy Quran and Sunnah, in this Part referred to as the Injunctions of Islam, and no law shall be enacted which is repugnant to such injunction". In addition to the Constitutional safeguards, General Zia-ul-Haq, between 1977 and 1988 provided great impetus to Pakistan's process of incorporating Islam into its common law system through the establishment of appellate religious courts and also enactment of the Hudood criminal law, which was consequently criticized for being discriminatory and arbitrary.

Constitutional Provisions

Enshrined in the 1973 Constitution is the fundamental right of persons not to be subject to any action detrimental to the life, liberty, body, reputation or property. While referring to the rights of individuals, Article 4(1) lays down, "To enjoy the protection of law and to be treated in accordance with law in the inalienable right of every citizen. Wherever he may be, and of every other person for the time being within Pakistan." While aspects of privacy can be read into this Article quite emphatically, the 1973 Constitution explicitly recognises the right to privacy, dignity and the inviolability of persons in Article 14(1),"The dignity of man, subject to law, the privacy of home, shall be inviolable". The sanctity of these rights is vigorously upheld as laws inconsistent with fundamental rights are declared to be void to the extent of their inconsistency.

Bodily Privacy

The 1973 Constitution recognises the fundamental right of persons not to be subject to any action detrimental to the life, liberty, body, reputation or property. The Pakistan Penal Code (Act XLV of 1860) refers to the protection of privacy of women in Section 509, upholding the modesty of women.

Communications and Informational Privacy

The Pakistan Telecommunication (Re-organisation) Act 1996 enables investigating authorities under the Act to take cognizance of illegalities in communications. These authorities submit their reports to the courts, ensuring the accountability of such events, as well as legitimising search and seizure in pursuance of intercepted communications. The Act also makes arrangements for authorised interception of communications in cases of national security, although the wide and sweeping powers bestowed under this Section are a cause for concern. Moreover, any person causing annoyance to another through a telephone is liable to criminal punishment under the Telegraph Act, 1885.

Medicaland Financial information is recognised as a unit of privacy in the legal system of Pakistan. The delicate balance between transparency of government action and extent of privacy of information is struck in the Freedom of Information Ordinance, which exempts divulging information regarding personal privacy of individuals, private documents and financial privacy.

As far as digital privacy is concerned, the law in Pakistan is still at a nascent stage. In 2000, Pakistan implemented the National Information Technology Policy and Action Plan, which provided for confidentiality of transactional information. In 2002, an Electronic Transactions Ordinance was passed with a view to recognise and protect electronic transactions, setting up a framework within which privacy of information can be guaranteed and authenticity can be verified. There is no devoted law on data protection yet, although a Draft Electronic Data Protection Bill was published by the Ministry of Information in 2005.

Territorial and Locational Privacy

Akin to notions of privacy of the home in Islamic law, criminal trespass is a punishable offence under the Pakistan Penal Code. Pakistan has an unfortunately intimate relationship with terrorism. The Anti Terrorism Act of 1997 incorporates some provisions which raise concerns as to the sanctity of individual privacy. The Act allows an officer of police, armed forces or civil armed forces to enter and search any premise, and to seize any property they suspect to be connected to a terrorist act, without a warrant. Perhaps what is more worrying is that the entry of an officer is not subject to review, unlike in other Islamic countries like the United Arab Emirates. The trade off between personal liberties and national security is acutely felt in Pakistan, with intelligence agencies carrying on mass surveillance, without any legal framework providing for the same.

III.II Privacy in Bangladesh

Bangladesh identifies itself as a secular nation, although Islam is the state religion. The Constitution of Bangladesh uses the word privacy in the context of both territorial and communications privacy.

Bodily Privacy

The Bangladesh Penal Code, similar to Pakistan's, contains a section guaranteeing the bodily privacy of a woman and prohibiting any form of outraging her modesty. It criminalises assault, and also provides for private defence in case of assault.

Communications Privacy

The privacy of communications is subject to interception for the purpose of public safety, as envisaged in the Telegraph Act, 1885. It also contains provisions regarding unlawful interception of messages, as well as tampering or damaging communications. The Telecommunications (Amendment) Act 2006 gives the police sweeping powers to intercept mobile communications as well. However, a notice was issued to the government after this amendment to demonstrate its legality. Bangladesh also has the Right to Information Act, 2009 to promote transparency in governance, although it has a considerable number of agencies exempt from the Act as well. Provisions for cyber crime are enshrined in the Information and Communication Technology Act, 2006.

Territorial Privacy

In the context of territorial privacy, the Bangladesh Penal Code recognises criminal trespass, house trespass, lurking house trespass and house breaking as offences under Bangladeshi law.

IV. Conclusion

Privacy is a comprehensive term that entails a plethora of claims, making an exact definition of the term difficult to come by. In the absence of an explicit reference to privacy in the Indian Constitution, the Supreme Court has brought the right to privacy within the penumbra of Article 21 through various case laws. In 2010, the Government in its approach paper on privacy claimed that India is not a particularly private nation. In order to comprehensively understand India's modern legal framework, it is imperative to analyze the concepts of traditional law as they existed hitherto the colonial era. Although the term "privacy" is a modern construct, this paper has sought to demonstrate that the notion of privacy was well recognized and protected in traditional Islamic law.

From the discussion above, it is evident that the concept of privacy in Shariah law rests convincingly within the taxonomy adopted in this paper. The Quran and Hadith accommodate concerns surrounding private property, personal autonomy, protection of private communications, domestic life, modesty and the modern idea of surveillance. In addition to this, Islamic jurisprudence ascribes to the idea of a public and private sphere. The public sphere is occupied by society and governmental action, being liable to scrutiny and observation. On the other hand, the private sphere is occupied by the individual and the divine alone, free from any interference except in accordance with Shariah law. Inspite of the term "privacy" not finding explicit mention in the Quran or Hadith, a closer analysis of Shariah reveals privacy as a pervasive theme in Islamic jurisprudence.

Daniel Solove, A Taxonomy of Privacy, Vol. 154, No.3 University of Pennsylvania Law Journal, 477 (2006).

Samuel D. Warren & Louis D. Brandeis, The Right to Privacy, 4 Harvard Law Review 193, 193 (1890).

Richard A. Posner, Privacy, Surveillance and the Law, Vol. 75 No. 1 The University of Chicago Law Review 245, 245 (2008).

Blanca Rodríguez Ruiz, Privacy in Telecommunications: A European and an American Approach 39 (1st ed. 1997).

James Q. Whitman, The Two Western Cultures of Privacy : Dignity versus Liberty, 113 Yale Law Journal 1152, 1153 (2004).

Whitman, supra note 5, at 1153.

Solove, supra note 1, at 479.

Ibid. Referencing Lillian r. BeVier, Information About Individuals in the Hands of Government: Some Reflections on Mechanisms for Privacy Protection, 4 WM. & MARY BILL RTS. J. 455, 458 (1995) .

Ibid. Referencing KIM LANE SCHEPPELE, LEGAL SECRETS 184-85 (1988).

Ibid. Referencing 1 J. THOMAS MCCARTHY, THE RIGHTS OF PUBLICITY AND PRIVACY § 5.59 (2d ed. 2005).

Solove, supra note 1, at 560.

Samuel D. Warren & Louis D. Brandeis, supra note 2, at 193.

William L Prosser, Privacy, 48 California Law Review 383,389 (1960).

Solove, supra note 1, at 488.

Data Security Council of India, Policy Paper: Privacy in India. Available at https://www.dsci.in/sites/default/files/Policy%20Paper%20-%20Privacy%20in%20India.pdf.

Department of Personnel and Training, (DoPT) Approach Paper for a Legislation on Privacy. Report available at http://ccis.nic.in/WriteReadData/CircularPortal/D2/D02rti/aproach_paper.pdf.

Justice Ajit.P.Shah Committee, Report of the Group of Experts on Privacy, 60. Available at - http://planningcommission.nic.in/reports/genrep/rep_privacy.pdf.

Bhairav Acharya, at http://freespeechhub.thehoot.org/freetracker/storynew.php?storyid=565&sectionId=10.

DoPT, Approach Paper. supra note 16.

Whitman, supra note 5, at 1154.

Chandran Kukathas, Cultural Privacy, Vol. 91, No. 1 The Monist 68, 69 (2008).

Marc Galanter, Displacement of Traditional Law in Modern India, Vol XXIV, No. 4 Journal of Social Issues 65, 67 (1968).

Stuart Corbridge & John Harriss, Reinventing India: Liberalization, Hindu Nationalism and Popular Democracy 238 (Reprint, 2006).

Galanter, supra note 22, at 66.

Ibid. at 67.

Edward Said, Representing the Colonized: Anthropology's Interlocutors, Vol. 15 No.2 Critical Inquiry 205, 207 (1989).

Mohammad Hashim Kamali, Shari'ah Law, An Introduction 19 (2009)

M Mustafa Al Azami, Studies in Hadith Methodology and Literature 7 (2002).

Id. at 3.

NJ Coulson, A History of Islamic Law 22 (1964)

Kamali, supra note 27, at 19.

Sunan Ibn Majah , Book of Tribulations (Kitab al-Fitan) , #3950, available at http://sunnah.com/ibnmajah/36.

Mohsen Kadivar, An Introduction to the Private and Public Debate in Islam, Vol.70 , No. 3 Social Research 659, 663 (2003).

Lara Aryani, Privacy Rights in Shariah and Shariah-based States, Vol. 3, Iss.2, Journal of Islamic State Practices in International Law, 3 (2007)

Kadivar, supra note 33, at 664.

Ibid. at 665.

Ibid. at 667. Referencing Koleini, Mohammad. Al-Kaafi. Qom, Vol. 2: 353 1388.

Ibid. at 671.

Ibid. at 664.

Social Contract Theory of John Locke(1932-1704) in the Contemporary World , SelectedWorks of Daudi Mwita, Nyamaka (2011) Available at http://works.bepress.com/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1009&context=dmnyamaka.

Kadivar, supra note 33, at 664.

Ibid. at 673.

Abul a'la Mawdudi, Human Rights in Islam 24 (1995). Also available online, at http://books.google.co.in/books?id=RUJWdCOmmxoC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false.

Aryani, supra note 34, at 13.

This indicates Sura 24 : verse 58.

Holy Quran, 24:58 - O you who have believed, let those whom your right hands possess and those who have not [yet] reached puberty among you ask permission of you [before entering] at three times: before the dawn prayer and when you put aside your clothing [for rest] at noon and after the night prayer. [These are] three times of privacy for you. There is no blame upon you nor upon them beyond these [periods], for they continually circulate among you - some of you, among others. Thus does Allah make clear to you the verses; and Allah is Knowing and Wise. (Translation from Sahih International available at http://quran.com/24/58)

Reza Sadiq, Islam's Fourth Amendment : Search and Seizure in Islamic Doctrine and Muslim Practice, Vol. 40 Georgetown Journal of International Law 703, 730 (2008 - 2009).

Ibid. at 733. Referencing IBRAHIM ABDULLA AL-MARZOUQI, Human Rights in Islamic Law 392 (2000).

Rohen Peterson, The Emperor's New Scanner :Muslim Women at the Intersection of the First Amendment and Full Body Scanners, 22 Hastings Women's Law Journal 339, 343 (2011).

Holy Quran, 24:30 - Tell the believing men to reduce [some] of their vision and guard their private parts. That is purer for them. Indeed, Allah is Acquainted with what they do. (Translation from Sahih International available at http://quran.com/24/30-31).

Holy Quran, 24:31- And tell the believing women to reduce [some] of their vision and guard their private parts and not expose their adornment except that which [necessarily] appears thereof and to wrap [a portion of] their headcovers over their chests and not expose their adornment except to their husbands, their fathers, their husbands' fathers, their sons, their husbands' sons, their brothers, their brothers' sons, their sisters' sons, their women, that which their right hands possess, or those male attendants having no physical desire, or children who are not yet aware of the private aspects of women. And let them not stamp their feet to make known what they conceal of their adornment. And turn to Allah in repentance, all of you, O believers, that you might succeed. (Translation from Sahih Internation, available at http://quran.com/24/30-31).

David Garner, Muslims warned not to go through airport body scanners because they violate Islamic rules on nudity, The daily mail, (Feb 12, 2010). http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1250616/Muslims-warned-airport-body-scanners-violate-Islamic-rules-nudity.html#ixzz3KF8hS6q3 .

Holy Quran, 33:59 - O Prophet, tell your wives and your daughters and the women of the believers to bring down over themselves [part] of their outer garments. That is more suitable that they will be known and not be abused. And ever is Allah Forgiving and Merciful. (Translation from Sahih International, available at http://quran.com/33/59.)

Eli Alshech, "Do Not Enter Houses Other than Your Own": The Evolution of the Notion of a Private Domestic Sphere in Early Sunnī Islamic Thought Vol. 11, No. 3, Islamic Law and Society 291, 304 (2004).

Holy Quran, 49:12 - O you who have believed, avoid much [negative] assumption. Indeed, some assumption is sin. And do not spy or backbite each other. Would one of you like to eat the flesh of his brother when dead? You would detest it. And fear Allah ; indeed, Allah is Accepting of repentance and Merciful. ( Translation from Sahih International, available at http://quran.com/49/12)

Holy Quran, 24:19 - Indeed, those who like that immorality should be spread [or publicized] among those who have believed will have a painful punishment in this world and the Hereafter. And Allah knows and you do not know. ( Translation from Sahih International, available at http://quran.com/24/19)

Kadivar, supra note 33, at 666.

Ahmad Atif Ahmad, Islam Modernity violence and everyday life 176 (1^st ed. 2009)

Kadivar, supra note 33, at 667.

Ibid , at 178.

Ibid.

Alshech, supra note 54, at 291.

Holy Quran, 24:27-8 - O you who have believed, do not enter houses other than your own houses until you ascertain welcome and greet their inhabitants. That is best for you; perhaps you will be reminded. And if you do not find anyone therein, do not enter them until permission has been given you. And if it is said to you, "Go back," then go back; it is purer for you. And Allah is Knowing of what you do. ( Translation from Sahih International, available at http://quran.com/24)

Holy Quran, 2:189 - They ask you, [O Muhammad], about the new moons. Say, "They are measurements of time for the people and for Hajj." And it is not righteousness to enter houses from the back, but righteousness is [in] one who fears Allah. And enter houses from their doors. And fear Allah that you may succeed. (Translation from Sahih International, available at http://quran.com/2)

Alshech, supra note 54, at 308.

Ibid. at 306. Referencing Ibn Abi Hatim, 8 TAF5IRAL-QUR'ANAL-'ADHIM 2566 (Makiabat Nlilr Mustaffi 1999).

Ahmad, supra note 58, at 177.

Alshech, supra note 54, at 324.

Aryani, supra note 34, at 4. Also see Ahmad, supra note 24, at 178.

Alshech, supra note 54, at 310.

Kadivar, supra note 33, at 664.

Moeen Cheema, Beyond Beliefs: Deconstructing the Dominant Narratives of the Islamization of Pakistan's Law, 60 American Journal of Comparative Law 875 (2012).

The Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, 1973. Available at http://www.na.gov.pk/publications/constitution.pdf.

Cheema, supra note 72, at 879.

The Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, 1973, supra note 73.

Ibid.

Ibid. Article 8 - "(1) Any law, or any custom or usage having the force of law, in so far as it is inconsistent with the rights conferred by this Chapter, shall, to the extent of such inconsistency, be void. (2) The State shall not make any law which takes away or abridges the right so conferred and any law made in contravention of this clause shall, to the extent of such contravention, be void

Ibid. Article 4(2)(a) - "no action detrimental to the life, liberty, body, reputation or property of any person shall be taken except in accordance with law."

Section 509, Pakistan Penal Code (Act XLV of 1860), Available at http://www.oecd.org/site/adboecdanti-corruptioninitiative/46816797.pdf.

Section 32, Pakistan Telecommunication (Re-Organisation) Act, 1996. Available at http://www.pta.gov.pk/media/pta_act_140508.pdf.

Ibid. Section 54.

Section 25-D, Pakistan Telegraph Act, 1885. Available at http://www.fia.gov.pk/law/Offences/26.pdf.

Section 12, Pakistan Medical and Dental Council Code of Ethics. Available at http://www.pmdc.org.pk/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=v5WmQYMvhz4%3D&tabid=292&mid=845.

http://www.sbp.org.pk/publications/prudential/ordinance_62.pdf

Section 8, Freedom of Information Ordinance, 2002. Available at http://infopak.gov.pk/Downloads/Ordenances/Freedom_of_%20Information_Ordinance2002.pdf.

Pakistan IT Policy and Action Plan, available at http://www.unapcict.org/ecohub/resources/pakistan-information-technology-policy.

Electronic Transactions Ordinance, available at http://www.pakistanlaw.com/eto.pdf.

For a more detailed account, see http://www.supremecourt.gov.pk/ijc/articles/10/1.pdf. Second draft available at http://media.mofo.com/docs/mofoprivacy/PAKISTAN%20Draft%20Law%202nd%20Revision%20.pdf.

Sections 441 - 462, Pakistan Penal Code (XLV of 1860) Chapter XVII, "Offences against Property".

Section 5, Anti Terrorism Act, 1997. Available at http://www.fia.gov.pk/law/ata1997.pdf.

Ibid. Section 10.

Lara Aryani, supra note 34, at 21.

Julhas Alam, Bangladesh moves to retain Islam as state religion, Cns News, http://cnsnews.com/news/article/bangladesh-moves-retain-islam-state-religion.

Article 43, Constitution of Bangladesh. Available at http://www1.umn.edu/humanrts/research/bangladesh-constitution.pdf.

Section 509, Bangladesh Penal Code,1860. Available at http://bdlaws.minlaw.gov.bd/print_sections_all.php?id=11.

Ibid. Sections 351- 358.

Ibid . Section 100.

Section 5, Bangladesh Telegraph Act, 1885. Available at http://bdlaws.minlaw.gov.bd/print_sections_all.php?id=55.

Ibid . Section 24.

Ibid. Section 25.

Bangladesh Penal Code, 1860. supra note 95. Section 441.

Ibid. Section 442.

Ibid. Section 443.

Ibid. Section 445.

See, Kharak Singh v. State of Uttar Pradesh, AIR 1963 SC 1295 : (1964) 1 SCR 332; Govind v. State of Madhya Pradesh, AIR 1975 SC 1378; Rajagopal v. State of Tamil Nadu, AIR 1995 SC 264; People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) v. Union of India, AIR 1997 SC 568; X v. Hospital Z, AIR 1999 SC 495.

DoPT, Approach Paper. supra note 16.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/identifying-aspects-of-privacy-in-islamic-law

FrndiNeed; an app for passengers' safety

praskrishna — 2014-12-27T17:05:38Z

The article by Athira A. Nair was published in the Economic Times on December 10, 2014. Sunil Abraham gave his inputs.

Even as the nation recovers from the shock of an Uber passenger being raped by her cabbie, there is a new app that has repackaged itself to "get back the lost trust and security for the daily commuter". FrndiNeed, a socially-enabled app, which utilizes the user's geo-location, connects the user with friends in the vicinity and requests them for a lift. The app, a variant of those that poke friends for instant meet-ups, has an SOS tab for emergency.

Kunal Kishore, the Delhi-based co-founder of FrndiNeed, said the app was originally meant to catch up with friends who were within a 2-5 km radius."However, when we developed the app in August, we thought of such (women's security) situations also," he told ET.

Newer app developers are looking at preventing a crisis and creating safer situations for women rather than just providing panic buttons. Delhi-based group Socialcops collects data from civilians and authorities to find the safest and fastest routes for users. This app tells the police about the routes which need attention. Prukalpa Shankar, co-founder, said: "We are launching the SocialCops application in Kar nataka through the new Mobile One governance platform."

Jasmeen Patheja, founder of the Blank Noise Project, said apps should be part of a larger system connecting the woman with the neighbourhood, the police and family, and not something that creates panic. "The Circleof6 app created primarily in the US scenario where daterapes are rampant, puts the user in touch with six friends the minute she begins to feel uncomfortable on a date," she said.Jasmeen has not come across a case in which an app has helped a woman in an emergency .

The police is tweaking its app to connect women in trouble to the police. Their six-month-old `DCP SahAya' app will incorporate a facility which will alert the police control room or the local police station, revealed Rohini Katoch Sepat, DCP Bengaluru South-East.

Sunil Abraham, the executive director of the Centre for Internet and Society, believes that while certain mobile apps could provide a degree of safety, it would be naive to think that technology will be the solution."How many people do you trust to help you at any time of night? For women, whose emergency contacts are their parents, it would be difficult to alert them on a date night. Also, in the most pessimistic scenario, the mobile signal could be dead, and you may not be able to give an alert at all."

Jessie Paul, CEO of Paul Writer Strategic Advisory, felt that although IT is an enabler and apps are a step in the right direction, they were not preventive.

"To some extent, I believe these are superficial. We should have a centralized database for crime which will make it difficult for criminals to escape and rehabilitate in other parts of the country ," he said.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/economic-times-december-10-2014-athira-a-nair-frndineed-an-app-for-passenger-safety

Are Cab Apps safe?

praskrishna — 2014-12-27T17:01:39Z

Cab services are increasingly relying on mobile apps to book, track and charge you for journeys. While tech watchers say there is a digital trail.

Originally published by IBNLive on December 8, 2014. Sunil Abraham gave his inputs.

"You can always share your location, the app has a feature for you to share your location through the way to whoever is waiting at the other end," said Aprameya Radhakrishna, CEO Taxi For Sure.

There's also a major safety loopholes. "We have more complicated technological safegaurd. All the cab driver has to do is use a very primitive technique. He just has to pull off his battery and can ensure that he throws away the phone of the traveller, and no one would know," said Sunil Abraham, Head, Centre For Internet And Society.

So can you trust technology to safeguard you? Rest assured that someone will be monitoring your journey back in some control room?

People feel that there should be some kind of an automatically generated alert system. Had the tracker been switched off, that could have been a point of loophole.

Great degree of automation is possible here but finally it is the human oversight which is critical eventually, in any technology.

Technology, ultimately, doesn't have all the answers, can't provide all solutions against crime prevention. We have seen instances when criminals have attacked women in ATMs knowing full well they are caught on camera, we have seen attacks by unruly drivers at road toll booths, regardless of the surveillance cameras.

While technology helps in tracking digital footprints that a criminal has taken, it hasn't deterred the criminal from doing what he wants to. For that, we have to be on guard.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/ibn-live-december-8-2014-are-cab-apps-safe

India sees biggest improvement in Internet freedom, says report

praskrishna — 2014-12-07T11:08:34Z

Big stride ascribed to removal of restrictions imposed in 2013; globally, Internet freedom sees decline.

The article by Moulishree Srivastava was published in Livemint on December 5, 2014. Sunil Abraham gave his inputs.

India fared better this year when it came to freedom of the Net, while globally Internet freedom declined for the fourth consecutive year in 2014 with a growing number of countries introducing more aggressive online censorship and monitoring practices, said a report by Freedom House, an independent watchdog.

The global Freedom on the Net report 2014, which covered the period between 1 May 2013 and 31 May 2014 and was released on Thursday, said India scored 42 points this year, an improvement of five points over the previous reporting period.

It’s the largest increase in Internet freedom over the past year and was ascribed to the removal of temporary restrictions on access and content that had been imposed in 2013 to stem an exodus of people from north-eastern states from wherever else they were in India.

Of the 65 countries assessed, 36 saw a decline in Internet freedom. The most significant declines were in Russia, Turkey and Ukraine. Iran, Syria and China are the world’s worst abusers of Internet freedom, said Freedom House.

A low score indicates higher Internet freedom.

The US remained relatively free compared with the rest of the world with a total score of 19, the report said.

“Any report on Internet freedom that ranks US as free cannot be taken seriously,” said Sunil Abraham, executive director of the Bengaluru-based research organization Centre for Internet and Society.

There is massive intellectual property rights (IPR)-related censorship in the US, which Freedom House does not consider censorship, and the total surveillance regime of the National Security Agency that resulted in self-censorship was also ignored by Freedom House, he said.

In India, curbs on content and arrests related to online publishing under Section 66A of the information technology (IT) Act declined in the past year.

There have been nine criminal complaints filed against social media posts in the period, but the Supreme Court did its bit by curtailing arrests for online expression under the IT Act.

Independently, the Supreme Court is assessing the constitutionality of provisions in the IT Act and secondary legislation that restrict content and criminalize speech online. Section 66A of the IT Act criminalizes a wide range of speech and led to several arrests for social media posts in 2012 and early 2013. On 2 December, the Supreme Court asked the government to clarify its stand on the constitutionality of these provisions by 9 December.

Several petitioners have also challenged parts of the IT Act, including rules introducing potential criminal liability for intermediary companies for content posted by third parties, as unconstitutional in the Supreme Court.

“Legislation and procedures to effectively protect privacy, meanwhile, remain lacking, and the scope of a privacy law currently being drafted is unclear,” said the Freedom House report.

India was expected to get a privacy law before the launch of the Unique ID, or Aadhar, programme, but this has not happened.

“Allegations of procedural abuses by state officials in surveillance cases have emerged in the states of Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat, in the latter while the present Prime Minister was chief minister,” the report said. “Partly in response to these scandals, the government tightened procedures in January 2014, saying officials must issue interception orders to telecommunications providers in written form, though they still require no warrant or judicial oversight.”

Currently, the government can retrieve data from intermediaries such as Internet service providers, which are required to install infrastructure for surveillance and keyword scanning of all traffic passing through each gateway.

What can curb Net freedom substantially in India, according to the report, is the Indian government’s ambitious nationwide surveillance programme, the Central Monitoring System, which allows authorities to monitor individuals’ digital communications directly without issuing orders to service providers, written or otherwise—that is, “without judicial oversight”.

The move allows government agencies to intercept any online activities, phone calls, text messages and even social media conversations in real time by directly accessing interception equipment on intermediary premises.

The Indian government also requested user information from international Web-based platforms including Google Inc., which received 2,794 data requests from Indian government agencies from January to June 2014. Facebook Inc. got 3,598 such requests and Twitter Inc. 19.

Apoorva contributed to this story.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/livemint-december-5-2014-moulishree-srivastava-india-sees-biggest-improvement-in-internet-freedom

Cyber bullying is a crime, but open to interpretation: Expert

praskrishna — 2014-12-07T10:54:32Z

The social media attack on a Doordarshan anchor who made a series of gaffes at the recent Goa film festival would qualify as cyber bullying, experts say, but hasten to add there is not much that can be done to prevent such behaviour online, given the humungous size of the virtual universe.

The article by Neha Alawadhi was published in the Times of India on December 2, 2014. Pranesh Prakash gave his inputs.

The anchor reportedly shut down all her online accounts following the slew of unflattering and personal comments that she was bombarded with after the video of the event went viral and was shared across Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, among other such platforms.

Under Section 66 (A) of the IT Act, 2000, cyber bullying is a bailable offence, punishable with three years of imprisonment and fine. However, the complainant and police can interpret what constitutes offensive behaviour, said cyber law expert Pavan Duggal.

"Just as we don't regulate jeering and taunting of adults when it happens in person, as opposed to a threat of violence, unless there is a special case made out for the harm of online taunting, I don't think there is a case for a legislative response," said Pranesh Prakash, policy director at Bengaluru-based Centre for Internet and Society.

According to a recent report by McAfee, part of Intel Security, half of Indian youths have had some experience with cyber bullying and of these over a third (36%) have been bullied themselves online.

IT and cybersecurity expert Rakshit Tandon recalled the trauma a young professor at one of the top colleges underwent when an old picture of her, from one of her social media accounts, went viral and became the butt of unflattering comments by students. "Once it goes viral, you can't track who is sharing or sending it," he said.

"We don't have one personality anymore," said Adhvith Dhuddu, founder and CEO of digital marketing agency Alive-Now, which handles social and digital for brands online. "We have an offline personality and we have an online personality, and this is true for anyone —whether you are a brand, person, book or a movie," he added.

Several schools, NGOs and individuals are working towards educating children and young people about the dangers of sharing information online, but often find themselves at a loss when confronted with real situations every day.

The approach AliveNow's Dhuddu takes is to "engage first and ban later". He said, "We try to reason with people. We always take any grievance offline, we don't try to solve a grievance online."

For individuals, however, the offline route may be impractical or infeasible. Tandon believes the only way is to "sensitise people", while CIS's Prakash says a person can "block abusive users, set one's account in private mode and just get off such social networks for a while till the situation cools off".

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/economic-times-december-2-2014-neha-alawadhi-cyber-bullying-is-a-crime-but-open-to-interpretation

Digital Security Training

praskrishna — 2014-12-27T15:16:39Z

Rohini Lakshane participated as a trainer in a digital security training conducted by Front Line Defenders for the Afghan Women's Network in New Delhi in November 2014.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/digital-security-training

November 2014 Bulletin

praskrishna — 2014-12-15T13:27:04Z

We at the Centre for Internet & Society (CIS) welcome you to the eleventh issue of the newsletter (November 2014).

Highlights

On 13 November, 2014, the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion had released a Call for Suggestions for India's proposed National IPR Policy. CIS sent its comments.
As part of the Pervasive Technologies we published four methodology documents: Rohini Lakshané wrote on Patent Landscaping for the Indian Mobile Device market ; Anubha Sinha wrote on Intellectual Property in Mobile Application Development in India ; Maggie Huang wrote on Access to Music through the Mobile; and Nehaa Chaudhari wrote on Sub Hundred Dollar Mobile Devices and Competition Law .
Odisha's most circulated newspaper Sambad has collaborated with CIS-A2K to relicense 19 books published by its sister concern "Ama Odisha".
Vipul Kharbanda in a blog entry examines the relationship between privacy and transparency in the context of the right to information in India .
Geetha Hariharan in a blog entry explores what India's ITU proposal means for Internet Governance.
Pranesh Prakash wrote an article in the Economic Times exploring net neutrality.
In her final blog post on the mapping exercise undertaken by CIS-RAW, P.P.Sneha summarises some of the key concepts and terms that emerged as significant in the discourse around Digital Humanities in India.

►Job

Programme Officer (Access to Knowledge - Institutional Partnerships): CIS is seeking applications for the post of Programme Officer for its Access to Knowledge (A2K) Programme. The position will be based in its Bangalore office. Programme Officer will collaboratively work with the A2K Team and would report to the Programme Director, Access to Knowledge at CIS.

Accessibility and Inclusion

Under a grant from the Hans Foundation we are doing two projects. The first project is on creating a national resource kit of state-wise laws, policies and programmes on issues relating to persons with disabilities in India. CIS in partnership with CLPR (Centre for Law and Policy Research) compiled the National Compendium of Policies, Programmes and Schemes for Persons with Disabilities (29 states and 6 union territories). The publication has been finalised and is currently in the process of being printed. The draft chapters and the quarterly reports can be accessed on the project page. The second project is on developing text-to-speech software for 15 Indian languages. The progress made so far in the project can be accessed here.

►NVDA and eSpeak

Monthly Update

November 2014 Report (Suman Dogra; November 30, 2014).

Upcoming Event

Training in Use of eSpeak with Malayalam (co-organized by CIS, DAISY Forum of India and Chakshumathi Assistive Technology Centre; Trivandrum; January 24 - 25, 2015, Trivandrum).

►Other

Blog Entry

Central Guidelines and Schemes (Anandhi Viswanathan; November 6, 2014).

Access to Knowledge

As part of the Access to Knowledge programme we are doing two projects. The first one (Pervasive Technologies) under a grant from the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) is for research on the complex interplay between pervasive technologies and intellectual property to support intellectual property norms that encourage the proliferation and development of such technologies as a social good. The second one (Wikipedia) under a grant from the Wikimedia Foundation is for the growth of Indic language communities and projects by designing community collaborations and partnerships that recruit and cultivate new editors and explore innovative approaches to building projects.

Submission

Comments on the Proposed Intellectual Property Rights Policy to the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (Pranesh Prakash, Nehaa Chaudhari, Anubha Sinha and Amulya P.; November 30, 2014).

Blog Entries

MHRD IPR Chairs - Underutilization of Funds and Lack of Information Regarding Expenditures (Amulya Purushothama, November 19, 2014).

Participation in Events

Ubiquity, Mobility, Globality: Charting Directions in Mobile Phone Studies (Organized by Center for Global Communication Studies at the Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia; November 6 - 7, 2014). Nehaa Chaudhari made a presentation on Pervasive Technologies: Access to Knowledge in the Marketplace.
Countering US pressures on India's IP regime (Organized by Lawyer's Collective; November 16, 2014). Anubha Sinha attended the event.
Technology and Gender Based Violence (Organized by the Bachchao Project; November 24, 2014). Rohini Lakshané was a speaker at the event. She spoke about various strategies that women use to respond to online harassment, such as reporting the abuser, and enlisting support from online followers, or friends or family in order to deal with the abuser.

►Pervasive Technology

Blog Entries

Methodology: Patent Landscaping (Rohini Lakshané; November 10, 2014).
Methodology: Intellectual Property in Mobile Application Development in India (Anubha Sinha; November 17, 2014).
Methodology: Access to Music through the Mobile (Maggie Huang; November 18, 2014).
Methodology: Sub Hundred Dollar Mobile Devices and Competition Law (Nehaa Chaudhari; November 25, 2014).

►Wikipedia

As part of the project grant from the Wikimedia Foundation we have reached out to more than 3500 people across India by organizing more than 100 outreach events and catalysed the release of encyclopaedic and other content under the Creative Commons (CC-BY-3.0) license in four Indian languages (21 books in Telugu, 13 in Odia, 4 volumes of encyclopaedia in Konkani and 6 volumes in Kannada, and 1 book on Odia language history in English).

Op-Ed

Odia Wikisource, its Potential (Subhashish Panigrahi, The Samaja, November 17, 2014).

Blog Entries

55 Works of Iconic Indian writer released under Free Licence to benefit Wikisource (T. Vishnu Vardhan, November 13, 2014).
Odia author Nirmala Kumari Mohapatra's 21 books relicensed under CC-by-SA 4.0 (Subhashish Panigrahi, November 17, 2014).
Nineteen Books Published by Ama Odisha Relicensed under CC-by-SA 4.0 (Subhashish Panigrahi, November 25, 2014).

News and Media Coverage

CIS-A2K team gave its inputs to the following media coverage:

ಭಾಷಣದಿಂದ ಭಾಷೆ ಉಳಿಯಲ್ಲ, ಕನ್ನಡದಲ್ಲೇ ಮಾಹಿತಿ ಸಿಗುವುದು ಅಗತ್ಯ: ಪವನಜ (Just Kannada; November 23, 2014).
Kannada Wikipedia Presentation in Mysuru (Prajavani; November 24, 2014).
Now, Tulu set to be promoted through Wikipedia articles (Hindu; November 24, 2014).
'Tulu Wikipedia' in incubation stage, 600 articles uploaded, says U.B. Pavanaja (Ravi Prasad Kamila; Hindu; November 26, 2014).
Odia Wikisource launched in Odisha capital (Odisha Sun Times; November 28, 2014).
Odia Wikisource aims to bring valuable and rare books on the Internet (Odisha Diary; November 28, 2014).

Event Co-organized

Odia Wikisource Sabha 2014 (Co-organized by CIS-A2K and Odia Wikimedia Community; November 28, 2014). Subhashish Panigrahi participated in the event.

Participation in Event

A Seminar on E-publishing of Odia Books (Organized by Molybtech Technology Solutions; November 30, 2014). Subhashish Panigrahi was a speaker.

►Openness

Blog Entry

Privacy vs. Transparency: An Attempt at Resolving the Dichotomy (Sunil Abraham with feedback and inputs from Sumandro Chattapadhyay, Elonnai Hickok, Bhairav Acharya and Geetha Hariharan; November 14, 2014).

News and Media Coverage

Getting Strategic about Openness and Privacy (Tim Davies; Open Data Research Lead at Web Foundation; November 3, 2014).

Participation in Event

Content co-ordination for the Panel Discussion on Crypto-Currencies (organized by the Law and Technology Society; November 15, 2014). Sharath Chandra Ram was a panelist and made a presentation Scalability and Security Issues in Distributed Trust based Cryto-Currency Systems like BITCOIN

Internet Governance

►Privacy

As part of our Surveillance and Freedom: Global Understandings and Rights Development (SAFEGUARD) project with Privacy International we are engaged in enhancing respect for the right to privacy in developing countries. During the month we published the following blog entries:

Blog Entries

White Paper on RTI and Privacy V1.2 (Vipul Kharbanda; November 9, 2014).
Introduction: About the Privacy and Surveillance Roundtables (Manoj Kurbet; November 27, 2014).

Event Organized

IOCOSE's talk at CIS (CIS, Bangalore; November 27, 2014). There was a presentation of the work of the artists group IOCOSE, current artists in residence at T.A.J./SKE Residency.

Upcoming Event

CPDP 2015 : The eighth international conference on computers, privacy and data protection will be held in Brussels from January 21 to 23, 2015. CIS is a moral supporter of CPDP.

Participation in Events

E-Consultation on Cyber Security, Justice, and Governance Begins! (Organized by the Hague Institute for Global Justice; November 4, 2014). Sunil Abraham facilitated the e-consultation on "Internet access, the freedom of expression online, and development in the Global South".
Learning Forum: Transparency and Human Rights in the Digital Age (Organized by Global Network Initiative; November 6, 2014). Pranesh Prakash gave a talk on transparency reports and their use and abuse in India; the Intermediary Liability Rules in India (and its non-provision of any transparency mechanism); and the need for transparency in private speech regulation, not just governmental speech regulation.
Fourth Discussion Meeting of the Expert Committee to Discuss the Draft Human DNA Profiling Bill (Organized by the Department of Biotechnology; New Delhi; November 10, 2014). Sunil Abraham was unable to participate because of technical problems.
Ground Zero Summit 2014 (Organized by India Infosec Consortium; November 13-14, 2014). Geetha Hariharan participated in this event.
Privacy, security and surveillance: tackling international dilemmas and dangers in the digital realm (Organized by Wilton Park; November 17-19, 2014). Pranesh Prakash was a panelist in the session "Beyond the familiar: how do other countries deal with security and surveillance oversight?"

►Free Speech

Under a grant from the MacArthur Foundation, CIS is doing research on the restrictions placed on freedom of expression online by the Indian government and contribute studies, reports and policy briefs to feed into the ongoing debates at the national as well as international level. As part of the project we bring you the following outputs:

Blog Entries

Good Intentions, Recalcitrant Text - II: What India's ITU Proposal May Mean for Internet Governance (Geetha Hariharan; November 1, 2014).
India's Statement at ITU Plenipotentiary Conference, 2014 (Geetha Hariharan; November 4, 2014).

Newspaper Article

The Socratic debate: Whose internet is it anyway? (Pranesh Prakash; Economic Times; November 18, 2014).

News & Media Coverage
CIS gave its inputs to the following media coverage:

Twitter users find several accounts suspended for unknown reasons (Vasudha Venugopal; Economic Times; November 2, 2014).
Several Indian Twitter users' accounts suspended due to tech glitch (Silky Malhotra; digit; November 3, 2014).
Game release cancelled over gay character (Jaison Lewis; Mumbai Mirror; November 19, 2014).
Leave the Net Alone (Businessworld; November 25, 2014).

Digital Humanities

CIS is building research clusters in the field of Digital Humanities. The Digital will be used as a way of unpacking the debates in humanities and social sciences and look at the new frameworks, concepts and ideas that emerge in our engagement with the digital. The clusters aim to produce and document new conversations and debates that shape the contours of Digital Humanities in Asia:

Blog Entry

Mapping Digital Humanities in India - Concluding Thoughts (P.P.Sneha; November 30, 2014).

About CIS

The Centre for Internet and Society is a non-profit research organization that works on policy issues relating to freedom of expression, privacy, accessibility for persons with disabilities, access to knowledge and IPR reform, and openness (including open government, FOSS, open standards, etc.), and engages in academic research on digital natives and digital humanities.

► Follow us elsewhere

Twitter: https://twitter.com/CISA2K
Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/cisa2k
Visit us at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/India_Access_To_Knowledge
E-mail: a2k@cis-india.org

► Support Us

Please help us defend consumer / citizen rights on the Internet! Write a cheque in favour of 'The Centre for Internet and Society' and mail it to us at No. 194, 2nd 'C' Cross, Domlur, 2nd Stage, Bengaluru - 5600 71.

► Request for Collaboration:

We invite researchers, practitioners, and theoreticians, both organisationally and as individuals, to collaboratively engage with Internet and society and improve our understanding of this new field. To discuss the research collaborations, write to Sunil Abraham, Executive Director, atsunil@cis-india.org or Nishant Shah, Director - Research, at nishant@cis-india.org. To discuss collaborations on Indic language Wikipedia, write to T. Vishnu Vardhan, Programme Director, A2K, at vishnu@cis-india.org.

CIS is grateful to its primary donor the Kusuma Trust founded by Anurag Dikshit and Soma Pujari, philanthropists of Indian origin for its core funding and support for most of its projects. CIS is also grateful to its other donors, Wikimedia Foundation, Ford Foundation, Privacy International, UK, Hans Foundation, MacArthur Foundation, and IDRC for funding its various projects.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/about/newsletters/november-2014-bulletin

Know thy selfie

praskrishna — 2015-08-05T01:23:12Z

The trend of clicking selfies is not a mere self-indulgent fad. It's a modern form of peer validation that helps in building a social bond, say Prasun Chaudhuri and Sharmistha Ghosal

The article was published in the Telegraph on November 27, 2014. Nishant Shah and Rohini Lakshane were quoted.

Ever since her father gifted her an expensive smartphone, Anwesha Ray, a third year student at a Calcutta college, can't stop clicking selfies. First, she started uploading selfies on her Facebook page once a week. But the growing number of 'likes' inspired her to capture more images. Now she clicks at least five pictures a day and changes her profile picture at least twice a week. She deletes a picture within hours if it fails to garner at least 200 'likes' from over 4,000 friends.

Rohit Chattopadhyay, a third year student at an engineering college in south Calcutta, mastered the art of taking selfies and editing them courtesy Instagram. He uploads at least a couple of self-portraits a day. Sometimes he works well past midnight chasing that "perfect" shot.

Aliah Shamim, a second year student at a top Calcutta college, loves to click selfies with friends and family. However, she shares them only with her close contacts on Facebook and WhatsApp.

Welcome to the world of selfie-engrossed teenagers ready to do anything to get that perfect self-portrait. In every college you'll find students who are mad about selfies. Anwesha knows her obsession leads to her "wasting a lot of time", but she can't kick her habit of clicking selfies.

"I simply love those 'likes' on Facebook. It gives me a feeling of deja vu. I feel as if I'm a celebrity," she says a tad sheepishly. "Just imagine how many admirers I have," says Rohit proudly showing a particular top shot of his face which has garnered 602 'likes'.

Are these students really being too self indulgent? Or is it just their way of getting endorsement of their self worth? Dr Shefali Batra, founder, Mind Frames, a psychiatric clinic in Mumbai, feels the act of taking selfies is a way of feeling "empowered" as students attempt to compensate for their lack of self worth in the real world. According to her, the selfie obsession borders on narcissism — an excessive interest in or admiration of oneself and one's physical appearance — and clouds their judgement; they fail to see the real world.

She is worried because she's been getting quite a few teen patients who are obsessed with selfies. Although not as extreme as a 15-year-old girl from Philippines who died after falling down the stairs while taking a selfie or a Russian teen who plunged to his death after trying to take a selfie atop a railway bridge, she is scared the trend might catch on in India.

Calcutta-based psychiatrist J.R. Ram too is concerned about the increasing number of selfie-obsessed teens in his clinic. He says, "Last week, I met a 13-year-old girl who stole money to get a haircut like pop singer Rihanna. Her parents were worried but she was nonchalant as her portrait got 167 'likes' on a social networking site."

According to Ram, selfies are the modern day equivalent of a reflection in a pool which led mythological Greek hunter Narcissus to drown in a stream as he was enamoured of his own image. "The virtual image is more important to these teenagers than the real one," he avers.

Agrees Rima Mukherjee, a psychiatrist based in Calcutta. "Virtual appreciation means a lot to these kids and it doesn't matter if most of the 'likes' they get on social networking sites are fake," she says. According to her, the trend is pushing some youths to compete with their friends to garner more 'likes'. "If a friend's picture gets more 'likes' students feel compelled to go on an overdrive to shoot and upload more selfies," she notes.

Take the case of Ashmita Dasgupta. "I make it a point to score quality 'likes,' unlike Anwesha [her classmate]. I don't go on adding random friends to maximise the 'likes'," she says.

As an associate dean at Praxis B-school, Calcutta, Charanpreet Singh has a ringside view of student behaviour and activities. He says, "These kids do have a large network of friends but the relationships are very superficial. The so-called 'likes' don't come from the heart and mean nothing." He's also observes that those students who don't have many real world friends are more active on social networking sites. "They vie for appreciation out of emotional insecurity."

Some argue that this trend of clicking and uploading selfies has been fuelled by the celebrity culture. Says Aroona Broota, a former professor of psychology in Delhi University, "Some teenagers are inspired by celebs who frequently click selfies to promote themselves. The kids fail to understand that for the celebrities it's a shrewd way of marketing themselves or advertising a product." Also, for some, clicking selfies has become an escape route from the daily drudgery and frustrations that one face in real life such as scoring low marks in exams, having no job or other personal problems.

But not all psychiatrists or psychologists feel that the trend is scary. Zena Deb, a Calcutta-based clinical psychologist, finds nothing wrong with students clicking selfies unless their obsession leads them to taking risks such as shooting from the top of a building or a cliff.

Deb, a mother of an 18-year-old girl says, "Most do this to seek attention and get some validation from peers. It doesn't matter if one is ugly or pretty — you can seek a certificate for your self-worth and you get it so easily on a social network." For a teenager such 'peer review' is of utmost importance and it must not be confused with narcissism.

Ali Khwaja, founder of counselling centre Banjara Academy, Bangalore, too feels narcissism is too strong a word to describe the trend. "With a strong medium at their disposal they want to spread the message that they want to be different, creative and adventurous. They hope to expand their contacts and create an identity," he says.

Nishant Shah, co-founder of the Centre for Internet and Society, Bangalore, feels the act of taking selfies is a networking phenomena. He says, "These are meant for creating interesting routes of connectivity with a photographic object that goes beyond individualistic relationships. It forms social and cultural capital for youths."

Rohini Lakshané, a researcher at the CIS, believes we are living in times where users of social media, especially "digital natives" find it rewarding to constantly promote themselves in their chosen ways and forms through these channels. She says, "The selfie often circumvents the artistic pursuit of making a self portrait. Instead it tries to make a spectacle or testimony that the selfie-taker was indeed present at a certain place, at a certain time, in a certain attire or mood, and (perhaps) in the company of certain people." According to her, selfie-takers enjoy control over how the photos turn out to be, how they look in the photo, and the time and social network in which such a photo is published — all of which are 'advantages' over having someone else take their photos or being shot candidly. She adds, "While I would consider the act of taking several selfies self-indulgent, I am not sure if it qualifies as narcissistic."

They have the tools of self-expression which their parents didn't have, says Kaustuv Sengupta, a youth trend analyst and an associate professor at NIFT, Bangalore. "This is a more expressive generation which wants to become more visible," he says. As a panel member of a youth survey — called Millennial Paradox — conducted by Titan Industries last year, he found that despite the unprecedented levels of self-obsession and independence, India's millennnials (21-35 year old) do not operate in isolation — they have a strong desire to share and belong to a community. "Sharing has become the principle form of validation....everything requires endorsement — whether that takes the form of a 'friend' a 'like' or even a 'retweet", concludes the survey, describing the new trend as "collective individualism".

For the current generation of digital natives, endorsements in the virtual world matter more than the feedback they get from the real world, says Dr Subhrangshu Aditya, a student counsellor at Jadavpur University. "The real world — parents, guardians and other authorities — doesn't approve of the 'Kiss of Protest' movement against moral policing, but it is appreciated by their virtual friends," he observes.

Nishant Shah of CIS points out that social media are a potent tool for today's youngsters. These can be used as a political weapon when they identify crises in their immediate environment. And all the recent movements across the world — anti-corruption or the post-gangrape protests in India, occupy Wall Street in the US or Shahbag protests — have originated in the digital world. More power to the social media, we say.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/the-telegraph-november-27-2014-know-thy-selfie

Introduction: About the Privacy and Surveillance Roundtables

manoj — 2014-11-27T13:34:56Z

The Privacy and Surveillance Roundtables is a Centre for Internet and Society (CIS) initiative, in partnership with the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), as well as local partners. The Roundtable will be closed-door deliberation involving multiple stakeholders. Through the course of these discussions we aim to deliberate upon the current legal framework for surveillance in India, and discuss possible frameworks for surveillance in India.

The provisions of the draft CIS Privacy Bill 2013, the International Principles on the Application of Human Rights to Communication Surveillance, and the Report of the Group of Experts on Privacy will be used as background material and entry points into the discussion. The recommendations and dialogue from each roundtable will be compiled and submitted to the Department of Personnel and training.

The third Privacy and Surveillance Roundtable was held in New Delhi at the India International Centre by the Centre for Internet and Society in collaboration with the Cellular Operators Association of India and Vahura, legal Partner on the 1^st of September, 2014.

The aim of the discussion was to gain inputs on what would constitute an ideal surveillance regime in India working with theCIS Draft Privacy Protection Bill, the Report of the Group of Experts on Privacy prepared by the Justice Shah committee, and the International Principles on the Application of Human Rights to Communications Surveillance.

Background and Context: Privacy and Surveillance in India

The discussion began with the chair giving an overview of the legal framework that governs communications interception under Indian Law in the interest of the participants since many were there for the first time.

The legal system to govern the manner in which communications are intercepted in India are defined under three main acts

1. Interception of Telephonic Calls : The Telegraph Act 1885

2. Interception of Posts : The Indian Post Office Act,1898

3. Interception of Electronic communication like e-mails etc :The IT Act, 2000

While the interception of postal mail is governed by Section 26 of the Post Office Act, 1898, the interception of modern forms of communication that use electronic information and traffic data are governed under Sections 69 and 69B of the Information Technology Act, 2000, while interception of telephonic conversations are governed by section 5(2) of the Indian Telegraph Act 1885 and subsequent rules under section 419A.

The main discussion of the meeting revolved around the Telegraph Act since it is the main Act which covers the interception of telecommunications. In 1968 the 30th Law Commission Report studying Section 5(2) of this Act came to the conclusion that the standards in the Act may be unconstitutional given factors such as 'public emergency' & 'public safety' were too wide in nature and called for a relook at the provision.

Objective of Round Table Meetings

The objective of the round table meetings is to, be prepared with the proposals on the Privacy Bill which the new government intends to split into separate Bill for Surveillance and Data privacy. Thus these submissions once out in the public domain would further deliberate more discussion and shape the course of the Bill.

Discussion

Authorisation

The chair initiated the discussion continuing from the last meeting about the two models of authorisation for Interception 1. The Judiciary & 2. The Executive

The chair explained why the earlier proposed Judiciary based model, based on the efficient experience of separation of power, would not fit into the Indian context. The main reason for this being that the lower judiciary in India is not competent enough to take decisions of this nature. Providing examples, the chair explained how in many cases the lower Judiciary overlooks essential human rights in their decisions, and such rights are only addressed when the case is appealed in Higher courts. While participants felt that High Court judges would be favourable, it was expressed that the immense backlog at the High Court level and the lack of judges is a challenge and risks being inefficient. Thus an additional responsibility for the High Court would not be a feasible model. Furthermore, adopting a judicial based model would mean that the existing model of executive would need to be entirely replaced. Owing to these practical implementation issues consensus was built over adoption of the existing executive model, but with more safeguards.

Safeguards proposed:

1. A redressal tribunal: Establishing a tribunal for the redressal of interception complaints. The tribunal could be a non-active body. Such a model would be different from other models adopted around the world - for example e in UK a designated tribunal suo-motu reviews cases on a regular basis. The tribunal could also have judicial review authority, to which one of the participants raised an issue that the tribunals usually will not have the power of Judicial review, however the chair assured him that the delegation of Judicial review to a tribunal does exist in Indian law.

2. A review commission: Establishing a commission to review the interceptions carried out on the orders of home secretary. For such an overseeing body, the commissioner should be appointed independently. The commissioner must be a Judge or a senior Lawyer and should report to the Parliament.

Content data and Metadata

In the next session the chair explained the difference between content data and metadata while initiating discussion on provisions addressing them in the proposed Bill. Content data, also called as payload data, is the actual content of the communication which takes place between X and Y.

Example 1: In the VOIP call the voice is packetized and sent in different packets to the destination, the content of that packet is the content data whereas the information of this content i.e the header, footer and checksum of the packet is the metadata.

Example 2: In the serial communication of the normal phone call the content data will be what the communication happened between two or more people over the call and the metadata will be who were involved in the call, on what date and time the call was made from which place, and under which tower.

It was noted that generally it is easier to intercept metadata than content data. In the proposed bill, section 2 (C) refers to the definition of content data and section 2(E) to metadata.

Participants also pointed out that often it is with metadata that concerned governmental authorities are able to carry out tracking. Thus, when determining procedural safeguards for surveillance - and specifically for interception - the question of whether or not content data and meta data should be treated the same under law must be addressed. Participants suggested looking into German laws, which have procedure to deal with this question. Despite differences over the exact level of protection meta data should legally be afforded, participants agreed that a higher authority should be responsible for the interception, collection, and access to metadata and content data.

In India, because the existing legal framework in India has different standards for different modes of communication, it is proposed that a uniform legal framework be created by harmonizing the three Acts through amendments or overriding existing legislation regulating surveillance in India, and establishing a new framework under a Privacy legislation.

Big Data, Cloud & OTT

In this session a participant raised the issue of Big data and Cloud services, and asked whether the CIS Privacy Protection Bill or the draft Privacy Bill from the government addresses this issue. This question was of particular relevance because a number of the cloud data centres are located in locations outside India. Thus a question of jurisdiction arises. The participant opined that in the coming years and with the new government's vision to have space for every citizen in cloud and data localisation being priority, he stressed that the Bill should clearly address issues related to the cloud, big data, outsourcing, and questions of jurisdiction. Responding to this the chair was of the view that the crimes committed outside the territory of India come under Extra-territorial law, section 4 of IPC and Section 188 Cr. P.C. But it was noted that due to the fact that the crime is committed outside the territory of India, despite the provision, it is practically not implementable unless there is a contract between countries or a treaty signed. The solution could be data localisation, hosting the cloud servers in India, but that again has its own pros & cons. In response participants indicated that if a choice had to be made about data localization - the best option would be one that would be economical for Indian business and the government.

OTT (Over the Top) Services

Another participant brought to the notice of the meeting that most of the networks of service provider's are adopting IP (Internet Protocol). In the context of surveillance, this means that for an interception to take place, Deep Packet Inspection (DPI) must be adopted by service providers. This is currently placing a burden on service providers, as it is costly and the connection time of the calls for the number under surveillance increases - though not enough to be noticed by customers.

Telephone Tapping Process

In India the process of intercepting telephones can be broken down into the following three steps:

1. Authorization

a. The Home Secretary issues an authorization for an interception request.

b. The Authorization is handed over to Police Officer in charge of the investigation.

c. The Police Officer serves the order to the nodal officer in the relevant service provider.

2. The service provider conducts the interception.

3. The intercepted data is handed over to the Police officer.

Under Rule 419A, a committee to review the authorization exists, comprising of officials such as the Cabinet Secretary, Secretary of the Department of Telecommunications, Secretary of the Department of Law and Justice and the Secretary of Information Technology and Communication ministry at the Centre and the Chief Secretary, the Law Secretary and an officer not below the rank of a Principal secretary at the State level.

Since the current infrastructure of telecom and broadband is with private service providers, the government is dependent on service providers to carry out surveillance. As national security is a concern of the government and because in the past intercepted material has been leaked by various sources, the government has proposed to replace the existing system. In this regard the government has proposed to set up a Central Monitoring System (CMS) for the interception of voice and data communications.

It is proposed that the CMS infrastructure will be positioned at the service provider's facilities, and will allow governmental agencies to directly intercept traffic on the network of service providers - thus there would no longer be a need for the government to reply on service providers to carry out interception requests. During the meeting it was discussed how this system has pros & cons

Pros

1. For private companies it eliminates an entire level of compliance.

2. It will reduce the possibility of unlawful, extra legal, & fraudulent authorizations of interception requests.

3. The interception carried out would be maintained in a log, which would clearly recorded, making the interception process becomes accountable.

Cons

1. Even though the existing system gives room for leaks, ironically it is the only way through which a person who is tapped will come to know, hence accounting for some transparency eg: Nira Radia & Amar Singh phone Tap case.

2. CMS will be built upon an existing interception framework, which is not procedurally fair - because of issues such as Internal Authorization, Adhoc procedure, that it is not under the ambit of RTI etc. This will result in a system with no transparency and accountability.

To this last point the Chair noted that in 2011 there were 7.5 Lakh phone taps by a single agency which was reportedly illegal. In an attempt to minimize such brazen violations a Privacy Bill is mooted and the round table conference is a step towards making it possible.

Immunity to TSP's & ISP's

Participants also raised the issue of difficulties that TSPs face while engaged in the process of interception, as they are caught between the customers and government authorities and subjected to harassment sometimes. This places service providers in a position where they must often make a number of compromises as they are expected to store traffic data for a specified period of time, but sometimes a judge might ask for access to data that is dated past the specific retention period. In such a scenario, service providers must provide it by accessing backup data.

The question of who should be the custodian of intercepted data was raised by participants as well as who should be held accountable if intercepted data is leaked into the public domain. The chair responded that the officers investigating the case should be held accountable for the intercepted data. This would be analogous to the system under the Right to Information Act whereby the Information officer is named and held accountable for the data or information he provides. Similarly, for the case of intercepted material, an officer should be named and held accountable for the data and ensuring that it reaches those that it is legally intended to.

It was also expressed that a market regulator, responsible for the safeguarding the interest of communication service providers, could be appointed for handling the personal data. Such a role could be merged with the traditional role of a Data Protection Authority and could be the first step towards an information security and assurance regime.

Legal immunity given to service providers was also discussed, as there was a general concern about the position service providers find themselves in - being held legally liable for not complying with orders from the government and being taken to court by citizens.

Format of Interception Orders and Interception as a service

A question was also posed to participants about what information ideally - apart from the intended duration of the order - should be incorporated into interception orders. Participants suggested that the order should be as specific and precise as possible, which the existing format to a large extent confirms. On the topic, a participant noted that in some cases, despite DoPT guidelines, interception orders are issued in regional languages. This can pose as a problem as the nodal officer might not know the language, thus leading to possible ambiguity & misinterpretation of the order. Participants suggested that orders should be in English.

Participants also pointed out that in most European countries - like France and Italy - a fee for the compliance cost arising out of implementing an interception order is paid to service providers by the government. In India, huge costs are involved in carrying out interceptions which service providers presently have to bare. As law enforcement and security agencies ask for more and more accuracy in surveillance, the charges of carrying out surveillance. To address this, participants suggested that interception as a service should be accommodated in the proposed Bill.

Conclusion

The discussions in the Surveillance and Privacy Roundtable in New Delhi mainly revolved around the authorization model and the process of interception. Overall, participants agreed on an organised executive model with an established accountability and review system. Also discussed was how to ensure that service providers are legally protected from disproportionate and unwarranted penalties. Towards this, the interception process should be viewed as a service rather than an obligation.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/introduction-about-the-privacy-and-surveillance-roundtables

Leave the Net Alone

praskrishna — 2014-12-07T04:12:40Z

The Internet, like the air we breathe, has traditionally been neutral ground. Nobody is allowed to buy preferential treatment on the Internet.

This story was published in BW | Businessworld Issue Dated 15-12-2014. Sunil Abraham gave his inputs.

“The Internet is currently not broke, and the FCC is out to fix it,” began John Oliver, American talk-show host and comedian, introducing his show’s discussion on Net neutrality. America’s telecom regulator Federal Communications Council (FCC) had just proposed allowing Internet carriers to give preference on their network to websites in exchange for a fee.

For example, in an Indian context, if BW| Businessworld was to, hypothetically, pay Airtel a fee, and Airtel were to, in turn, give priority access to the website, it might be natural to argue that eventually, Airtel subscribers would prefer BW|Businessworld’s website over its rivals’.

The Internet, like the air we breathe, has traditionally been neutral ground. Nobody (read, no corporate) is allowed to buy preferential treatment on the Internet. “The point of Net neutrality is that on the Internet you cannot have discrimination on where the information is originating from or who is the consumer,” says Mihir Parikh, partner at law firm Nishith Desai Associates. He compares it to telephone networks where calls get connected on a first-come basis. Nobody has a predominant right over call connections.

And that is exactly what the FCC’s proposals threatens to change, by allowing American carriers such as Verizon or Comcast to charge a fee to give priority on their network to fee payers, like, for example, Daily Motion, which would then get an advantage over rival YouTube. On 10 September, several websites including Mozilla and Netflix deliberately slowed down their sites to show how a slow Internet would look like. Last week, US president Barack Obama put his weight behind a free Internet, where nobody can pay ‘their way up’. The FCC will make its final recommendations next year.

While an Indian browsing the Net is not likely to be affected by the FCC recommendations, it is possible that the transmission of less favoured US-based websites do not get priority, thereby slowing access to them, says Parikh.

But the episode calls attention to the picture in India. “There are no specific laws that speak to the Net neutrality situation in India,” says Sunil Abraham of Centre for Internet Security. So it could be possible that carriers are already censoring speeds to certain services that take up heavy bandwidth. Slow speeds for torrent downloads are an example. Abraham calls for crowd sourced, technically sound research to explore whether carriers are engaging in such practices, as a prelude to petitioning the government for enlightened regulation.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/businessworld-november-25-2014-leave-the-net-alone

Game release cancelled over gay character

praskrishna — 2014-11-22T00:24:32Z

Electronic Arts stops accepting preorders for Dragon Age: Inquisition.

The article by Jaison Lewis was published in Mumbai Mirror on November 19, 2014. Pranesh Prakash gave his inputs.

In a city where just about any kid above the age of five who can afford to do so has played Grand Theft Auto, with its profusion of violence and profanity, it appears unlikely that a game would ever be withdrawn from release owing to explicit content. But when Electronic Arts (EA), creators of several such titles, decide to cancel the release of a game in India because it features a gay character and sequences of gay sex, there are bound to be fiery debates about censorship, moral policing, and the prevalence of gratuitous violence in games.

EA have withdrawn pre-orders for Dragon Age: Inquisition, a role playing franchise in which you play a character that you create - one such role is that of Dorian, who is gay and who is featured in sequences involving gay sex. EA is now in the process of refunding the money (Rs 3,499 for the standard edition (PC) and Rs 4,000 for the collectors' edition (PC)) that gamers in India paid to have access to Dragon Age when it is released on November 21.

Milestone Interactive, the company that distributes EA titles in India, has cancelled several pre-orders for the game that were booked through their website. However, a bulk of the PC pre-orders were made on EA's Origin software, a Windows application that lets gamers buy and play games directly from the company. Electronic Arts issued the following official statement to its Origin users in India, Bangladesh and Pakistan. "In order to avoid a breach of local content laws, EA has withdrawn Dragon Age: Inquisition from sale in India and the game is no longer available for pre-order. Customers who pre-ordered the game will be contacted directly and will be fully refunded."

Though the local laws that applied were not mentioned, several online websites managed to obtain reactions from EA that implied the game's homosexual content was to blame, with mention of Section 377, which criminalises gay sex.

The Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB), a self-regulatory organisation based in New York, has classified Dragon Age as Mature, and, according to their online rating information, it "includes some sexual material: a female character briefly depicted in front of a man's torso (fellatio is implied); characters depicted topless or with exposed buttocks while lying in bed or after sex; some dialogue referencing sex/sexuality. The words "f**k," "sh*t," and "a*shole" appear in dialogue."

LGBT rights activist Aditya Bandopadhyay, said he believes EA could have withdrawn the game under pressure from the government.

"Self-censorship by corporations is even more insidious than censorship by the government, since the latter can be challenged in courts and has to abide within the limits set out within Article 19 of the Constitution, the former cannot be challenged at all except morally, "said Pranesh Prakash, member, The centre for internet and society.

"There can be no defence offered to the offensive instance of self-censorship by Electronic Arts, and is a slap against the fight by the LGBTQ community in India against oppressive colonial laws and mores. As Vikram Seth put it, it is homophobia that came into India, not homosexuality. It is homophobia that is unnatural and which militates against Indian morality. Under Article 19(1)(a), the government can be read to have a positive obligation to ensure an environment where freedom of speech and expression is guaranteed, so I call upon the government to speak out against the decision taken by Electronic Arts, " added Prakash.

"By way of legal background: Homosexuality as a gender identity is not illegal in India, while there is a case pending in the Supreme Court as to the criminality of engaging in 'unnatural' sexual intercourse. This law cannot possibly be read to hold that the public display of homosexuality in art is unlawful," he said

EA representatives were unwilling to discuss the game or the reasons for it being withdrawn from the market in India. "We are going to decline any further info beyond our statement," a spokesperson said.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/mumbai-mirror-november-19-2014-jaison-lewis-game-release-cancelled-over-gay-character

IOCOSE's talk at CIS

praskrishna — 2014-11-25T01:02:24Z

Please join us at the Centre for Internet and Society in Bangalore on Thursday, November 27, 2014 at 7 p.m. for a presentation of the work of the artists group IOCOSE, current artists in residence at T.A.J./SKE Residency.

What is the life of a drone 'in times of peace'? What are the creative potential of a drone? Drones do not have such a thing as a ‘life’. But what if?

The title of our project, 'In Times of Peace' refers to Paul Virilio's theory of logistics (Pure War, 1983).

Quoting an article published by the Pentagon in late '40s, the theorist highlighted the fact that the text presented logistics as the procedure for which the potential of a nation lies in its armed forces, 'in times of peace' as in times of war.

But what does it mean to live 'in times of peace'? And what does this mean for a drone?”

The talk will open with the announcement of the winner of the NoTube Contest 2014 which will be held at the Sree Venkateshwara Cyber Cafe in Bangalore on the very same day.

IOCOSE

IOCOSE is a collective of four artists who has been working in Italy and Europe since 2006. It organises actions in order to subvert ideologies, practices and processes of identification and production of meanings. It uses pranks and hoaxes as tactical means, as joyful and sound tools. IOCOSE thinks about the streets, internet and word of mouth as a battlefield. Tactics such as mimesis and trickery are used to lead and delude the audience into a semantic pitfall. IOCOSE’s work has been shown internationally, such as at Jeu de Paume (Paris, France; 2011); Tate Modern (London, UK; 2011), Festival Nrmal, (Monterrey, Mexico; 2011); Furtherfield Gallery (London, UK; 2012); Venice Biennal (Italy; 2011), Macro (Rome, Italy; 2012); CLICK Festival (Helsingor, Denmark; 2013); Science gallery (Dublin, Ireland, 2012), http://www.iocose.org

T.A.J. RESIDENCY & SKE PROJECTS

T.A.J. RESIDENCY & SKE PROJECTS is a residency program established in 2013 as a collaborative project between a visual artist and a gallerist. Intended as an interdisciplinary residency, it has already hosted visual artists, curators, academics, scientists, fiction writers and journalists. There is always one visual artist in residence. The residency program is also open to applicants from the fields of architecture, design, music, film, performing arts and education, http://t-a-j.in

Marialaura Ghidini

Marialaura is a curator, researcher and writer. She is the founder director of or-bits.com since 2009. Currently she is AHRC-doctoral researcher with CRUMB (Curatorial Upstart Media Bliss) at the University of Sunderland. Based in London, UK, from Brescia, Italy. She can be contacted at mlghidini@gmail.com

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/events/iocose-talk-at-cis

Privacy, security and surveillance: tackling international dilemmas and dangers in the digital realm

praskrishna — 2014-12-15T12:56:49Z

Pranesh Prakash was a panelist in the session "Beyond the familiar: how do other countries deal with security and surveillance oversight?" The event was organized by Wilton Park between November 17 and 19, 2014.

Complete details of the programme can be accessed here.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/wilton-park-november-17-19-privacy-security-surveillance