We are anonymous, we are legion

Untangling the web of India's 'ungovernable' Net

praskrishna — 2013-04-16T06:06:20Z

India sells itself as a tech hub, outsourcing IT experts to the world. At home, it dreams of "equity on the Net." But millions remain unconnected and digital surveillance is on the rise.

This was published in Deutsche Welle on April 15, 2013. Sunil Abraham is quoted.

The Indian government has a dream. It dreams of the "Equinet" - a time when "there shall be equity on the Net."

"The Internet must not just be a platform for the privileged - the Internet must become an inclusive platform," India's communications minister Kapil Sibal says. "In fact, my vision is that the Internet should ultimately become the Equinet. In other words, all those, no matter which station in life they belong to, should have access to the Internet, and that can only happen if all the elements of the Internet are such that people can access them at affordable costs."

India has the third highest number of people on the Net, with about 150 million people connected.

But with a population of 1.2 billion, 150 million is not that many. Internet penetration languishes at around 10 percent, while in the United States and China - the top two countries in world rankings - Internet penetration is at 78 and 40 percent, respectively.

Like in America… in 1994

It's a fact that Google chairman Eric Schmidt highlighted on a recent tour of India, among other Asian countries.

"The Internet feels [in India] like in America in 1994," he says. "It is crucial for India to invest and enable fast fiber Internet connectivity within the country, between the country and the other countries."


While touring Asia, Schmidt said India seemed to have "rested on its laurels" after early success in the IT sector

You would think that connectivity would be better in India. The country prides itself on being a tech hub, with its centers of excellence in places like Bangalore. It has outsourced information technology specialists globally for over ten years.

Communications minister Sibal insists the government is investing where it can, saying India will connect 250,000 villages with fiber optics in the "next year or so."

"The networks should be in place, the fiber optics should be in place, [connectivity] should be efficient and of high speed, and above all, the access to handsets, which is really the key - unless handsets are affordable and accessible to ordinary people, you will not get the kind of penetration that you want from the Internet," he adds.

However, for some, there are even greater challenges for India than poor connectivity and bad infrastructure.

All eyes on you

In mid-March, police in India's financial capital Mumbai launched the country's first "Social Media Lab."

Mumbai police say they will use it to monitor and track "which topics are trending among the youth so [they] can plan law and order in a good way."

The Mumbai Social Media Lab comes amid concerns over "moral policing" of the Net by Indian authorities, and censorship - especially where comments involve political figures. The Times of India reports numerous requests by authorities to have content removed by Google and Twitter. There have also been arrests under the remit of a controversial section - 66A - of India's IT Act.

Sibal denies India wants to censor the Net. If people have been arrested under Section 66A of the IT Act, it's because police officials have either misread the law, or acted independently, he says.

"Yes, but I would say, from where does this emanate? Does it emanate with a complete understanding at the top?" asks V.C. Vivekanandan, director of the Institute of Global Internet Governance and Advocacy.


Indian communications minister Kapil Sibal says "Internet governance is an oxymoron"

"There are various, multiple layers of governance in a huge country like India, where people could be enthusiastic in their own way about thinking what is right and wrong," says Vivekanandan. "So, I don't really see censorship as such, but they would like to have discourse in a model which was pre-Internet."

Tracking private lives

But in other areas, India is showing itself to be very comfortable in the Internet age - and where it has its eyes fixed on the future.

"From what I can tell, the social media monitoring cell in Mumbai is perhaps one of the more benign components because it isn't keeping track of private communications," says Sunil Abraham, executive director of the Centre for Internet and Society (CIS) in Bangalore.

However, the Indian government plans to track everybody's online activities - that means anything that uses the Internet as a communication network.

"There are very many other projects like the unique identification (UID) and the National Intelligence Grid (NATGRID) that will keep track of private communications," says Abraham.

The UID is the Indian government's centralized biometric identity management system, which will connect more than 20 databases that 12 intelligence and law enforcement agencies will be able to access.

"These databases include banking records, telecommunications records and travel records [among other things]," says Abraham. "So, it's a very large scale attempt by the Indian government to place citizens under 360 degree blanket surveillance."

Internet governance is an oxymoron

But how these moves square with Sibal's vision of the Equinet is hard to see.


This Delhi laywer, Mohit Sharma, is one of only 11 percent of Indians who are connected to the Internet

The communications minister believes Indians will not be dissuaded from using the Net.

"The fact that 150 million people are on the Net is evidence of the fact that they are not scared, and if you go to Twitter today, there are more abuses on Twitter than perhaps you can find anywhere else in the world," says Sibal.

That doesn't necessarily mean that the government thinks this is a good thing. But Sibal insists he is against Internet governance - in fact, he says "Internet governance is an oxymoron."

"How can you govern something that cannot be governed? Because anybody can say anything on the Net," says Sibal. "So, there should be an element of self-regulation. Just as we interact with each other in civilized society, similarly people on the Net should also interact with each other with self-restraint."

But the CIS's Sunil Abraham isn't convinced.

"If one listens very carefully to what the minister says, he says you cannot regulate the Internet. But you can regulate what citizens do on the Internet," he says. "You can regulate what corporations do on the Internet. And you can also regulate what the government does on the Internet."

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/news/d-w-april-15-2013-untangling-the-web-of-indias-ungovernable-net

Unpacking Data Protection Law: A Visual Representation

amber — 2018-02-15T13:22:00Z

This visual explainer unpacking data protection law was developed by Amber Sinha (research) and Pooja Saxena (design), and published as part of the Data Privacy Week celebrations on the Privacy International blog. Join the conversation on Twitter using #dataprivacyweek.

Cross-posted from Privacy International blog.

Credits: Flag illustrations, when not created by the authors, are from Ibrandify / Freepik.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/unpacking-data-protection-law-a-visual-representation

Unlike Facebook, Twitter is a ghost town for political ads in India so far

Aria Thaker — 2019-03-20T16:02:15Z

India’s politicians and political parties don’t seem to be buying ads on Twitter just yet, even as parties are pumping money into Facebook advertising.

The article by Aria Thaker was published in Quartz India on March 12, 2019. Elonnai Hickok was quoted.

As of yesterday (March 11), Indian content is now visible on Twitter’s Ad Transparency Centre: an archive that displays promoted tweets that have been run over the past week. Quartz searched the archive’s records to see if it showed any ads being run by major politicians and political parties, and could not find a single one. (The archive only permits you to search accounts individually—not to click to see all campaign ads at once. Quartz’s manual searches of dozens of politicians and political accounts did not yield any results, however.)

The only accounts seen to have run ads related to politics were media organisations, like television channel Times Now and news aggregation startup Dailyhunt.

Twitter has rolled out the initiative as part of its attempts to boost transparency ahead of India’s upcoming general election. Political campaign ads in the archive, Twitter says, will be accompanied by details about the demographics of audiences they are targeting. And if any promoted tweet is found to have violated Twitter’s rules, the transparency centre will list that it was suspended, and why.

Two days ago, the chief commissioner of the Election Commission of India (ECI) said that Twitter, along with Google, Facebook, and Youtube, has promised to ensure that all political ads on its platform will need to be pre-approved by the poll body’s media certification and monitoring panel.

In order to run political campaign ads, Twitter’s political content policy requires organisations to submit certain identification documents.

“The Transparency Ad Centre along with the Political Content Policy is a welcome step to bringing transparency to promoted and political promoted tweets,” Elonnai Hickock, chief operating officer of the Indian think tank The Centre for Internet and Society, told Quartz. “Going forward, it will be important to see how the system is enforced—identifying, categorising, and tagging content and accounts in violation of this framework.”

The Facebook comparison

While Twitter so far remains a ghost town for political ads, Facebook, which recently rolled out its own ad archive in India, is far from it. Many politics-related pages have spent handsomely on Facebook ads. In Facebook’s ad archive report for the period between February and March 2019, a total of more than Rs4.1 crore ($588,000) was spent on politics-related advertising. Around 70% of this advertising so far has come from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and BJP-affiliated groups.

Favouring Facebook over Twitter seems a rational choice, in most ways. Twitter has less than 35 million users in India, according to statistics portal Statista, while Facebook is thought to have around 300 million.

Twitter is also often thought of as an echo chamber for English-speaking elites—not the grassroots population. Those constituents are generally considered far more reachable through other technological means, including via Facebook, SMS, and WhatsApp.

Translucent, more than transparent

While it may yet be early to determine the overall usefulness of Twitter’s ad transparency centre, the simple comparison with Facebook’s archive shows several areas in which the microblogging platform could stand to be more transparent.

For general, non-political advertising, Twitter’s archive only displays promoted tweets that have run over the course of the past seven days. It is not clear what Twitter’s rationale is for cutting off access to ads after a week passes.

But for politics-related promoted tweets, Twitter plans to display the ads as well as targeting information indefinitely. “All certified political accounts on Twitter will have their ads displayed indefinitely on the Ads Transparency Center. Other information such as billing details, spend, targeting, etc. will also remain indefinitely,” a Twitter spokesperson clarified to Quartz.

The transparency centre also only includes promoted tweets—not in-stream video ads, which are another form of promoted content that can be used in India. “We are working to include other ad formats in the future,” Twitter’s frequently-asked-question section on the transparency centre reads.

But perhaps the most significant hindrance to genuine research on the transparency centre is the fact that it, unlike Facebook’s ad archive, cannot be searched for specific key terms used in ads. For example, while Facebook’s archive allows you to search for all ads that mention the words “prime minister Narendra Modi,” there is no way to run such a query on Twitter’s archive.

To see what politics-related ads are being run in India, one has to manually search through the ads from relevant accounts. The major issue with this is that, especially when it comes to social media advertising, it is not always political parties’ official accounts that run the most aggressive, or the most worrisome, advertising.

Say, for example, a little-known account—an unverified one, which is not outwardly affiliated with any particular politicians—started to run polarising, religion-related ads that helped a particular party. Twitter’s portal would not provide a simple way of helping a user discover this behaviour—exactly the sort of thing that a transparency resource should do.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/aria-thaker-quartz-india-march-12-2019-twitter-unlike-facebook-barely-carries-political-ads-in-india

Unique Identity Number (UID), National Population Register (NPR), and Governance

praskrishna — 2013-03-01T04:32:06Z

The Centre for Internet and Society and the Say No to UID campaign invite you to a workshop to discuss and learn about the present state of the UID and the NPR schemes. The event will be held on Saturday, March 2, 2013, at TERI, Bangalore, from 10.30 a.m. to 2.00 p.m.

Among other questions, the workshop will address:

What is the UID and NPR?
How do the UID and NPR impact citizenship?
Will NPR and UID schemes transform governance?
Why and how is national security linked with UID / NPR?
What is the relationship between UID and Big Data?

Speakers:

Usha Ramanathan, Independent Law Researcher and Human Rights Activist
Anant Maringanti, Hyderabad Urban Labs & Right to the City Foundation
Kaveri R, Researcher, CES, IISc

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/events/uid-and-npr

Unique Identity (UID) Project: A Debate on Fundamental Rights

praskrishna — 2011-04-05T04:08:17Z

A half day workshop on unique identity number and fundamental rights is being held on Friday, 16 April, 2010 at the Institute of Agricultural Technologists in Bangalore. The event is being co-organised by Citizen Action Forum, People's Union for Civil Liberties - Karnataka, Slum Janandolana – Karnataka, Alternative Law Forum and the Centre for Internet and Society.

In the past eight to ten months, there has been much talk about the introduction of the Unique Identification for all Indian residents, i.e., the UID. The scheme proceeds from the standpoint that solving the problem of identity will result in the fixing of many other social and economic problems. However, seen against the backdrop of work on a National Population Registry, the National Intelligence Grid and other schemes that focus on the collection of data on individuals, the potential dangers to privacy and other civil liberties need to be discussed along with the stated benefits of the UID project. Given that the key laws relating to the project are not yet enacted, this is a timely exercise and an opportunity to influence change.

While the project has been hailed as a 'gamechanger' and a welfare measure, many have expressed growing concerns about the UID and its implications for ordinary citizens. Many questions are being asked about the nature, status and aims of the scheme and its implementing authority. Countries such as the UK, Australia and the USA have found similar measures unworkable with serious probability of abuse. The cost of the UID scheme is estimated at several thousand crores of rupees. Given the risks that plague identity schemes generally, we felt the need to engage the larger public in an open debate about the UID and its proposed scope, implementation, benefits and risks. The UID would affect every citizen. How it would affect each individual is something everyone should consider before deciding how to engage with the government on this issue. With the viewpoint of different panelists, we hope to provide as much information as is available now to you and take the debate forward to make the spectrum of issues transparent. The organizers listed below would like to provide a platform to kickstart a healthy, open discussion about the potential benefits and pitfalls of the scheme. This event has been jointly organized by the Citizen Action Forum, People's Union for Civil Liberties-Karnataka, the Alternative Law Forum, and the Centre for Internet and Society.

Agenda

Social/Ethical Panel- 2:30-3:30 pm
Lead Presentation	Usha Ramanathan, Centre for the Study of Developing Societies
Panelist 1	Ashok Kamat, Pratham Books
Panelist 2	Dr. Dominic, Bangalore University
Moderator	Prof. Trilochan Sastry, IIM-B
Economics Panel- 3:30-4:30 pm
Lead Presentation	R. Ramakumar, Tata Institute of Social Sciences
Panelist 1	Mathew Thomas, Citizens Action Forum
Panelist 2	Nandana Reddy , Concerned for Working Children[*]
Moderator	Rajeev Gowda, IIM-B
Legal Panel- 4:30-5:30 pm
Lead Presentation	B K Chandrashekar, former Minister of Information, INC
Panelist 1	AN Jayaram, Former Additional Solicitor General of India and Advocate General
Panelist 2	Malavika Jayaram, Centre for Internet & Society
Panelist 3	AR Nizamuddin, Former Director General of Police
5:30-6:00 pm- Wrap-up moderated by Vinay Sreenivasa and close with tea, coffee and snacks

[*] = To be confirmed

Please contact/RSVP at

Ajoy Kumar / Radha Rao

Centre for Internet and Society

No.194, 2nd 'C' Cross,

Domlur 2nd Stage,

Bangalore 560071

P: +91 80 25350955

W: www.cis-india.org

E: ajoy@cis-india.org, radha@cis-india.org

M: +919845492122

Videos

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/events/unique-identity-project

Unique Identification Scheme (UID) & National Population Register (NPR), and Governance

elonnai — 2014-04-30T05:03:51Z

This post examines the UID, NPR and Governance as it exists in India. The background note gives a summary of what is the NPR, the legal grounding of NPR, its objectives, and the information which could be collected under the NPR. The post also throws light on the UID, its objectives, process of enrollment in UID, how UID is being adopted by different states in India, and finally the differences and controversies in UID and NPR.

This research was undertaken as part of the 'SAFEGUARDS' project that CIS is undertaking with Privacy International and IDRC.

Video

The above video is from the "UID, NPR, and Governance" conference held on March 2, 2013 at TERI, Bangalore.

What is the NPR?
In 2010, the Government of India initiated the NPR which entails the creation of the National Citizens Register. This register is being prepared at the local, sub-district, district, state and national level. The database will contain thirteen categories of demographic information and three categories of biometric data collected from all residents aged five and above. Collection of this information was initially supposed to take place during the House listing and Housing Census phase of Census 2011 during April 2010 to September 2010.[1]

What is the legal grounding of the NPR?
The NPR is legally grounded in the provisions of the Citizenship Act, 1955 and the Citizenship Rules 2003. It is mandatory for every usual resident in India to register in the NPR as per Section 14A of the Citizenship Act, 1955, as amended in 2004. The collection of biometrics is not accounted for in the statute or rules.

What are the objectives of the NPR?
The objectives of the NPR as stated by the Citizenship Act is for the creation of a National Citizen Register. The National Citizen Register is intended to assist in improving security by checking for illegal migration. Additional objectives that have been articulated include: providing services to the residents under government schemes and programmes, checking for identity frauds, and improving planning.[2]

What is the process of enrollment for the NPR?
NPR enrollment is being carried out through house to house canvassing. The Office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner, India has assigned Department of Information Technology (DIT) the responsibility of collecting and digitizing demographic data in 17 states and 2 Union Territories of India.[2] Collected information will then be printed and displayed in the local area where it is scrutinized by local officers and vetted by local bodies called ´Gram Sabha/Ward Committees´.[4] This process of social audit is meant to bring in transparency, equity, and ensure accuracy.

What information will be collected under the NPR?
The NPR database will include thirteen categories of demographic information and three categories of biometrics. The collection biometrics has not been provided for in the text of the Citizenship Rules, and is instead appears to be authorized through guidelines,[5] which do not have statutory backing. Currently, two iris scans, ten fingerprints, and a photograph are being collected. According to a 2010 Committee note, only the photograph and fingerprints were initially envisioned to be collected.

What is the Resident Identity Card?
The proposed Resident Identity card is a smart card with a micro-processor chip of 6.4 Kb capacity; the demographic and biometric attributes of each individual will be personalized in this chip. The UID number will be placed on the card as well. Currently, the government is only considering the possibility of distributing smart cards to all residents over the age of 18.[6]

What is the UID?
The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) was established in January 2009 and is part of the Planning Commission of India. UIDAI aims to provide a unique 12 digit ID number to all residents in India on a voluntary basis. The number will be known as AADHAAR. The UIDAI will own and operate a Unique Identification Number database which will contain biometric and demographic data of citizens.[7]

What is the objective of the UID?
According to the UIDAI, the UID will provide identity for individuals. The scheme has been promoted by the UIDAI as enabling a number of social benefits including improving the public distribution system, enabling financial inclusion, and improving the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS). Despite these benefits, the UIDAI only guarantees identity, and does not guarantee rights, benefits or entitlement.[8]

What is the process for enrollment in the UID?
To enroll in the UID, individuals must go to enrollment centers with the appropriate documentation. Once documents are verified and biometrics taken, individuals will receive an acknowledgment slip and their UID number will be sent in the mail.[9] The UIDAI will enroll up to 600 million residents in 16 States and territories.[10] Online registration prior to enrollment at a Center is also now being offered.

How is UID being adopted by different States?
The adoption of the UID by different states and platforms has been controversial as the UID is not a mandatory number, yet with states and services adopting the number for different governmental services, the UID is becoming mandatory by default. Some ways in which states are using the UID include:

Gas and vehicles: The UPA Government has required that citizens have a UID number for services such as purchasing cooking gas, issuing a RTI request, and registering vehicles.[11]
Education: The Kerala government has required that all students must have UID number in order to be tracked through the system.[12] This mandate was questioned by the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights.
First Information Reports (FIR’s): The high court in Bombay has ordered the state home department to direct all police stations in Maharashtra to record the Unique Identification (UID) numbers of accused individuals and witnesses filing a FIR.[13]
Banks: The National Payment Corporation of India has collaborated UIDAI and is issuing ‘RuPay cards’ (Dhan Aadhaar cards) which will serve as ATM/micro-ATM cards. In 2011 the Bank of India had issued 250 cards.[14]
Railway: Railways are proposing to use the UID database for bookings and validation of passengers.[15]
Social Security: Commencing January 1, 2013, MGNREGA, the Rajiv Gandhi Awas Yojana (RGAY), the Ashraya housing scheme, Bhagyalakshmi and the social security and pension scheme have included the UID in the Mysore district

Has there been duplication of UID numbers?
According to news reports:

The UIDAI has blacklisted an operator and a supervisor in Andhra Pradesh for issuing fake UID numbers.

The UIDAI is looking into six complaints regarding the misuse of personal data while issuing the UID numbers to individuals.

The UIDAI has received two received complaints regarding duplication of UID numbers.[17]

What are the differences between the UID and NPR?

Voluntary vs. Mandatory: It is compulsory for all Indian residents to register with the NPR, while registration with the UIDAI is considered voluntary. However, the NPR will store individuals UID number with the NPR data and place it on the Resident Indian Card. In this way and others, the UID number is becoming compulsory by various means.
Number vs. Register: UID will issue a number, while the NPR is the prelude to the National Citizens Register. Thus, it is only a Register. Though earlier the MNIC card was implemented along the coastal area, there has been no proposal to extend the MNIC to the whole country. The smart card that is proposed under the NPR has only been raised for discussion, and there has been no official decision to issue a card.
Statute vs. Bill: The enrollment of individuals for the NPR is legally backed by the Citizenship Act, except in relation to the collection of biometrics, while the UID as proposed a bill which has not been passed for the legal backing of the scheme.
Authentication vs. Identification: The UID number will serve as an authenticator during transactions. It can be adopted and made mandatory by any platform. The National Resident Card will signify resident status and citizenship. It is unclear what circumstances the card will be required for use in.
UIDAI vs. RGI: The UIDAI is responsible for enrolling individuals in the UID scheme, and the RGI is responsible for enrolling individuals in the NPR scheme. It is important to note that the UIDAI is located in the Planning Commission, but its status is unclear, as the NIC had indicated that the data held is not being held by the government.
Door to door canvassing vs. center enrollment: Individuals will have to go to an enrollment center and register for the UID, while the NPR will carry out part of the enrollment of individuals through door to door canvassing. Note: Individuals will still have to go to centers for enrolling their biometrics for the NPR scheme.
Prior documentation vs. census material: The UID will be based off of prior forms of documentation and identification, while the NPR will be based off of census information.
Online vs. Offline: For authentication of an individual’s UID number, the UID will require mobile connectivity, while the NPR can perform offline verification of an individual’s card.

What is the controversy between the UID and NPR?

Effectiveness: There is controversy over which scheme would be more effective and appropriate for different purposes. For example, the Ministry of Home Affairs has argued that the NPR would be more suited for distributing subsidies than the UID, as the NPR has data linking each individual to a household.[18]
Legality of sharing data: Both the legality of the UID and NPR collecting data and biometrics has been questioned. For example, it has been pointed out that the collection of biometric information through the NPR, is beyond the scope of subordinate legislation. Especially as this appears to be left only to guidelines.[19] Collection of any information under the UID scheme is being questioned as the Bill has not been approved by the Parliament.
Accuracy: The UIDAI's use of multiple registrars and enrolment agencies, the reliance on 'secondary information' via existing ID documents for enrollment in the UID, and the original plan to enroll individuals via the 'introducer' system has raised by Home Minister Chidambaram in January 2012 about how accurate the data collected by the UID is is that will be collected.[20] To this extent, the UIDAI has changed the introducer system to a ‘verifier’ system. In this system, Government officials verify individuals and their documents prior to enrolling them.
Biometrics: Though biometrics are mandatory for the UID scheme, according to information on the NPR website, if an individual has already enrolled with the UID, they will not need to provide their biometrics again for the NPR. Application of this standard has been haphazard as some individuals have been required to provide biometrics for both the UID and the NPR, and others have not been required to provide biometrics for the NPR.[21]

What court cases have been filed against the UID?
The following cases are currently filed in courts around the country:

Supreme Court:

K S Puttaswamy, a retired judge of Karnataka High Court filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in the Supreme Court challenging the legality of UIDAI.[22]

Chandigarh: A petition was filed in Chandigarh by Sanjeev Pandey which sought to quash executive order passed in violation of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, and Central Motor Vehicle Rules, 1989 by which UID cards had been made mandatory for registration of vehicles and grant of learner/regular driving license.[23]
Karnataka: Mathew Thomas and Mr. VK Somasekhar have filed a civil suit in the Bangalore City Civil Courts (numbered 8181 of 2012) asking for the UID project to be stopped. The suit was dismissed, and they have appealed the case to the High Court (numbered 1780 and 1825 of 2013).
Chennai: A PIL has been filed in the Madras High Court challenging the constitutional validity of the UIDAI and its issue of UID numbers.[24]
Bombay: In January 2012 a case was filed in the Mumbai high Court. The petitioners to the case are R. Ramkumar, G. Nagarjuna, Kamayani Mahabal, Yogesh Pawar and Vickram Crishna & Ors.

What is the relationship between UID, NPR, and National Security
The UID and the NPR have both stated improving security as an objective for the projects. To this extent, it is envisioned that the UID and the NPR could be used to track and identify individuals, and determine if they are residents of India. In the case of the NPR, a distinction will be made between residents and citizens. Yet, concerns have also been raised that these projects instead raise national security threats, given the size of the databases that will be created, the centralized nature of the databases, the sensitive nature of the information held in the databases, and the involvement of international agencies.[25]

What is the relationship between UID and Big Data?
Aspects of the UID scheme allow it to generate a large amount of data from a variety of sources. Namely, the UID scheme aims to capture 12 billion fingerprints, 1.2 billion photographs and 2.4 billion iris scans and can be adopted by any platform. This data in turn can be stored, analyzed, and used for a number of purposes by a number of stakeholders in both the government and the private sectors. This is already happening to a certain extent as in November 2012 the UID established a Public Data Portal for the UID project. According to UIDAI officials the data portal will allow for big data analysis using crowd sourcing models.[26]

How is UID being used for BPL direct cash transfers?
Registration with the UID scheme is considered essential to determine whether beneficiaries belong in the BPL category and to provide transparency to the distribution of cash. In this way, the UID requirement is thought to prevent the leakage of social security benefits and subsidies to non-intended beneficiaries, as cash will only be made available to the person identified by the UID as the intended recipient. One of the main prerequisites of a below poverty line (BPL) direct cash transfer in India has become the registration with the UIDAI and the acquisition of a UID number. For example:

The "Cash for Food" programme requires that individuals applying for aid have a bank account, and a UID number. The money is transferred, electronically and automatically, to the bank account and the beneficiary should be able to withdraw it from a micro-ATM using the UID number.[27] It is important to note that micro-ATMs are not actual ATMs, but instead are handheld machines which may give information on bank balance and such, but will not dispense or maintain privacy of transaction. Most importantly, the transaction is mediated though a banking correspondent.
The government plans to cover the target BPL families and deposit USD 570 billion per year in the bank accounts of 100 million poor families by 2014.[28]
Currently, only beneficiaries of thirteen government schemes and LPG connection holders have been identified as being entitled to register for a UID number.[29] Though these schemes have been identified, as of yet, adoption has happened in very few districts.

What are the concerns regarding the use of biometrics in the UID and NPR scheme?
Both the UID and the NPR rely on biometrics as a way to identify individuals. Yet, many concerns have been raised about the use of biometrics in terms of legality, effectiveness, and accuracy of the technology. With regards to the accuracy and effectiveness of biometrics – the following concerns have been raised:

Biometrics are not infallible: Inaccuracies can arise from variations in individuals attributes and inaccuracies in the technology.
Environment matters: An individual’s biometrics can change in response to a number of factors including age, environment, stress, activity, and illness.
Population size matters: Because biometrics have differing levels of stability – the larger the population is the higher the possibility for error is.
Technology matters: The accuracy of a biometric match also depends on the accuracy of the technology used. Many aspects of biometric technology can change including: calibration, sensors, and algorithms.
Spoofing: It is possible to spoof a fingerprint and fool a biometric reader.[30]

[1]. Government of India. Ministry of Home Affairs. Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner. http://bit.ly/IiySDh

[2]. This is according to a 2010 Cabinet note and the official website of the NPR.

[3]. Department of Information Technology: http://ditnpr.nic.in/frmStatelist.aspx - These include: (1) Arunachal Pradesh (2) Assam (3) Bihar (4) Chhattisgarh (5) Haryana (6) Himachal Pradesh (7)Jammu & Kashmir (8) Jharkhand (9) Madhya Pradesh (10)Meghalaya (11)Mizoram (12)Punjab (13)Rajasthan (14)Sikkim (15)Tripura (16)Uttar Pradesh (17)Uttarakhand Union Territories:-(1) Dadra & Nagar Haveli (2) Chandigarh.

[4]. Government of India. Ministry of Home Affairs. Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner: http://bit.ly/IiySDh

[5]. Department of Information Technology. National Population Register. Question 22. What are the procedures to be followed for creating the NPR? The procedures to be followed for creating the NPR have been laid down in the Citizenship (Registration of Citizens and issue of National Identity Cards) Rules, 2003, and the guidelines being issued from time to time.

[6]. The Unique Identification Government of India. Ministry of Home Affairs. Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner: http://censusindia.gov.in/2011-Common/IntroductionToNpr.html Authority of India. http://uidai.gov.in/

[7]. Unique Identification Authority of India. http://uidai.gov.in/

[8]. The point was made by R. Ramachandran. How reliable is UID? Frontline. Volume 28- Issue 24: November 19- December 02, 2011. Available at: http://bit.ly/13UMiSv

[9]. For more information see: How to get an Aadhaar. http://bit.ly/R2jBOP

[10]. Mazumdar. R. UIDAI targets 400 million enrolments by mid 2013, Aadhar hopes to give unique identity to some 1.2 bn residents. Economic Times. December 2012. Available at: http://bit.ly/ZC3Yve. Last accessed: February 28th 2013.

[11]. Malu. B. The Aadhaar Card – What are the real intentions of the UPA Government? DNA. February 18^th 2013. Available at: http://bit.ly/150BXRj. Last accessed: February 28th 2013.

[12]. Government of Kerala. General Education Department Circular No. 52957/G2?2012/G.Edn. Available at: http://bit.ly/15Oiq8J

[13]. Plumber, M. Make UID numbers must in FIRs: Bombay HC. DNA. October 2011. Available at: http://bit.ly/tVsInl. Last accessed: February 28th 2013.

[14]. Press Information Bureau. Government of India. Identity Card to Every Adult Resident of the Country under NPR; No Card being issued by UIDAI. December 2011. Available at: http://bit.ly/tJwZG1

[15]. TravelBiz. Railways to use Aadhar database for passenger validation. February 2013. Available at: http://bit.ly/YcW5wl. Last accessed: February 28th 2013.

[16]. Vombatkere. S.G. Questions for Mr. Nilekani. The Hindu. February 2013. Available at: http://bit.ly/YqPlK1. Last accessed: February 28th 2013.

[17]. Economic Times. UIDAI orders probe into duplication of Aadhaar numbers. http://bit.ly/ZORowg. Last accessed: February 28th 2013.

[18]. Jain. B. Battle over turf muddies waters. Times of India. February 2013. Available at: http://bit.ly/16ud3gm. Last accessed: February 28th 2013

[19]. Rediff. Aadhaar’s allocation is Parliament’s contempt. February 2013. Available at: http://bit.ly/Y638JS. Last accessed: February 28th 2013.

[20]. Ibid 17.

[21]. Times of India. Confused over Aadhaar, Cabinet clears GoM. February 2013. Available at http://bit.ly/UTH2JS. Last accessed: February 28th 2013.

[22]. Times of India. Supreme Court notice to govt on PIL over Aadhar. December 2012. Available at: http://bit.ly/13UNs0i. Last accessed: February 2013.

[23]. The Indian Express. HC issues notice to Centre, UT over mandatory UID for license. January 2013. Available at: http://bit.ly/WJq43M. Last accessed: February 28th 2013.

[24]. Economic Times. PIL seeks to scrap Nandan Nilekani’s Aadhar project. January 2012. Available at: http://bit.ly/zB1H07. Last accessed: February 28th 2013.

[25]. Times of India. UID poses national security threat: BJP. January 2012. Available at: http://bit.ly/WeM6KA. Last accessed: February 28th 2013.

[26]. Zeenews. UIDAI launches Public Data Portal for Aadhaar. November 8th 2012. Available at: http://bit.ly/T9NdX3. Last Accessed: November 12th 2012.

[27]. Punj, S. Wages of Haste: Implementing the cash transfer scheme is proving a challenge. January 2013. Available at: http://bit.ly/1024Dwo. Last accessed: February 28th 2013.

[28]. The International Business Times. India to Roll Out World’s Biggest Direct Cash Transfer Scheme for the Poor. November 2012. Available at: http://bit.ly/UYbtw4. Last accessed: February 28th 2013.

[29]. Mid Day. Do not register for Aadhaar card before March 15: UID in –charge. February 2013. Available at: http://bit.ly/Xymx9d. Last accessed: February 28th 2013.

[30]. These points were raised in the following frontline article Ibid: Ramachandran, R. How reliable is UID? Frontline. Volume 28 – Issue 24 November 19th – December 2nd 2011. Available at: http://bit.ly/13UMiSv. Last accessed February 28th 2013.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/uid-and-npr-a-background-note

Unique ID System: Pros and Cons

Natasha Vaz — 2012-02-29T11:28:58Z

On September 16, 2011, the Citizen’s Voluntary Initiative for the City and Centre for Advocacy and Research organized a public consultation titled “Unique ID System: Pros and Cons” in Bangalore. The consultation was on the utility and impact of the UID system in India and featured a panel discussion with T. Prabhakar, public relations officer, e-governance, Ashok Dalwai, UIDAI regional deputy director, Somashekar V.K., managing trustee of Grahak Shakti and Col. Mathew Thomas, civic activist and retired army officer.

Col. Mathew Thomas began his presentation by a comparative analysis of the Indian and the British experience in providing a unique identity to its citizens. In Britain, this initiative was labelled as ‘intrusive bullying’ and ‘an assault on personal liberties’. Additionally, the government recognized that they must conduct their business as servants of the public and not as their masters. The project was terminated on the grounds that it could not achieve the claimed objectives, and it was dangerous costly.

Nevertheless, the unique identification (UID) system in India is being perscribed as a prestigious project that will eliminate identity fraud, financial exclusion, enhance accessibility for the poor, enable the government to better manage welfare schemes and target corruption in social programs such as the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA), the public distribution system (PDS), public health and financial inclusion.

Col. Mathew Thomas chronicled ID schemes. He explained that the advent and growth of information technology increased the availability of technology, which led to a commercial interest to exploit technology for profit. Technological solutions were heavily marketed, however, it is a mistaken belief that there is a technological fix to every problem (technology could solve any problem). Post 9/11 paranoia resulted in the notion that ID cards were the best possible counter measure to terrorism. “The inherent ridiculousness of this notion is that militants do not come with ID cards, but with AK-47s, and possession of ID cards or citizenship does not prevent one from becoming a terrorist”, says Mathew Thomas. National ID cards do not stop or deter terrorist actions.

India’s history with the UID project can be traced to the recommendations made by the Kargil Review Committee chaired by K. Subrahmanyam.The Committee recommended the issuing of ID cards to people in border areas to prevent infiltration and extend the system to the whole country to combat terrorism. Consequently, in 2003 the Citizenship Act of 1955 was amended by the NDA Government so as to compulsorily register all citizens into a “National Population Register” (NPR) and issue a Multi-purpose National Identity Card (MNIC). The NPR database will be inked to the UID. Subsequently, the UPA Government promoted the UID, as a pro-poor project.

Col. Mathew Thomas discussed the various questionable aspects of the UID project: its legality, financial prudence, ethics and its uses and abuses.

UID and Legality

Firstly, there is no law governing the functioning of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI). The illegal implementation of the UID is a complete insult to the Parliament and citizens, considering that the National Identification Authority of India Bill 2010 was drafted long after the implementation of the UID commenced.

UID and Financial Prudence

The high-level of apprehension surrounding the UID project stems from the fact that a project of this magnitude, cost and impact on the entire population would be undertaken without a feasibility study and a cost-benefit analysis. There exist two studies: one by the London School of Economics, regarding the UK project, and another by the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad, on UID in India. Both have concluded that such schemes are unworkable and too costly.

UID and Ethics

Ethical questions related to the UID are regarding its history, participation and ubiquity. Firstly, the UIDAI website is silent on the history prior to 2006. It fails to mention the significant historical roots of the UID, specifically, the Kargil War and the National Population Registry. Second, the UID has been promoted as a pro-poor project, whereas huge possibilities for commercial exploitation exist. Lastly, the UIDAI asserts that enrollment for the UID is ‘voluntary’. Although participation in the UID scheme is supposed to be voluntary, service providers can make it compulsory, thereby making it ubiquitous. A subtle campaign is being carried on, hinting at denial of benefits and services to those without UID.

Uses and Abuses

UID claims to transform governance, make ‘Bharath’ part of the growth process, plug ‘leakages’ & ‘slippages’ in welfare schemes, bring about all round prosperity and put India on a ‘fast-track’ growth by becoming the pivot around which all anti-poverty measures will rotate. One can conclude that UID is a panacea or a ‘one size fits all’ solution. Mathew Thomas questioned how these ambitions can be achieved by fingerprinting and scanning the irises of 1.2 billion people and storing the data for use by agencies responsible for the delivery of services.

These claims revolve around the assumptions that a lack of identity denies people welfare benefits; denies access to opportunities and services; and that a unique identification and de-duplication using biometrics would prevent “leakages”, “slippages” and in effect, all corruption. These assumptions need to be tested and verified so as to ensure validity.

The Public Distribution System and UID

Col. Mathew Thomas examined the PDS to analyze the use and claims of UID. He described the supply and demand of the PDS. The ‘supply’ side involves the fixing of minimum support prices, procurement by the centre and state governments, transport to FCI and state storages, distribution by centre to states and distribution by states to fair-price (ration) shops. All of the stages are affected by corruption and surprisingly UID beneficiaries have no role in any of the aforementioned stages.

‘Leakages’ in the supply process could potentially occur during the fixing of the minimum support prices (if deals exist with large farmers), during procurement (if they lift less quantity than what was paid for) and during accounting and storage (if they write off larger quantities than the actual damage; write off against bogus ration-cards; and show more quantity in storage and shops than is actually there).

The ‘demand’ process of the PDS system requires for state governments to decide on the eligibility of BPL people, issue ration cards, allocate ration-card holders to specific ration shops and requires the ration-card holders go to designated shops and collect entitlements. Corruption is possible, probable and happens in this discretionary decision-making. However, the only stage at which UID would find some use, if at all, is when ration-card holders collect rations.

Col. Mathew Thomas provided an excellent example of the government’s lopsided priorities. He describes the UID in PDS as the story of the ‘fence eating the corn’. The ‘fence’ then says, “let’s brand the cattle to find who is stealing the corn!”

The practicality of utilizing UID for authentication in the PDS system is a huge conundrum. Considering that the process to authenticate at ration shops requires all shops to have scanners (approximately six lakhs) which must be connected to a network and power at all the time.

Another problem surrounds the collection of ration. Ration-card holders do not always go to collect rations. There could be occasions where one family member goes for collection or one person collects rations for a number of families. The worst part of the UID application to the PDS system is that the procedure puts the BPL person at the mercy of the ration-shop keeper. He could simply deny rations, saying, “Authentication failed”.

The potential abuses of the UID could arise from the large collection of fingerprints that will be with various government officials and private agencies which could be used to foist false criminal cases against innocent people, forge title deeds, sale deeds, promissory notes wills, etc., and could target individuals and communities.

Col. Mathew Thomas concluded by explaining the main risks of any centralized database, it can be hacked and can crash. Professor Ian Angle, of the London School of Economics, has said that the UID will be "Olympic games of hacking", providing people with the biggest challenge to hack through.

Making a point: (From left) Public Relations Officer, e-governance, T. Prabhakar; UIDAI Regional Deputy Director Ashok Dalwai; Managing Trustee of Grahak Shakti Somashekar V.K.; and civic activist Mathew Thomas at a panel discussion in Bangalore on Friday. — photo: V. Sreenivasa Murthy.

Photo Source: From the Hindu, September 17, 2011, http://goo.gl/gCnqK

Note: Unfortunately, the other presentations were conducted in Kannada and could not be understood by the author of this blog.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/unique-id-system-pros-and-cons

UNICEF & Nasscom Foundation Workshop on Child Online Protection

praskrishna — 2016-02-14T11:01:15Z

Jyoti Panday attended UNICEF & Nasscom Foundation Workshop on Child Online Protection (COP) held on 8 February 2016 at Hotel Claridges in New Delhi.

The workshop was organized to raise awareness of the Child Online Protection and the UNICEF -International Telecom Union COP Guidelines for Industry. The COP Guidelines offer general recommendations for industry on protecting children's safety when using ICT technologies. The guidelines also provide a sector specific checklist that recommend actions to respect and support children's rights. Recommendations are provided for mobile operators, ISPs,content providers, online retailers and app developers,UGC interactive and social media service providers, national and public service broadcasters, hardware manufacturers, OS developers and app stores.

At the workshop the preliminary findings of the Rapid Assessment on Child Online Protection in India, carried out by UNICEF was shared. The discussions were structured as the beginning of a dialogue on Children and Internet with the private sector and other stakeholders and to discuss the incorporation of children’s rights dimensions into key ICT industry initiatives on COP. I participated in the panel discussions on the current scenario on child online protection in India and the role of the industry. I raised the issue of lack of transparency in blocking and taking down content online that deemed is harmful for children.

See the Concept Note
Click for the Agenda

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/unicef-nasscom-foundation-workshop-on-child-online-protection

UNESCO's Open Forum

praskrishna — 2011-04-05T03:58:47Z

As UNESCO organized Freedom of Expression related workshops, this Open Forum will be dedicated to other key IGF topics, notably multilingualism in cyberspace, open access to scientific information, open educational resources, and accessibility for marginalized groups. In addition, UNESCO will take this opportunity to announce new initiatives and share experiences with participants. The interactive panel format will start with brief presentations from experts, followed by a moderated discussion with participants.

Organizer: UNESCO

Moderator:
Mr Jānis Kārkliņš, Assistant Director-General for Communication and Information, UNESCO

Opening by Mr Jānis Kārkliņš

Introductory remarks

Mr Nitin Desai, Chair of the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) will speak about: The future of the IGF and UNESCO’s opportunities
Mr Rod Beckstrom, CEO ICANN, on cooperation with UNESCO, next steps

1. Multilingualism in cyberspace

Proposed speakers:

Mr Baher Esmat, Manager, Regional Relations – Middle East, ICANN
Mr Daniel Pimienta, President of FUNREDES (Fundacion Redes y Desarrollo) Saint Domingue, Dominican Republic

Open discussion

2. Open access to scientific information and open educational resources

Proposed speakers:

Mr Indrajit Banerjee, Director, Information Society Division, Communication and Information Sector, UNESCO
Mr Abel Packer, Director of the SciELO.org Open Access (OA) initiative

Open discussion

3. An initiative on developing inclusive information policies using ICTs in education for persons with disabilities

Proposed speakers:

Mr Axel Leblois, Executive Director, the Global Initiative for Inclusive Information and Communications Technologies 9G3ict), An Advocacy Initiative of the United Nations Global Alliance for ICT and Development
Ms Anja Kovacs, Centre for Internet and Society (India)

Open discussion

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/events/unesco-open-forum

UNESCO Multistakeholder consultation at 8th Asia Pacific Regional Internet Governance Forum (APrIGF)

Admin — 2017-08-09T01:49:26Z

Sunil Abraham was a speaker at the APrIGF 2017 organized by UNESCO in Bangkok from July 26 to 29, 2017. Vidushi Marda also participated in the event.

UNESCO takes the occasion to present its new project “Defining Internet Universality Indicators” and engage with Asia-Pacific stakeholders, including young experts, at the 8^th Asia Pacific Regional Internet Governance Forum (APrIGF) for their inputs and contributions. This is a part of a global consultation to develop a set of Internet Universality indicators. The project is an immediate response following UNESCO’s adoption of the ‘CONNECTing the Dots’ Outcome document in 2015, where UNESCO put the concept of ‘Internet Universality’ at the heart of its work to promote an Internet that works for all. Internet universality points to four fundamental norms – known for short as the ROAM principles – which are the guiding framework that promotes an Internet based on:

Rights (R)

Openness (O)

Accessibility (A)

Multistakeholder Participation (M)

The project aims to elaborate appropriate Internet indicators, which can serve to enrich the stakeholders’ capacity for assessing Internet development, broaden international consensus, and foster online democracy and human rights towards knowledge societies engaged in sustainable development. These indicators will help governments and other stakeholders to assess their own national Internet environments and to promote the values associated with Internet Universality. Special attention will be paid to gender and to the needs and interests of children and young people. There will be a mix of quantitative and qualitative indicators. The work on the project to define Internet Universality indicators is being led for UNESCO by the Association for Progressive Communications (APC).

The 8^thAPrIGF is of high pertinence to the Internet Universality Indicators because it serves as a multi-stakeholder platform for public policy on Internet and its impact on society. It draws discussions and powers collaborations for the developments of universally affordable, accessible, non-discriminated, secure and sustainable Internet across the region, which are the focus topics of UNESCO’s multi-stakeholder consultation; as well as addressing gender inclusion and the inclusion of children and young people in the Internet environment.

The session will start with a brief presentation of the draft indicators and brief remarks from the speakers. The moderator will structure the discussion into five slots on Human Rights, Openness, Access, Multi-stakeholderism and crosscutting dimension and will invite all of you to take the floor. Focus groups will possibly be created to facilitate more in-depth discussion among participants. Some key questions will be asked to all participants regarding your experience of gathering and using Internet indicators within your country/area of work or the most important issues related to human rights, openness, accessibility and multistakeholder approach that should be included in the Internet Universality indicators.

A draft background paper on Defining Internet Universality Indicators will be shared and released before the session as a basis for discussion.

Written contribution is welcome via UNESCO email: internetstudy@unesco.org

An online platform for consultation will be available at: http://www.unesco.org/new/en/internetuniversality

In-Person Co-Moderators: Ms. Xianhong Hu; Ms. Chat Garcia Ramilo

Speakers

Presentation of the project

Ms Xianhong Hu, UNESCO

Speakers on Human Rights dimension indicators

Ms Gayatri Khandahai, APC
Ms. Anja Kovacs, Internet Democracy Project

Speakers on Openness indicators

Ms Xue Hong, Beijing Normal University

Speakers on Accessibility indicators

Mr. Winston Roberts, International Federation of Library Associations & Institutions
Ms. Piyawan Suwattanathum, UNESCO Bangkok Education

Speakers on Multi-stakeholderism indicators

Mr. Sunil Abraham, Center for Internet Society
Mr. Naveed Haq, ISOC
Ms. Joyce Chen, ICANN

Speakers on Crosscutting dimension indicators

Ms. Bishakha Datta, Point of View

Vidushi participated in the following meetings on July 26:

Fellowship Morning Meeting
Meet & Greet for Fellows & Buddies

Sharing of IG/Internet in your economies

Expectation Setting & Quick Brief of 3 days agenda

Capacity Building Day (13:00 - 18:30)

Welcome Social for Fellows @CU International House

The following meetings on July 27:

Opening Plenary
Synthesis Document Townhall Sessions
Respective sub-theme sessions assigned for rapporteur work
Closing Plenary

Digital Asia Hub and CIS workshop on "Technology and Extremism" was a highlight of the event.

Vidushi moderated a panel discussing the PT project and sharing key findings, titled: "Towards Sustainable Development in Asia Pacific: Mobile Internet and Access to Knowledge in the Marketplace".

Vidushi also attended the Global Partners Digital Event on the GCCS. List of APrIGF fellows can be accessed here.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/asia-pacific-regional-internet-governance-forum-aprigf-2017

UNESCO Internet Universality Indicators consulted at the 8th Asia Pacific Regional Internet Governance Forum

praskrishna — 2017-08-23T02:05:44Z

“Internet Universality indicators should measure broad social implications of the Internet and serve as a powerful tool to foster sustainable development,” was a strong message delivered by Asia-Pacific stakeholders at UNESCO consultation to develop Internet Universality indicators during the 8th Asia Pacific Regional Internet Governance Forum (APrIGF) in Bangkok (Thailand), 29 July 2017.

This was published by UNESCO on August 9, 2017.

The Bangkok consultation event, co-moderated by Ms. Xianhong Hu (UNESCO) and Ms. Chat Garcia Ramilo (Association for Progressive Communications, APC), brought multi-stakeholders and experts from the Asia Pacific region to contribute to prioritizing issues within the five categories indicators along the Internet Universality R.O.A.M principles, namely on human Rights, Openness, Accessibility, Multi-stakeholder participation, as well as concerning Crosscutting issues.

“Rights entail a number of digital rights including freedom of religious and political expression and right to assembly and association online. Privacy concerns on the Internet are extremely important as well”, stated Ms Gayatri Khandahi from APC on human Rights indicators. In addition, she noted the importance of social and economic rights exercised on the Internet, such as the right to work and the right to political participation, and the jurisdiction challenges of these rights in the pretext of Internet. She emphasized the need to consult also with vulnerable groups, such as women, trans-gender groups and migrants.

Dr. Anja Kovacs from Internet Democracy Project pointed out that rights have impact on other themes or indicators, for instance online abuse of women impacts access in India. She also noted that in the course of developing these indicators, it is crucial to take into account future trends because digital rights are evolving and these indicators might not be useful in 10 years.

“Open Internet is a top concern since it is being limited by many localized requirements. Thus openness requires open and transparent policy and decision making process which is at the core of multi-stakeholder approach”, commented by Prof. Xue Hong from Beijing Normal University on Openness indicators. She suggested “open access” needs to consider people’s various barriers to access Internet, including legal barriers. She suggested that “open source”, “open innovation” and “open market” are also important aspects to measure the level of openness.

On Accessibility indicators, Mr Winston Roberts from the International Federation of Library Associations & Institutions (IFLA) suggested that the definition of universal access needs to be updated and access in various forms can be used as an indicator, such access to broadband. He stressed the importance to include quality access and access in rural areas.

“Access and accessibility should be defined clearly. Access should include indicators to assess quality of service and openness should include assessment of the market”, stated Ms. Bishakha Datta. Mr. Naveed Haq from Internet Society suggested those accessibility indicators could check how many government websites are available to people with disabilities.

“Internet is a classic example where various communities are represented and thus multistakeholderism becomes important”, said Mr. Naveed Haq from Internet Society on Multistakeholder indicators. Mr. Sunil Abraham from Center for Internet Society raised challenges that the government needs to deregulate policies and laws and redo them with a multi-stakeholder process, but on the other hand, private sectors fail to mitigate harm through the self-regulatory model. Mr. Joyce Chen, ICANN representative, highlighted the importance to engage with governments, who need to facilitate more dialogue.

“The rights and interest of those vulnerable groups, such as transgender and women should be considered by the indicators, particularly to assess how rights, such as the right to privacy intersect with their agenda”, suggested by Ms. Bishakha Datta from Point of View on Crosscutting dimension indicators. Dr Anja Kovacs pointed out that it is crucial not miss out groups of people whose interests might not be directly aligned with their governments, for instance refugees or migrants.”

In addition to the ongoing on-site Multistakeholder consultation sessions, UNESCO is now also offering the possibility for interested actors, including Member States, to participate in the consultation online at https://en.unesco.org/internetuniversality.

As an ongoing project developed by UNESCO, Internet Universality Indicators aims to serve as a recognized and authoritative global research tool for national assessing Internet development along the lines of UNESCO’s Internet Universality concept as endorsed by UNESCO 38^th General Conference in 2015. The final indicators will be presented in 2018 and will be submitted to the UNESCO Member States in the International Programme for the Development of Communication (IPDC) for endorsement.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/unesco-internet-universality-indicators-consulted-at-the-8th-asia-pacific-regional-internet-governance-forum

UNESCAP Google AI Meeting

Admin — 2018-09-20T15:47:42Z

Arindrajit was a panelist at the event on AI in public service delivery hosted by UNESCAP Bangkok on August 29, 2018. The event was co-organized by Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific and Google.

The discussion centered around the two questions (1) Is AI different from other technological advancements in the past and (2) Recommendations for policy-makers to enhance AI in Public Service Delivery.The other panelists were Dr. Urs Gasser (Berkman), Vidushi Marda ( Art.19), Malavika Jayaram (Digital Asia Hub) and Jake Lucchi ( Google) The panel was a platform to discuss some of our findings in our case studies on healthcare and agriculture, which we will receive comments on and will get published in November.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/unescap-google-ai-meeting

UNDP joins Tech Giants in Partnership on AI

Admin — 2018-08-13T15:51:48Z

UNDP joins the Partnership on Artificial Intelligence (AI), a consortium of companies, academics, and NGOs working to ensure that AI is developed in a safe, ethical, and transparent manner. Founded in 2016 by the tech giants - Amazon, DeepMind/Google, Facebook, IBM, and Microsoft - It has since been joined by industry leaders such as Accenture, Intel, Oxford Internet Institute - University of Oxford, eBay, as well as non profit organizations such as UNICEF and Human Rights Watch and many more.

This was published by UNDP on its website on August 1, 2018.

Through the partnership, UNDP’s Innovation Facility will work with partners and communities to responsibly test and scale the use of AI to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. By harnessing the power of data, we can inform risk, policy and program evaluation, we also can utilize robotics and Internet of Things (IoT) to collect data and reach the previously deemed unreachable - to leave no one behind.

UNDP’s AI portfolio is growing rapidly. Drones and remote sensing are used to improve data collection and inform decisions: in the Maldives for disaster preparedness, and in Uganda to engage refugee and host communities in jointly developing infrastructures. We partnered with IBM to automate UNDP’s Rapid Integrated Assessment, aligning national development plans and sectoral strategies with the 169 Sustainable Development Goals’ targets; and with the UNEP, UNDP has launched the UN Biodiversity Lab, powered by MapX. The spatial data platform will help countries support conservation efforts and accelerate delivery of the 2030 Agenda.

In line with UNDP’s Strategic Plan 2018-2021, innovation plays a central role in fulfilling the organization’s mission and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. Benjamin Kumpf, UNDP’s Innovation Facility Lead states, “advances in robotics and AI have the potential to radically redefine human development pathways. The path to such redefinitions entails concrete AI experiments to increase the effectiveness of our work as well as norm-setting: we have to think beyond guidelines for ethical AI to designing accountability frameworks.”

The Partnership on AI aims to advance public understanding of AI, formulate best practices, and serve as an open platform for discussion and engagement about AI and its influences on people and society.

Full list of partners

Amazon, Apple, Deepmind, Facebook, Google, IBM, Microsoft, Aaai, ACLU, Accenture, Affectiva, Ai Forum New Zealand, Ai Now Institute, The Allen Institute For Artificial Intelligence (Ai2), Amnesty International, Article 19, Association For Computing Machinery, Center For Democracy & Technology (Cdt), Center For Human-compatible Artificial Intelligence, Center For Information Technology Policy Princeton University, Centre For Internet And Society, India (Cis), Leverhulme Centre For The Future of Intelligence (Cfi), Cogitai, Data & Society Research Institute, Digital Asia Hub, Doteveryone, Ebay, Element Ai, Electronic Frontier Foundation (Eff), Fraunhofer Iao, The Future of Humanity, Future of Life Institute, The Future of Privacy Forum, The Hastings Center, Hong Kong University of Science And Technology Department Of Electronic & Computer Engineering, Human Rights Watch, Intel, Markkula Center For Applied Ethics Santa Clara University, Mckinsey & Company, Nvidia, Omidyar Network Openai, Oxford Internet Institute - University of Oxford, Salesforce, SAP, Sony, Tufts University Hri Lab, UCL Engineering, UNDP, UNICEF, University of Washington Tech Policy Lab, Upturn, Xprize, Zalando

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/undp-august-1-2018-undp-joins-tech-giants-in-partnership-on-ai

Understanding the Right to Information

elonnai — 2013-06-12T11:39:05Z

Elonnai Hickok summarises the Right to Information Act, 2005, how it works, how to file an RTI request, the information that an individual can request under the Act, the possible responses and the challenges to the citizen and the government. She concludes by saying that there are many structural changes that both citizens and governmental officers can make to improve the system.

Introduction

The Right to Information Act, 2005 (RTI) was created in 2005 and marked an important time in Indian legislative history. The Right to Information enables citizens to hold the government accountable and ensure that it is a transparent body. Questions that can be asked by the citizen to the government range from anything that may concern to some meeting notes to why a teacher is not present in a public school, etc. In the current RTI system there are many challenges that are inhibiting the government’s efficient delivery of the RTI as a service to the people. This has changed the concept of how the citizens view the RTI, as the government feels harassed and the citizens feel as though their rights are being unjustly denied. Additionally, individuals have turned the RTI into a redressal mechanism rather than a way to ensure transparency and learn/understand how their government is functioning. The use of the RTI as a redressal mechanism has created a relationship of animosity between the government and citizens. The below note outlines the ecosystem of the RTI and notes specific challenges that both citizens and the government face.[1]

The RTI Ecosystem

RTI work flow

An individual files an RTI with the central/ state public information officer (PIO) or a specific PIO. PIOs are often not trained, and rarely apply for the position, but are instead designated.
Within five days the information is to be forwarded to the correct PIO.
The PIO must open a file and dispose of the request within 30 days.
If the PIO fails to reply to the applicant by either approving or denying a request, the PIO is liable to pay a fine of Rs. 250 for each day of delay.
If information is electronically uploaded, it is stored in any format the officer chooses (jpeg, pdf, html, etc).
Except for land records and staff records, files are retained for a maximum of one year.
If the PIO does not dispose of the request, there is scope for an appeal within 30-45 days to the appellate authority.
There is scope for a second appeal to the information commissioner if the authority does not respond within 90 days or the answer is found to be unsatisfactory.
The final decision of the information commissioner is binding.

Filing an RTI request

Though there is no specific format an individual must follow when submitting an RTI, when filing a request, individuals must include:

His /her name and address.
The name and address of the public information officer (PIO).
The particulars of information/documents required (limited to 150 words and one subject matter).
The time period of the information required.
Proof of payment.
Signature.
Proof if the individual is a BPL holder.[2]

Information that an individual can request under the RTI Act

Inspection of work, documents, and records
Taking notes, extracts or certified copies of documents or records.
Taking certified samples of material.
Obtaining of information in the form of diskettes, floppies, tapes, and video cassettes, or in any other electronic mode, or through printouts where such information is stored in a computer, or in any other device.
Obtaining the status of an RTI request or complaint.

Note: If an individual is requesting third party information, the PIO must inform the third party and provide the individual the opportunity to state a reason for not disclosing the information.

Accepted format of requested materials and records

Material requested can be in any format including: records, documents, memos, emails, opinions, advices, press releases, circulars, orders, logbooks, contracts, reports, papers, samples, models, and data material held in any electronic form.
Records requested can include: any document, manuscript and file, any microfilm, microfiche and facsimile copy of a document, and reproduction of image or images embodied in such microfilm (whether enlarged or not), and any other material produced by a computer or any other device.

Possible Responses to an RTI request

An information officer can respond to an RTI in the following ways:

Transfer request to appropriate PIO within five days and notify the applicant about the transfer.
Provide the requested information within 30 days.
Reject the request information within 30 days stating the reasons for rejection, the period within which an appeal against such rejection may be preferred, and the details of the appellate authority.
Not respond to the applicant. If no response is received within 30 days the officer is liable for a penalty of Rs. 250 per day.

Appeal/Complaint Process

First appeal can be filed after 30 days or if the information given was unsatisfactory. The appeal must include: name and address of the appellant, name and address of the PIO involved, brief facts leading to appeal, relief sought, grounds for appeal, and copies of the application or documents involved, including copies of the reply, if received from the PIO.
Second appeal must contain: name and address of the applicant, and name and address of the PIO involved, particulars of the Order including the number if any against which the appeal is preferred, brief facts leading to the appeal, if appeal/complaint is preferred against deemed refusal then the particulars of the application, including number and date and name, address of the PIO to whom the application was originally made, relief sought, grounds for the relief, verification by the applicant, any other information which the commission may deem necessary for deciding during the appeal, self attested copies of the application or documents involved, copies of the documents relied upon by the appellant and referred to in the appeal, and an index of the documents referred to in the appeal.
A complaint must include: name and address of the complainant, name and address of the state PIO against whom the complaint is being made, facts leading to the complaint, particulars of the application [number, date, name and address of the PIO (three copies)], relief sought, grounds and proof for relief, verification of the complainant (three copies), index of documents referred to in the complaint, and any other necessary information.[3]

Challenges to the Citizen

Knowing the correct Public Information Officer

Knowing which public information officer to mail in the RTI request is the first difficulty that an individual faces. As noted above in 2008 there were a total of 73,256 recorded public information commissioners in the State of Karnataka. New public information commissioners are created every day, because the RTI extends not only to any department of the government, but to any sub-contracted company, organization, school, or NGO that is receiving government funding and doing work on behalf of the government directly or indirectly. Lists of PIOs can be found on department bulletin boards and websites, but there is no clear method for an individual to know what information each PIO is the custodian over. Thus, they are left to determine on their own, and rely on the PIO to forward their application to the correct individual.

Filing in the correct format

Though it is stated in the law what language an RTI request will be accepted in, and what information should be included – individuals are often unaware of the guidelines and unaware of how to correctly fill out an RTI request. An incorrectly formatted request is one of the major reasons for rejection of a request by the PIO.

Language

In the State of Karnataka, RTIs can be filed only in two languages: Kannada and English. By law, RTI responses are given only in the language that the department works in on a daily basis, and in English. The information that is supplied through the request is given in its original language. For example, if you ask for a document that is originally in Marathi, the document will be photo copied and sent to you. No translation of documents takes place, because it is not the job function of the officer to translate documents.

Appeals

If an individual is denied information, or does not receive a reply within 30 days, they have the option of seeking an appeal through an appellate authority. In 2008 Karnataka had 5416 Appellate Authorities. Currently, because of the backlog in appeal cases and the slow functioning of the system, an individual might have to wait for upto one year for his/her appeal to be heard. Often at this point the information is no longer relevant or needed.

Privacy

In some cases individuals are denied a request for information based on the grounds that it would invade the privacy of the public officer. This is sometimes the case and sometimes not the case. Finding the right balance between the right to information and privacy is important, as protecting an individual’s privacy is crucial, but privacy should not be used as a reason for the government to be less transparent to the citizen and be used as a way to deny a citizen the information that they are entitled to.[4]

Challenges in the RTI System for the Government

Too many RTI requests and no system to record duplicates: As the figure shows above, in 2008, the Karnataka Government received 42208 RTI requests. Currently, it is not possible to know how many of these requests were duplicates since departments handling RTIs do not make it a practice to upload and organize filed RTI requests in a format easily accessible to citizens. Thus, there is no present system in place to track, upload, and store past RTI's in a meaningful way.
Additional overhead in recording, organizing, accessing, and storing data: In the current system every time an RTI request is received by the government, they open a new file for that request. Though in some ways this system of storage simplifies the process of finding past RTIs, it adds an additional overhead cost as photocopies must be made, new files created, and correctly added to the organized system. Each state follows its own method of recording, organizing, accessing, and storing data – thus, currently it is not possible to easily access the information from another state or combine information from two separate states.
Lack of compliance with section 4(d) pro-active disclosure: Under section 4 (d), the government is required to pro-actively disclose a pre-determined data to the public via websites and other useful modes. Currently there is very little compliance with section 4(d) from governmental departments. There are many factors that contribute to the low rate of compliance that exist including lack of resources and lack of proper enforcement. If governmental departments were to comply with section 4(d) then the load of RTI requests and the time each request must take to answer could be lightened considerably as the government could respond by pointing citizens to the already disclosed information.

Conclusion

Though the Right to Information is an important right, the above entry looks at some of the weaknesses and challenges in the system. There are many structural changes that both citizens and governmental officers can make to improve the system such as pro-actively disclosing information, ensuring that an RTI is filed correctly, and creating a system for organizing previously asked questions. Alongside of these structural changes it is also critical that a positive culture of transparency and accountability is fostered throughout society, thus encouraging citizens to actively engage with the government and exercise their right to information.

Notes

[1].I am grateful to N. Vikram Simha, RTI activist, for his insight and feedback into the RTI system.

[2].N. Vikram Simha, Right to Information Act of 2005: Guide for Citizens.

[3].N. Vikram Simha, Right to Information: Trend Ahead. Karanataka State Chartered Accountants Association, Bangalore

[4].N. Vikram Simha, RTI and Protection of Individual Privacy

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/understanding-right-to-information

Understanding Surveillance and Privacy in India

praskrishna — 2014-09-08T06:08:49Z

Bhairav Acharya delivered a lecture at the Jamia Millia Islamia in New Delhi on August 28, 2014.

Abstract
While privacy seems intuitive to most people, its legal codification and protection is complex. This is because varying expectations of privacy exist in different social contexts demanding different forms and degrees of protection. In India, an unambiguous and enforceable constitutional right to privacy does not exist. The Supreme Court of India has, intermittently and unconvincingly, recognised a limited right to privacy in certain situations. Recent debates on privacy focus primarily on two areas: surveillance, and data protection. The interception of communications – phone calls, emails, and letters, – which is a type of surveillance, is statutorily regulated in India in an uneven way. A colonial law permits and regulates wiretaps in India. A derivative law governs emails and electronic communications. Both these laws suffer serious shortcomings. Indian law permits executive authorisations – by bureaucrats – of wiretaps without an independent audit and oversight mechanism. No legal provisions exist to redress improper wiretaps or information leaks – the Radia tapes controversy illustrates this. These lacunae remain unaddressed even as large-scale techno-utopian projects, such as the Central Monitoring System, move forward. However, the recent governmental push for privacy law does not stem from surveillance concerns but from international commerce in personal data. There is also a growing domestic constituency that is alarmed by the state’s collection of personal data without regulatory safeguards.

About the Speaker
Bhairav Acharya is a constitutional lawyer in India who joined the Bar in 2004 after graduating from the National Law School of India University, Bangalore. From 2004 - 2009, he was the Deputy Director of the Public Interest Legal Support and Research Centre (PILSARC), an organisation established to provide institutional legal support and credible research to popular movements, and to ideas and communities marginalised by law. He headed a UNHCR project to draft a refugee protection law for India and is a member of the NHRC’s National Experts Group on Refugee Law. He litigated – mostly constitutional law – in the chambers of a senior counsel in the Supreme Court of India, where he became especially interested in free speech law. From 2009 - 2010, he advised a leading Indian multinational information technology major on privacy law and data protection. At present, he independently advises the Centre for Internet and Society, Bangalore, on privacy law, and is drafting a proposed privacy statute to regulate data protection and surveillance in India to provide a participatory and consensus - based legal submission to the Indian government.

Event Details
Venue: CCMG Network Governance Lab,
Date: Thursday, August 28, 2014
Time: 11.30 a.m.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/understanding-privacy-and-surveillance-in-india

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Unpacking Data Protection Law: A Visual Representation

Cross-posted from Privacy International blog.

Credits: Flag illustrations, when not created by the authors, are from Ibrandify / Freepik.

Unlike Facebook, Twitter is a ghost town for political ads in India so far

The Facebook comparison

Translucent, more than transparent

Unique Identity Number (UID), National Population Register (NPR), and Governance

Unique Identity (UID) Project: A Debate on Fundamental Rights

Agenda

Social/Ethical Panel- 2:30-3:30 pm

Economics Panel- 3:30-4:30 pm

Legal Panel- 4:30-5:30 pm

5:30-6:00 pm- Wrap-up moderated by Vinay Sreenivasa and close with tea, coffee and snacks

Unique Identification Scheme (UID) & National Population Register (NPR), and Governance

Video

Unique ID System: Pros and Cons

UID and Legality

UID and Financial Prudence

UID and Ethics

Uses and Abuses

The Public Distribution System and UID

UNICEF & Nasscom Foundation Workshop on Child Online Protection

UNESCO's Open Forum

UNESCO Multistakeholder consultation at 8th Asia Pacific Regional Internet Governance Forum (APrIGF)

UNESCO Internet Universality Indicators consulted at the 8th Asia Pacific Regional Internet Governance Forum

UNESCAP Google AI Meeting

UNDP joins Tech Giants in Partnership on AI

Understanding the Right to Information

Introduction

The RTI Ecosystem

RTI work flow

Filing an RTI request

Information that an individual can request under the RTI Act

Accepted format of requested materials and records

Possible Responses to an RTI request

Appeal/Complaint Process

Challenges to the Citizen

Knowing the correct Public Information Officer

Filing in the correct format

Language

Appeals

Privacy

Challenges in the RTI System for the Government

Conclusion

Understanding Surveillance and Privacy in India