Centre for Internet & Society

Comments on the Draft Second Protocol to the Convention on Cybercrime (Budapest Convention)

by Vipul Kharbanda

Following consultations with data protection, civil society, industry and others, during the Cybercrime Convention Committee (T-CY) meeting from 29 November 2018 onwards, the Cybercrime Convention Committee has sought additional contributions regarding the provisional draft text for a Second Additional Protocol to the Budapest Convention on Cybercrime (“Budapest Convention”).

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Resurrecting the marketplace of ideas

by Arindrajit Basu

There is no ‘silver bullet’ for regulating content on the web. It requires a mix of legal and empirical analysis.

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CIS Submission to the UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Speech and Expression: Surveillance Industry and Human Rights

by Elonnai Hickok, Arindrajit Basu, Gurshabad Grover, Akriti Bopanna, Shweta Mohandas, Martyna Kalvaityte

CIS responded to the call for submissions from the UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Speech and Expression. The submission was on the Surveillance Industry and Human Rights.

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CIS Submission to UN High Level Panel on Digital Co-operation

by Aayush Rathi, Ambika Tandon, Arindrajit Basu and Elonnai Hickok

The High-level Panel on Digital Cooperation was convened by the UN Secretary-General to advance proposals to strengthen cooperation in the digital space among Governments, the private sector, civil society, international organizations, academia, the technical community and other relevant stakeholders. The Panel issued a call for input that called for responses to various questions. CIS responded to the call for inputs.

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Data Infrastructures and Inequities: Why Does Reproductive Health Surveillance in India Need Our Urgent Attention?

by Aayush Rathi and Ambika Tandon

In order to bring out certain conceptual and procedural problems with health monitoring in the Indian context, this article by Aayush Rathi and Ambika Tandon posits health monitoring as surveillance and not merely as a “data problem.” Casting a critical feminist lens, the historicity of surveillance practices unveils the gendered power differentials wedded into taken-for-granted “benign” monitoring processes. The unpacking of the Mother and Child Tracking System and the National Health Stack reveals the neo-liberal aspirations of the Indian state.

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Intermediary liability law needs updating

by Sunil Abraham

The time has come for India to exert its foreign policy muscle. There is a less charitable name for intermediary liability regimes like Sec 79 of the IT Act — private censorship regimes.

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CIS Comment on ICANN's Draft FY20 Operating Plan and Budget

by Akriti Bopanna

At the Centre for Internet and Society, we are grateful for the opportunity to provide our comments on the proposed draft of ICANN’s FY20 Operating Plan and Budget along with their Five-Year Operating Plan Update. As part of the public comment process, ICANN provided a list of documents which can be found here that included their highlights of the budget, the total draft budget for FY20, an operating plan segregated by portfolios, amongst others.

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The Future of Work in the Automotive Sector in India

by Harsh Bajpai, Ambika Tandon, and Amber Sinha

This report empirically studies the future of work in the automotive sector in India. The report has been authored by Harsh Bajpai, Ambika Tandon and Amber Sinha. Rakhi Sehgal and Aayush Rathi have edited the report.

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Response to the Draft of The Information Technology [Intermediary Guidelines (Amendment) Rules] 2018

by Gurshabad Grover, Elonnai Hickok, Arindrajit Basu, Akriti

In this response, we aim to examine whether the draft rules meet tests of constitutionality and whether they are consistent with the parent Act. We also examine potential harms that may arise from the Rules as they are currently framed and make recommendations to the draft rules that we hope will help the Government meet its objectives while remaining situated within the constitutional ambit.

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CIS Submission to UN High Level Panel on Digital Cooperation

by Aayush Rathi, Ambika Tandon, Arindrajit Basu and Elonnai Hickok

The UN high-level panel on Digital Cooperation issued a call for inputs that called for responses to various questions. CIS responded to the call for inputs.

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