Centre for Internet & Society

Through the looking glass: Analysing transparency reports

by Torsha Sarkar, Suhan S and Gurshabad Grover

An analysis of companies' transparency reports for government requests for user data and content removal

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Department of Labour Interaction Program: Online Business Platforms

by Bharath Gururagavendran

The Department of Labour convened an interaction program of sorts at Vikas Soudha in Bangalore on 21st October, 2019 to hear the issues plaguing the emergent gig economy.

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Comments to the United Nations Human Rights Commission Report on Gender and Privacy

by Aayush Rathi, Ambika Tandon and Pallavi Bedi

This submission to UNHRC presents a response by researchers at the CIS to ‘gender issues arising in the digital era and their impacts on women, men and individuals of diverse sexual orientations gender identities, gender expressions and sex characteristics’. It was prepared by Aayush Rathi, Ambika Tandon, and Pallavi Bedi in response to a report of consultation by a thematic taskforce established by the Special Rapporteur on the Right to Privacy on ‘Privacy and Personality’ (hereafter, HRC Gender Report).

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Comments to the Code on Social Security, 2019

by Aayush Rathi , Amruta Mahuli and Ambika Tandon

This submission presents a response by researchers at the Centre for Internet & Society, India (CIS) to the draft Code on Social Security, 2019 (hereinafter “ Draft Code ”) prepared by the Government of India’s Ministry of Labour and Employment.

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“Politics by other means”: Fostering positive contestation and charting ‘red lines’ through global governance in cyberspace

by Arindrajit Basu

The past year has been a busy one for the fermentation of global governance efforts in cyberspace with multiple actors-states, industry, and civil society spearheading a variety of initiatives. Given the multiplicity of actors, ideologies, and vested interests at play in this ecosystem, any governance initiative will be, by default, political, and desirably so.

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The Mother and Child Tracking System - understanding data trail in the Indian healthcare systems

by Ambika Tandon

Reproductive health programmes in India have been digitising extensive data about pregnant women for over a decade, as part of multiple health information systems. These can be seen as precursors to current conceptions of big data systems within health informatics. In this article, published by Privacy International, Ambika Tandon presents some findings from a recently concluded case study of the MCTS as an example of public data-driven initiatives in reproductive health in India.

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Farming the Future: Deployment of Artificial Intelligence in the agricultural sector in India

by Elonnai Hickok, Arindrajit Basu, Siddharth Sonkar and Pranav M B

This case study was published as a chapter in the joint UNESCAP-Google publication titled Artificial Intelligence in Public Service Delivery. The chapter in its final form would not have been possible without the efforts and very useful interventions by our colleagues at Digital Asia Hub,Google, and UNESCAP.

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Setting International Norms of Cyber Conflict is Hard, But that Doesn't Mean that We Should Stop Trying

by Arindrajit Basu and Karan Saini

Last month, cyber-defense analyst and geostrategist Pukhraj Singh penned a stinging epitaph, published by MWI, for global norms-formulation processes that are attempting to foster cyber stability and regulate cyber conflict—specifically, the Tallinn Manual.

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We need a better AI vision

by Arindrajit Basu

Artificial intelligence conjures up a wondrous world of autonomous processes but dystopia is inevitable unless rights and privacy are protected.

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AI for Good

by Shweta Mohandas and Saumyaa Naidu

CIS organised a workshop titled ‘AI for Good’ at the Unbox Festival in Bangalore from 15th to 17th February, 2019. The workshop was led by Shweta Mohandas and Saumyaa Naidu. In the hour long workshop, the participants were asked to imagine an AI based product to bring forward the idea of ‘AI for social good’.

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