Centre for Internet and Society

Training in Use of eSpeak with Malayalam

praskrishna — 2014-11-30T11:50:38Z

The Centre for Internet & Society (CIS) in partnership with DAISY Forum of India (DFI) and Chakshumathi Assistive Technology Centre, Trivandrum cordially invites all computer teachers for persons with visual impairment for a two day training in the use of eSpeak Malayalam with NVDA for reading and writing in Malayalam.

Training in the use of eSpeak with NVDA

Training in the use of Open Source Screen readers like NVDA will be a focal element of the event. As NVDA with the help of eSpeak provides support for eight Indian languages it will be promoted as a reading tool. The aim of the training is as follows:

The candidate should be able to read e-text using NVDA and eSpeak in any one of the eight Indian languages currently supported.
The candidate should be able to download accessible content from the various platforms and repositories of accessible material.
The candidate should be able to use computers as a knowledge searching tool.
The candidate should be able to type using either phonetic, In script or traditional keyboards.

The training will be provided by experts from CIS and DFI.

Who will benefit?

The event is targeted at promoting the use of eSpeak with NVDA amongst senior computer teachers for persons with visual impairment.

Facilities

Accommodation: Seperate accommodation will be provided for ladies and gents.
Food: Breakfast, lunch and dinner will be provided, courtesy Chakshumati.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/accessibility/events/training-in-e-speak-malayalam

IOCOSE's talk at CIS

praskrishna — 2014-11-25T01:02:24Z

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

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

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

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

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

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

IOCOSE

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

T.A.J. RESIDENCY & SKE PROJECTS

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

Marialaura Ghidini

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

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

Indian Women in Science Wiki edit-a-thon

praskrishna — 2014-10-13T06:17:56Z

A Wikipedia edit-a-thon is being held at the Centre for Ecological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore on October 11, 2014 from 10.00 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. The event is being organized by IndiaBioScience in collaboration with the Centre for Internet and Society's Access to Knowledge team.

CIS-A2K will conduct the first three edit-a-thons.

In India, Science as a discipline is subject to many of the same gender issues as it is worldwide - women scientists are fewer in number than men, they occupy fewer positions of power, and face distinct issues by virtue of their gender and the accompanying societal pressures. Women Scientists in India also tend to be less visible than their male counterparts, and public awareness of Indian Women Scientists is low.

IndiaBioScience will be organising a series of public events to raise the profile of women scientists on one of the most-popular online encyclopaedias - Wikipedia. At these events, participants will be encouraged to create and complete profiles of Indian Women in Science.

To participate sign up below or click here (http://www.indiabioscience.org/content/women-science-wiki-edit-thon

Contact the IndiaBioScience Team for more details: www.indiabioscience.org & team@indiabioscience.org

At the venue, the events will begin with a short, hands-on introduction to Wiki editing. Participants can then go on to pick the scientist they would like to work on. There will be an interaction session with a guest Woman Scientist around lunch, with a discussion of issues commonly faced by women in science. In the afternoon session, participants can continue working on the Wiki pages, with a break for tea. Participants are requested to bring their laptops. We have a few desktops available at Saturday's venue for those who cannot do so.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/openness/events/india-women-in-science-wiki-edit-a-thon

Sangeet Baithak: A Hindustani Music Resource Donation Event in Mumbai

praskrishna — 2014-10-07T04:27:49Z

The Access to Knowledge team from the Centre for Internet and Society (CIS-A2K) and Khayal Trust is organizing a music event on October 7, 2014 in Shivaji Park, Dadar, Mumbai. T.Vishnu Vardhan and Tejaswini Niranjana will be participating.

Neela Bhagwat will donate her comprehensive textual compilation of Gwalior Gharana bandishes. Gwalior Gharana is one of the old traditions of Hindustani gayaki and like other gayaki's the tradition has been passed on orally in the guru-shishya parampara. Pt. Neela Bhagwat has over a period of 30 years (of learning and teaching music) meticulously compiled most of the Gwalior Gharana bandishes with notations and notes. This comprehensive collection which will be scanned and hosted on Wikisource and made available under CC-BY-SA 4.0. license.

Click to download the event invite here.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/openness/events/sangeet-baithak

Consultation on Figures of Learning in the Digital Context

praskrishna — 2015-11-13T05:39:00Z

The Centre for Internet and Society welcomes you to a consultation on new figures of learning in the digital context at its office in Bangalore on September 22, 2014 from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m.

The increasing prevalence of the internet and digital technologies today has engendered a new kind of learning environment, which is connected and collaborative, yet also focussed on the individual, with an emphasis on practice. The pervasive influence of technology in teaching-learning practice has also resulted in new tools, processes and platforms, which have added dimensions to learning, and led to the creation of new bodies of knowledge in the digital context. These new figures, spaces, objects and processes, often challenge and inflate given notions of expertise and authority, increasingly locating them outside the familiar framework of the university and a traditional classroom-based approach to learning.

While the processes of knowledge production have been rapidly changing in the last couple of decades, some examples being data mining, distant reading, cultural mapping and design thinking as new ways of parsing, organising, curating and processing information or knowledge, traditionally the point of reference for authoritative ‘figures’ of learning remains the same. These are that of the teacher, facilitator, reader, student, participant etc. However, with the emergence of such new processes of knowledge-making which are largely located in the digital context, one can see the presence of some non-traditional figures of knowledge as well – such as the geek, hacker, blogger, story-teller, worker, designer, activist etc. There are figures which, consciously or unconsciously subvert and redefine certain conventions of knowledge-making practices, by inventing new terms or redefining old ones. More importantly, the emergence of this nomenclature is symptomatic of a change in the predominant discourse that constitutes a particular kind of ‘digital subject’ or entity that inhabits the digital in a particular way.

The present consultation is an exercise to map these concepts and changes around a set of figures of learning, old and new, to understand the discursive shifts that produce them and locate them in the contemporary moment. Participants from diverse areas of research and practice would be invited to make a short ten minute presentation on one such figure, drawn from their area of interest and work, and examine the concepts or notions behind them. This will be followed by group discussions and a 30 minute writing sprint at the end of the consultation to consolidate the discussion.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/raw/consultation-on-new-figures-of-learning-in-digital-context

Surveillance and Privacy Law Roundtable

praskrishna — 2014-08-25T15:08:33Z

The Centre for Internet and Society, COAI and Vahura invite you to a privacy roundtable at the India International Centre in New Delhi on September 1, 2014.

Download the Invite (PDF, 1207 Kb)

Recent legislative developments regarding privacy law in India
In 2010, the European Union commissioned an assessment of the adequacy of Indian data protection laws in light of the transfer of personal data of European data subjects into India for processing. That assessment made adverse findings on the adequacy and preparedness of Indian privacy law to safeguard personal data. Consequently, in 2011, the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) proposed draft privacy legislation called the ‘Right to Privacy Bill, 2011’. The DoPT Bill contained provisions for the regulation of personal data, interception of communications, visual surveillance and direct marketing. Simultaneously, the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology issued the Information Technology (Reasonable Security Practices and Procedures and Sensitive Personal Data or Information) Rules, 2011 to give effect to section 43A of the Information Technology Act, 2000.

The Justice Shah Group of Experts on Privacy and the National Privacy Principles
Aware of the need for privacy laws to enable economic growth, the Planning Commission constituted a Group of Experts under the chairmanship of Justice Ajit P. Shah to make specific proposals for future Indian privacy law. The Group of Experts submitted its Report to the Planning Commission in October 2012 wherein it proposed the adoption of nine National Privacy Principles. These are the principles of notice, choice and consent, collection limitation, purpose limitation, disclosure of information, security, openness, and accountability. The Report recommended the application of these principles in future privacy law.

Surveillance law in India
The cases of Kharak Singh v. State of Uttar Pradesh (1963) and Gobind v. State of Madhya Pradesh (1975) first brought the questions of permissibility and limits of surveillance to the Supreme Court for judicial review. The regime governing the interception of telecommunications is contained in section 5(2) of the Indian Telegraph Act, 1885 read with rule 419A of the Indian Telegraph Rules, 1951. The Telegraph Rules were twice amended to give effect to certain procedural safeguards laid down by the Supreme Court in PUCL v. Union of India (1996). In addition, further subordinate legislation issued to fulfil the provisions of sections 69(2) and 69B(3) of the Information Technology Act permit the interception and monitoring of electronic communications to collect traffic data and to intercept, monitor, and decrypt such communications.

About these roundtable consultations
These roundtable consultations are hosted by the Centre for Internet & Society (CIS), COAI and Vahura. They are a series of national roundtables to focus on surveillance regulation and interception of communications in relation to telecom service providers, internet service providers, internet access providers, and internet-based service providers. These roundtables are designed to elicit comments on legal proposals to regulate surveillance. The text of these legal proposals has been drafted at CIS and continues to be modified to reflect the opinions and consensus at each roundtable consultation. The objective of these meetings is gain a stakeholder-based, participatory, and democratic consensus on the future of Indian surveillance and privacy law.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/events/surveillance-privacy-roundtable

Developing Digital Open Knowledge Resources in Indian Languages

praskrishna — 2014-08-22T00:51:52Z

The Centre for Internet and Society's Access to Knowledge team (CIS-A2K) in partnership with the School of Cultural Texts and Records, School of Women's Studies, Jadavpur University, Centre for Indian Languages in Higher Education, and the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai is organizing a two-day workshop for students at Jadavpur University on August 25 and 26, 2014.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/openness/events/developing-digital-open-knowledge-resources-in-indian-languages

Identity and Databases

praskrishna — 2014-08-07T08:32:16Z

The Centre for Internet and Society (CIS) and the Say No to UID Campaign invite you to a discussion identity, databases and facilitating technologies that explores the use of personal identifiers across databases and the potential violations of privacy on August 9, 2014 (10.30 a.m. to 1.00 p.m.) at the CIS office in Bangalore.

The discussions will specifically focus on the UID and the NPR and seek to answer:

What information is being collected and databased by each scheme?
What type of technology is needed to collect and database this information?
How and where is this information being databased?
What are the potential risks to the databasing of this information?
Are there legal safeguards protecting against misuse of this information, and if not, what safeguards are needed?
Is there a difference between the state collecting, storing, and using this information and a private entity?

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/events/identity-and-databases

Multi-stakeholder Internet Governance: The Way Ahead

praskrishna — 2014-07-29T07:08:04Z

The Centre for Internet and Society (CIS) in partnership with Software Freedom Law Centre (SFLC.in) is organizing a workshop "Multi-stakeholder Internet Governance: The Way Ahead" on August 6, 2014, 10.30 a.m. to 12.00 p.m., at during the APrIGF event to be held at Crown Plaza, Greater Noida.

Thematic Area of Interest

Enhanced Cooperation & the Multi-stakeholder model

Introduction:
Today, multi-stakeholderism is the catchphrase in Internet governance. With the display of a multi-stakeholder model at NETmundial, controversies and opinions regarding the meaning, substance and benefits of multi-stakeholderism have deepened. As the recent meeting of the Working Group on Enhanced Cooperation of the United Nations Commission on Science, Technology and Development demonstrates, questions and concerns regarding meaning of multi-stakeholderism, the

legitimacy and desirability of its processes, and the successes and disappointments of its outcomes now dominate the discussion. At this juncture, clarity and consensus are imperative to determine the future of multi-stakeholderism in Internet governance.

Roles and responsibilities of stakeholders:
The debates surrounding stakeholder-roles in Internet governance began with ¶ 49 of the Geneva Declaration of Principles and ¶ 35 of the Tunis Agenda, which delineated clear roles and responsibilities. It created a ‘contributory’ multi-stakeholder model, where states held sovereign authority over public policy issues, while business and civil society were contributed to ‘important roles’ at the ‘technical and economic fields’ and the ‘community level’, respectively. At the same time, it set forth an agenda for enhanced cooperation.

As the WGEC meeting (April 30-May 2, 2014) demonstrated, there is as yet no consensus on stakeholder-roles. Certain governments remain strongly opposed to equal roles of other stakeholders, emphasizing their lack of accountability and responsibility. Civil society is similarly splintered, with a majority opposing the Tunis Agenda delineation of stakeholder-roles, while others remain dubious of permitting the private sector an equal footing in public policy-making. Still others question the wisdom of seeking a ‘fix’ when ‘nothing is broken’. In this session, we aim to interrogate the benefits and disadvantages of an ‘equal footing’ model, as opposed to a ‘contributory’ model.

Specific Issues of Discussions & Description

Who are the stakeholders? Should a multi-stakeholder model of Internet governance grant all stakeholders ‘equal footing’? Should such ‘equal footing’ be relegated to issues other than substantive public policy-making? On the other hand, is a ‘contributory’ model safer? Are states better equipped to represent interests inclusively? How can governments and businesses best perform their role as trustees of the public interest of interest users?

In view of the formidable consolidation by the private sector at NETmundial, while civil society splintered on issues of intellectual property and intermediary liability, can a ‘participative model’ better prevent detrimental outcomes?

Multi-stakeholderism beyond NETmundial:
As important as the meaning of multi-stakeholderism is the process of its execution. The need to fashion safe and sustainable processes for multi-stakeholder participation was highlighted by the successes and failures of private sector and civil society at NETmundial. From the ICANN and IGF models to stakeholder coalitions, premeeting coordination and governmental policy participation, this session shall expand on the quest for effective and beneficial stakeholder participation and representation in both the ‘equal footing’ and ‘contributory’ models, with a focus on enhancing developing country participation.

Particularly, lessons that Internet governance may draw from multi-stakeholder governance processes across areas shall be discussed. For instance, deliberative democracy, enterprise associations or unions (such as in the International Labour Organisation) may all be of value. Similarly, multi-stakeholder processes in environmental and corporate governance and the development sector may benefit Internet governance. In determining the value of these processes to Internet governance, public interest of users is an important consideration. The capability and initiative of governments to implement an effective bottom-up model of Internet governance is equally important and will be considered.

We aim to conduct a 90-minute workshop (2 panels of 45 minutes each), inclusive of 15-30 minutes in all for Q&A from audience, panellists and moderators.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/events/multi-stakeholder-internet-governance-the-way-ahead

Minimising Legal Risks of Online Intermediaries while Protecting User Rights

praskrishna — 2014-07-29T07:50:51Z

The Centre for Internet and Society (CIS) in partnership with Software Freedom Law Centre (SFLC.in) is organizing a workshop during the APrIGF event to be held at Crown Plaza, Greater Noida on August 5, 2014, 3.30 p.m. to 5.00 p.m. Jyoti Panday will be a panelist.

Thematic Area of Interest

Internet business in the Asia Pacific region

Consumer protection for users of global Internet services

Internet for socio-economic development

Specific Issues of Discussions & Description

Internet usage in the Asia Pacific region has been growing at a phenomenal rate and online service providers have benefited enormously from this growth. However, the region poses challenges for online service providers in terms of legal risks involved with respect to user generated content. Across the world from Europe to the US, it has been an accepted policy that service providers on the Internet cannot be held liable for user-generated content and this principle has found place in legislations enacted in this field in most countries. However, the Asian region has often seen blocking of services and websites due to user-generated content that is deemed to be illegal. There needs to be a debate on safe harbour provisions for intermediaries and the take-down provisions in legislations to ensure that the right to freedom of expression of citizens are protected while maintaining an environment that permits innovation in this space.

The workshop will also consider the different classes of intermediaries, how they differ functionally and if their differing roles should bear an impact on their responsibility with regards to protection of rights of users. Traditional models of consumer protection are based on distinguishing the roles and responsibilities of suppliers, facilitators and consumers. While developing consumer protection models for online intermediary platforms, their evolving roles and responsibilities as a supplier and a facilitator need to be considered. Intermediary platforms have also created and highlighted new consumer relations and issues that call for robust and fluid reddressal mechanisms.

The need to reflect on reddressal mechanisms for consumer issues pertaining to online intermediaries is also necessary, given the economic implications associated with intermediary liability. Failure to protect intermediaries stems innovation and restricts growth of start-ups and small to medium enterprises in the digital economy and has negative financial implications. Moreover, intermediaries are crucial in connecting developing countries to global markets and a failure to protect them, creates a barrier to information exchange and capacity building.

The panel will discuss the following issues:

Take-down procedures and Put-back provisions used in various countries in the region
Safe-harbour provisions for intermediaries
Need for classification of Intermediaries for the purpose of a take-down regime and user rights
Rights of users of services provided by online intermediaries
Recommendations for a balanced intermediary liability regime

Expected Format and Confirmed Panel Members

The workshop will be a ninety minute panel divided in two sessions of forty five minutes each. The proposed panel includes:

Mishi Choudhary (Moderator) SFLC.IN Civil Society India
Mishi Choudhary is the founding director of SFLC India. She started working with SFLC in New York following the completion of her fellowship during which she earned her LLM from Columbia Law School and was a Stone Scholar. In addition to her LLM, she has an LLB and a bachelors degree in political science from the University of Delhi, India.

Jyoti Panday, Center for Internet and Society, Civil Society, India
Jyoti Panday is Programme Officer at the Centre for Internet and Society working on Internet governance and on issues related to the role and responsibility of intermediaries in protecting user rights and freedom of expression. She has experience in strategy, campaign management and research on issues and processes related to the development agenda, sustainability and democracy. She has completed her MSc in Public Policy from Queen Mary, University of London.

Shahzad Ahmed, Bytes for All Pakistan, Civil Society, Pakistan
Shahzad Ahmad is the Country Coordinator of Bytes for All, Pakistan and founder of the Digital Rights Institute (DRI). He is currently working on issues of ICT policy advocacy, internet rights and freedom of expression. He is a development communications expert and is at the forefront of the Internet Rights movement in Pakistan.

Mr. Ahmad is a Diplo Fellow, Executive Board Member of the Association for Progressive Communications, Advisory Board Member of .PK ccTLD and a member of the International Advisory Board of Privacy International, UK. He regularly contributes to various publications and research studies on ICTs for development, freedom of expression and gender related issues. Widely travelled, he regularly participates in various forums at local, regional and global level. Mr. Ahmad maintains a strong engagement with broader civil society networks and strongly believes in participation and openness.

Professor KS Park, Korea University Law School Professor
One of the founders of Open Net Korea, Professor Park has written and is active in internet, free speech, privacy, defamation, copyright, international business contracting, etc. He has given expert testimonies in high-profile free speech cases including the /Minerva /case, the internet real name verification case, the military’s subversive book blacklisting case, the newspaper consumers’ boycott case, and the Park Jung-Geun Retweet case. As a result, the “false news” crime and the internet real name verification laws were struck down as unconstitutional, Park Jung-Geun and Minerva acquitted, the soldiers challenging book blacklisting reinstated, the newspaper boycotters acquitted partially as to the “secondary boycotting” charge (2010-2013).

Since 2006, he serves as the Executive Director of the PSPD Law Center, a non-profit entity that has organized several impact litigations in the areas of free speech, privacy, and copyright. There, the Law Center won the world’s first damage lawsuit against a copyright holder for “bad faith” takedown (2009) and the first damage lawsuit against a portal for warrantless disclosure of the user identity data to the police (2012).

Arvind Gupta, National Head-Information and Technology, Government/ BJP Political party, India
National Head, BJP Information Technology Cell

Faisal Farooqui, CEO, MouthShut.com, Private Sector, India
Faisal Farooqui is a highly recognized entrepreneur who is among the trailblazers of his generation. Faisal has founded and managed two successful Internet and technology companies -MouthShut.com, India's largest consumer review and social media portal and Zarca Interactive, a Virginia based enterprise survey and feedback company.

Ramanjit Singh Chima, Google, Private Sector, India
Raman Jit Singh Chima serves as Policy Counsel and Government Affairs Manager for Google, based in New Delhi. He currently helps lead Google'spublic policy and government affairs work in India. He is a graduate of the Bachelors in Arts and Law (Honours) programme of the National Law School of India University, Bangalore. While at the National Law School, he was Chief Editor of the Indian Journal of Law and Technology. He has studied Internet regulation as an independent research fellow with the Sarai programme of the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies and contributed to Freedom House's 2009 Freedom on the Internet report.

Apar Gupta, Legal, India
Apar Gupta is a practicing lawyer in Delhi working as a Partner at the law firm of Advani & Co. His practice areas include, commercial litigation and arbitration with a focus on technology and media. Apar as a retained counsel, represents an internet industry organisation in government affairs, including consultations on draft laws and policies which effect the sector. These issues include legal risks of intermediaries, media freedom and consumer rights. He has completed his masters in law from Columbia Law School, New York and has written columns for the Business Standard, Indian Express and the Pioneer on legal issues. Apar also is a visiting faculty at National Law University, Delhi.

Full Name, Affiliation and Contact Details of the Workshop Organizer

The workshop will be jointly organised by SFLC.IN and the Centre for Internet & Society, India. The details of the contact person for the workshop is given below:

Name: Ms. Mishi Choudhary, Executive Director, SFLC.IN I
E: mishi@softwarefreedom.org
Jyoti Panday—Centre for Internet & Society, India
E: jyoti@cis-india.org

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/events/minimising-legal-risks-of-online-intermediaries-while-protecting-user-rights

Open Knowledge Day at Mysore

praskrishna — 2014-07-14T09:41:39Z

Mysore University along with the Centre for Internet and Society's Access to Knowledge (CIS-A2K) team invites you to an Open Knowledge Day at the University of Mysore on July 15, 2014.

We signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the University of Mysore earlier this year in January to re-release the first six volumes of their Kannada encyclopaedia under Creative Commons (CC) license.

CIS-A2K facilitated extracting the legacy text from the soft-copies, converting them to Unicode, distributing the files among volunteers and Christ University interns and uploading them to Kannada Wikisource. So far about 1200 articles have been added. These articles will feed to articles in Kannada Wikipedia.

To commemorate this, the University of Mysore and CIS-A2K is organizing this event. This will also coincide with the Open Knowledge Festival happening at Berlin from July 15 to 17, 2014.

The invitation for the Mysore program given below:

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/openness/events/open-knowledge-day-mysore

Privacy and Surveillance Roundtable

praskrishna — 2014-06-29T14:50:20Z

The Centre for Internet and Society and the Cellular Operators Association of India invite you to a roundtable at the India International Centre, New Delhi on July 4, 2014.

Background and Context to the Roundtables

In India, lawful interception of communications may be conducted by the state in three ways: firstly, intercepting telephone calls and other telecommunications may take place under powers listed in the Telegraph Act, 1885 and procedure set out in the Telegraph Rules, 1951; secondly, intercepting written communications transmitted through the postal service or by private couriers may occur under the Post Office Act, 1898; and, thirdly, intercepting, de-crypting, and monitoring email messages and other electronic communications may take place under the Information Technology Act, 1950 and two sets of Rules issued in 2008.

The government’s intention to create a Central Monitoring System to automate the existing process of telephone tapping is significant for a number of reasons. It will bypass private telephone service providers; currently the active cooperation of TSPs is required and compelled in order to intercept and monitor a telephone conversation. This creates an extra layer of compliance activity for TSPs which is cumbersome and expensive. Interception orders from the state often do not comply with the procedure required by law. This uncertainty is compounded by the lack of an indemnity for TSPs.

However, while the CMS will release TSPs from legal liability, it will leave the government free to conduct telephone interceptions in absolute secrecy and without a credible system of oversight and checks and balances. Amongst the world’s major democratic countries, India is alone in refusing to overhaul its telephone tapping regime. The legal requirements of probable cause, judicial sanction, and warrant-based interception – which are followed with exceptions in democracies around the world – are not adequately protected in India. The same principles also apply to the interception of postal and electronic communications.

There are several intelligence and police agencies in India that conduct interceptions of communications without central coordination. Previous cases in the Supreme Court of India and a few Indian High Courts reveal many cases of improper and even illegal surveillance. The sheer number of interested state agencies, the concerns of inadequate oversight, the lack of a credible legal regime, the constant leaks of private communications, and the poor legal protection given to TSPs and ISPs must be legally addressed.

Information about the Roundtables

The Privacy and Surveillance Roundtables are a CIS initiative, in partnership with the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI). From June 2014 – November 2014, CIS and COAI will host seven Privacy and Surveillance Roundtable discussions across multiple cities in India. The Roundtables will be closed-door deliberations involving multiple stakeholders. Through the course of these discussions we aim to deliberate upon the current legal framework for surveillance in India, and discuss possible frameworks for surveillance in India. The provisions of the draft CIS Privacy Bill 2013, the International Principles on the Application of Human Rights to Communication Surveillance, and the Report of the Group of Experts on Privacy will be used as background material and entry points into the discussion. The recommendations and dialogue from each roundtable will be compiled and submitted to the Department of Personnel and training.

The Report of the Group of Experts on Privacy

In January 2012 Justice A.P. Shah formed a committee to create a report of recommendations for privacy legislation in India. The committee met seven times from January 2012 to September 2012. The Report is made up of six chapters and begins by reviewing the international best practices around privacy and the relevant Indian jurisprudence. The Report then recommends nine National Privacy Principles to be adopted by each sector in India. The Nine National Privacy Principles reflect international standards, as well as taking into consideration the Indian context. Along with the National Privacy Principles, the Report lays out a regulatory framework for privacy including privacy commissioners at the regional and national level, self regulating organizations at the industry level, and a system of complaints. Finally the report demonstrates how the National Privacy Principles could be used to harmonize existing legislation and practices.

The Draft CIS Citizens Privacy (Protection) Bill 2013

The Centre for Internet and Society has been researching privacy in India since 2010 with the objective of raising public awareness, completing in depth research, and driving a privacy legislation in India. As part of this work, the Centre for Internet and Society has drafted the Privacy (Protection) Bill 2013. The Citizens Privacy Protection Bill contains provisions that speak to data protection, interception, and surveillance. The Bill also establishes the powers and functions of the privacy commissioner, and lays out offenses and penalties for contravention of the Act. The Bill represents a citizens’ version of a privacy legislation, and will be shared with civil society, industry, and government. It is hoped that the review and revision of the Bill will be a participatory process, and thus comments and feedback to it’s’ provisions will be included as annex’s to the Bill.

The International Principles on the Application of Human Rights to Communication Surveillance

These principles were defined in 2013 in response to rapidly changing technologies and surveillance practices. The principles are the outcome of a global consultation with civil society groups, industry and international experts in communications surveillance law, policy and technology, spearheaded by the Electronic Frontier Foundation US and Privacy International UK. As technologies that facilitate State surveillance of communications advance, States are failing to ensure that laws and regulations related to communications surveillance adhere to international human rights and adequately protect the rights to privacy and freedom of expression. These principles attempt to explain how international human rights law applies in the current digital environment, particularly in light of the increase in and changes to communications surveillance technologies and techniques. These principles can provide civil society groups, industry, States and others with a framework to evaluate whether current or proposed surveillance laws and practices are consistent with human rights.

Tentative Agenda

Time	Detail
10.00 11.00	Introduction
11.00 11.30	Tea
11.30 13.00	Discussion
13.00 14.00	Lunch
14.00 16.00	Discussion
16.00 16.15	Tea

Resources

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/events/privacy-and-surveillance-roundtable-new-delhi

Privacy and Surveillance Roundtable

praskrishna — 2014-06-20T05:26:10Z

The Centre for Internet and Society and the Cellular Operators Association of India in collaboration with the Council for Fair Business Practices invite you to a "Privacy Roundtable" at IMC Building, IMC Marg, Churchgate, Mumbai on June 28, 2014, 10.00 a.m. to 4.00 p.m.

Time	Details
10:00 – 11:00	Introduction
11:00 - 11:30	Tea
11:30 - 13:00	Discussion
13:00 - 14:00	Lunch
14.00 - 16.00	Discussion
16.00 - 16.15	Tea

Background and Context to the Roundtables

Information about the Roundtables

The Report of the Group of Experts on Privacy

The Draft CIS Citizens Privacy (Protection) Bill 2013

The International Principles on the Application of Human Rights to Communication Surveillance

Tentative schedule for the Roundtables:

Mumbai – June 28th
New Delhi – July 4th
Ahmedabad/Hyderabad – August 1st
Bangalore – September 5th
New Delhi – October 3rd
Chennai – October 24th
New Delhi – November 7th

Resources

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/events/privacy-surveillance-roundtable

Knowledge and Openness in the Digital Era

praskrishna — 2014-07-04T11:28:34Z

Andhra Loyola College and the Centre for Internet and Society's Access to Knowledge (CIS-A2K) team invite you to a two-day national workshop on knowledge and openness in the digital era.

Instructions for Participants

Each participant attending the Workshop should register themselves on Wikipedia. Please note that once you register on a Wikipedia project, you can use that 'Username' (i.e. same log-in details) across all Wikipedias and Wikimedia platforms. This should be done by June 22, 2014. Please note that you will not be able to register more than 5 Usernames from a single IP address within 24 hours (a security feature of Wikipedia). This tutorial will help you with Registration on Wikipedia http://sh.st/r9zc (click on this link).
Once registered the participants must enroll here http://bit.ly/U4Zxhp using an on-line registration form.
All the participants are expected to do take part in production sprints on Wikipedia. We will choose Telugu Language Wikipedia as a site to do some editing.

For this workshop each participant should come with three full-fledged articles (at least of 1200 words each) in Telugu. This should be typed and be available in a soft copy form and could be carried in a thumb drive or any other storage media which should be easily accessible to them during the training programme. Please check www.te.wikipedia.org to see if an article already exists on the topic that you are planning to write. You can even choose the expand the existing article on Telugu Wikipedia with your knowledge.

Suggested topics: a) Concepts/topics that you teach often; b) A famous theorist/thinker in your discipline; c) Any other notable topic that you feel should be in your language Wikipedia.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/openness/events/knowledge-and-openness-in-digital-era

Production Sprint — A Public Exhibition at CIS

praskrishna — 2015-10-24T14:23:30Z

The Making Change project invites you for a public exhibition of stories of change from all over Asia, where the first of its Production Sprints will take place. The exhibition will be held at the Centre for Internet and Society (CIS) office in Bangalore on June 7, 2014 between 5 p.m. and 7 p.m.

Download the event flier [PDF, 402 Kb]

What does 'Making Change' mean to you? What are the processes of change? The infrastructure of change? The actors of change? A round-table discussion and exhibition by 23 change makers from 15 countries in Asia, at the Centre for Internet & Society, Saturday, 7th June, 5 - 7 p.m. Please do come.

The Making Change project questions traditional understandings of change –where change is employed in the name of power, reduced to a ‘spectacle’ by global media and goes largely unquestioned in the public discourse- and aims to build more adequate frameworks to address the idea of change in the context of common knowledge, networked media and information societies.

Making Change is hosting focused, intensive, and production-oriented workshops called Production Sprints to facilitate the convergence of actors and ideas.These will be spaces of knowledge exchange between change-makers around processes, narratives and experiences of change and of experimentation with multi-modal forms and formats of knowledge production (text, image, sound, etc). Participants will be asked to group around four topics: concepts, crises ecologies and networks of change. These visions and practices, we hope will produce new ways of thinking about change.

During the Bangalore production sprint, we will document the various knowledges acquired through the pre-production stage and the 5 day intensive sessions on formats, storytelling and visual presentation modes; and we will close with an exhibition of the resulting narratives of change. We invite you to come and participate in the exhibition.

Date: June 7th, 2014
Time: 5pm- 7pm
Location: The Center for Internet and Society

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/digital-natives/events/production-sprint-public-exhibition-at-cis