Centre for Internet and Society

Consilience – 2013

praskrishna — 2013-11-20T06:15:15Z

The Law and Technology Committee of National Law School of India University, Bangalore is organising ‘Consilience – 2013′, an annual conference on law and technology, to be held on May 25 and 26, 2013. The Centre for Internet and Society is a co-partner for this event.

Theme: Data Protection and Cyber Security in India. Click to read the report here.

Topics:
Frameworks for Data Protection in India: The J. A.P. Shah “Report of the Group of Experts on Privacy”

a. What is the scope of the principles/framework?

b. What could be the strengths and limitation of their application?

c. How does Report define privacy for India?

d. Would an alternative framework for privacy in India be better? If so, what would this framework look like?

India and the EU: The Privacy Debate

a. How does the Indian data protection regime differ from the EU regime?

b. Was the EU is justified in not accepting India as a data secure country? Reason for or against.

c. In what way does the Indian regime on data protection not meet the requirements of EU’s data protection directive?

d. What changes need to be made in the Indian regime to become EU compliant? Are these changes feasible? Should India make these changes?

Governmental Schemes, Data Protection, and Security

a. In India, do private public partnerships between government and the private sector adequately incorporate data protection standards?

b. What have been concerns related to data protection and security that have arisen from government schemes? (Please use two governmental schemes as case studies)

c. Are these concerns related to the policy associated with the project – the architecture of the project as well as the implementation?

d. Should the larger question of data protection for governmental schemes be incorporated into a privacy legislation? If yes, how so?

Contracts and Data Protection in India

a. How are contracts used to ensure data protection in India? What actors use contracts?

b. Are there weaknesses in using contracts to ensure data protection standards?

c. Do contracts address questions brought about from technology like the cloud?

Cyber security in India

a. What are the perceived challenges and threats to cyber security in India?

b. Are these currently being addressed through policy/projects? If yes, how so?

c. How does India’s cyber security regime compare to other countries?

Surveillance and Cyber Security

a. Does policy in India enable the Government of India to surveil individuals for reasons related to cyber security?

b. If so – through what policy, projects, legislation?

c. Do the relevant policies, projects, and legislation impact privacy? How so?

The Draft National Cyber Security Policy

a. What is the scope of the National Cyber Security Policy of India? Does the draft policy adequately address all of the concerns within the ambit of cyber security?

b. Would the Draft National Cyber Security Policy of India be effective in meeting the goal of enhancing cyber security levels in India?

c. How does the Draft National Cyber Security Policy compare to other countries cyber security policies?

Word Limit:

Abstract: 750-800 words

Paper: 2,500 words

Deadlines:

Abstract Submission: April 30, 2013

Paper Submission: May 15, 2013

Contact Details:

consilience2013[at]gmail[dot]com

Mohak Arora: +91-90359-21926

Shivam Singla: +91-99167-08701

Each participant is required to submit an abstract on any one of the seven topics above and can choose the specific issue within the selected topic to discuss.

For additional details, click here.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/events/consilience-2013-law-technology-committee-nls-bangalore

Katak Community Meetup

praskrishna — 2013-04-26T05:42:47Z

Odia Wikipedia Community in Cuttack

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/home-images/Katak.png

69A vs. 69A - Chart 1

praskrishna — 2013-04-26T07:27:49Z

69A vs. 69A - Chart 1

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/home-images/69Avs69AChart1.png

Odia Wikipedia Community at Cuttack

praskrishna — 2013-04-26T08:44:15Z

Odia Wiki Community at Cuttack

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/home-images/copy_of_Katak.png

69a-draft-rules-v-69-official-rules

praskrishna — 2013-04-26T09:19:30Z

69a-draft-rules-v-69-official-rules 1

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/home-images/Draft69Arulesvs69ARules01.png

69a-draft-rules-v-69-official-rules 3

praskrishna — 2013-04-26T11:06:48Z

69a-draft-rules-v-69-official-rules 3

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/home-images/Chart3.png

69a-draft-rules-v-69-official-rules 5

praskrishna — 2013-04-26T17:03:23Z

69a-draft-rules-v-69-official-rules 5

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/home-images/Chart6.png

Access to Knowledge Bulletin — May 2013

praskrishna — 2013-07-04T04:17:49Z

In this issue of our newsletter for 2013, we are pleased to bring you updates about the open exhibition held at our office for celebrating five years of our existence, Access to Knowledge work plan (2013-14), and the revised budget (September 2012 - February 2013).

Wikimedia Foundation, beginning from September 1, 2012, awarded the Centre for Internet & Society (CIS) a two-year grant of INR 26,000,000 to support and develop free knowledge in India. Consequently, Wikimedia Foundation’s India Program became the Access to Knowledge (A2K) program of CIS. In this newsletter, we are pleased to bring you updates about the recently concluded exhibition organised in our offices in Bangalore and Delhi and share with you the feedback to the Access to Knowledge work plan from the wikipedia community.

The A2K team consists of three members based in Bangalore: T. Vishnu Vardhan, Dr. U.B. Pavanaja and Subhashish Panigrahi and one member Nitika Tandon in Delhi. Noopur Raval, Programme Officer left the organisation on April 24, 2013. Archives of our newsletters are here.

Wikipedians from various communities can request for outreach programs, technical bugs, logistics-merchandize and media, public relations and communications at http://bit.ly/TOcXId.

Celebrating 5 Years of CIS
CIS is now 5 years old and we recently celebrated this by holding an open exhibition in our offices in Bangalore and Delhi from May 20 to 23, showcasing our work and accomplishments over the five year period. We had about 170 visitors coming in to our office. Renowned artists like Tara Kelton, Kiran Subbaiah, Navin Thomas, Abhishek Hazra and Sharath Chandra Ram exhibited their work. The four-day event attracted press coverage: Bangalore Mirror (May 18, 2013), DNA (May 19, 2013), Hindu (May 22, 2013), Prajavani (May 23, 2013), Udayavani (May 25, 2013) and Bangalore Mirror (May 31, 2013). Download all the posters that were part of the exhibition here.

Announcements

Access to Knowledge Work Plan (April 2013 - June 2014): CIS has announced its detailed plan with projection of outcomes and expected impact of the A2K programme activities. The document has been made in consultation with various stakeholders and keeping in mind the objectives, opportunities and challenges faced by each of the Indian language Wikimedia projects. Feel free to share any feedback.
WMF-A2K Revised Budget (draft) and Utilization (September 2012 - February 2013): In our effort to increase transparency with the working of CIS-A2K programme, we are sharing with you the A2K Programme Budget along with the utilization for the above period. The proposed revisions to the budget along with some notes are here.
CIS Signs MOU with TISS: has signed a MoU with TISS as part of which we will collaboratively work towards building Digital Knowledge Partnerships with select higher education institutions.
India Access to Knowledge IRC can be accessed here: May 13, 2013 (All Language Discussion) and May 26, 2013 (Odia Language Discussion).

Blog Entries

Odia Wikipedia: Needs Assessment (by Subhashish Panigrahi, May 11, 2013).
Access to Knowledge Work Plan: Synopsis of Feedback by Wikipedians (by Nitika Tandon, May 20, 2013).
Wikipedia Introductory Session organized for Data and India portal consultants (by Subhashish Panigrahi, May 30, 2013).
My First Wikipedia Training Workshop – Theatre Outreach Unit, University of Hyderabad (by T. Vishnu Vardhan, June 19, 2013).

Events Organised

Kannada Wikipedia Workshop (April 29, 2013, Govinda Pai Research Centre, MGM College Udupi). Dr. U.B. Pavanaja led the workshop and gave a talk on Kannada Wikipedia

Event Participated

Kannada IRC Meet (organised by the Wikipedia Community, May 7, 2013). Dr. U.B. Pavanaja participated in this.

Upcoming Event

Digital Humanities for Indian Higher Education (co-organised in collaboration with HEIRA-CSCS, Tumkur University, CILHE-TISS and CCS (IISc), Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, July 13, 2013).

Press Coverage

Report on CIS 5 Years Celebration (Prajavani, May 23, 2013). Prajavani published a report of Dr. U.B. Pavanja’s talk “From Palm Leaf to Tablet – Journey of Kannada”.
Report on CIS 5 Years Celebration (Udayavani, May 25, 2013). Udayavani published a report of the evening programme hosted as part of the Centre for Internet and Society's 5 year celebrations in its Bangalore edition.
A Feature on Wikipedia and Telegu Wikipedians (HMTV, May 30 – 31, 2013). T. Vishnu Vardhan is quoted in this half an hour feature on Wikipedia and Telugu Wikipedians.
Wikipedia Live Phone-in Programme (HMTV, June 1, 2013). T. Vishnu Vardhan speaks about Telegu Wikipedia in the discussion that was telecasted live.

About CIS

CIS was registered as a society in Bangalore in 2008. As an independent, non-profit research organisation, it runs different policy research programmes such as Accessibility, Access to Knowledge, Openness, Internet Governance, and Telecom. The policy research programmes have resulted in outputs such as the e-Accessibility Policy Handbook for Persons with Disabilities with ITU and G3ict, and Digital Alternatives with a Cause?, Thinkathon Position Papers and the Digital Natives with a Cause? Report with Hivos, etc. We have conducted policy research for the Ministry of Communications & Information Technology, Ministry of Human Resource Development, Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, etc., on WIPO Treaties, Copyright Bill, NIA Bill, etc.

CIS is accredited as an observer at WIPO. CIS staff participates in the Standing Committee for Copyright and Related Rights (SCCR) meetings regularly held in Geneva, and participate in the discussions and comments on them from a public interest perspective. Our Policy Director, Nirmita Narasimhan won the National Award for Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities from the Government of India and also received the NIVH Excellence Award.

Follow us elsewhere

Get short, timely messages from us on Twitter
Join the CIS group on Facebook
Visit us at http://cis-india.org

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

Request for Collaboration
We invite researchers, practitioners, and theoreticians, both organisationally and as individuals, to collaboratively engage with Internet and society and improve our understanding of this new field. To discuss the research collaborations, write to Sunil Abraham, Executive Director, at sunil@cis-india.org or Nishant Shah, Director – Research, at nishant@cis-india.org

CIS is grateful to its donors, Wikimedia Foundation, Ford Foundation, Privacy International, UK, Hans Foundation and the Kusuma Trust which was founded by Anurag Dikshit and Soma Pujari, philanthropists of Indian origin, for its core funding and support for most of its projects.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/about/newsletters/access-to-knowledge-bulletin-may-2013

Privacy Round Table Kolkata

praskrishna — 2013-07-10T06:08:35Z

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/privacy-round-table-kolkata.pdf

Internet users enraged over US online spying

praskrishna — 2013-07-01T04:10:05Z

India is the fifth most tracked nation by American intelligence agencies.

The article by Maitreyee Boruah was published in the Times of India on June 29, 2013. Sunil Abraham is quoted.

Have you been posting pictures and messages with gay abandon on your social networking sites or having personal discussions on instant chat or video messaging and thinking that no one other than the intended recipient(s) has access to it? Well, going by the recent revelation that government agencies, and that too from the US, have been spying on our internet usage and collating private information, even the most hardcore security settings for your online data are apparently of no use.

According to former US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) employee Edward Snowden's testimony, the US National Security Agency ( NSA) has been using major tech giants to spy on private information of users around the world. And India is the fifth most tracked nation by the US intelligence system. But isn't this a direct infringement on our right to privacy? Or are such measures the need of the hour, given the increasing incidences of terror acts across the world?

What should the Indian government do?

Recently, a PIL (Public Interest Litigation) was filed in the Indian Supreme Court on the issue of the web snooping by the US. The PIL sought the Centre to initiate action against internet companies for sharing information with foreign authorities, which amounts to breach of contract and violation of the right to privacy.

"First, we need to urgently enact a horizontal privacy law, which articulates privacy principles and institutes the office of the privacy commissioner. Second, we need to promote the use of encryption and other privacy-enhancing technologies. The use of foreign internet infrastructure by those in public offices should be banned, except in the case of public dissemination. And last, but not the least, take action against online firms that have access to personal data of users and violate the privacy of Indian citizens through the office of the regulator," suggests Sunil Abraham, executive director of Bangalore-based research organization, Centre for Internet and Society.

Anja Kovacs, project director at the Internet Democracy Project in India, meanwhile, wants the Indian government to assert itself. "The best the Indian government can do is to demand that this kind of snooping does not happen. However, it can't ensure that such episodes won't happen in the future, as there is no enforceable global legal framework to deal with online snooping."

Era of the Big Brother?

Given the lack of legal support, does it mean that internet users have no right to privacy? "We do have a right to privacy. Unfortunately, our right is not respected. By and large, unless they use special tools to protect themselves, internet users do not have any real privacy in many countries, including India," says Anja, adding, "The right to privacy is not explicitly included in the Constitution, and the Privacy Bill continues to be pending. Also, Indian intelligence agencies are not under supervision of the Parliament, which is an important weakness in the accountability system." Echoing Anja, Sunil says, "In India, unfortunately, our right to privacy is not sufficiently protected. Indian laws are not strong enough to safeguard privacy of Internet users."

Anger in the online community

A large number of internet users who we spoke to said they were "shocked" after hearing about the US government's spying mechanism. "The recent revelation of snooping by the US government is a clear case of intrusion into our privacy. It is absolutely illegal," says 24-year-old IT professional Subodh Gupta.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/news/times-of-india-maitreyee-boruah-june-29-2013-internet-users-enraged-over-us-online-spying

Technology, Power, and Revolutions in the Arab Spring

praskrishna — 2013-07-01T08:36:57Z

The Centre for Internet and Society (CIS), Bangalore cordially invites you to a talk by Prof. Ramesh Srinivasan on technology, power and revolutions in the Arab Spring. The talk will be held in CIS office on July 2, 2013 from 6.00 p.m. onwards.

Ramesh Srinivasan

Ramesh Srinivasan, Associate Professor at UCLA in Design and Media/Information Studies, studies and participates in projects focused on how new media technologies impact political revolutions, economic development and poverty reduction, and the future of cultural heritage. He recently wrote an op/ed at the Washington Post explaining the complex nature of social media in revolutions and riots, such as those in Egypt and in London, and also a column for the Post’s Sunday Outlook section on the 5 Myths of Social Media. Additionally, he has written multiple front page articles for the Huffington Post, including a piece on Internet Freedom for the Huffington Post. He has had his work featured on the front page of the UCLA and USC websites.

Recent public outreach has built on his response in the New Yorker (from his blog: http://rameshsrinivasan.org) to Malcolm Gladwell’s writings critiquing the power of social media in impacting revolutionary movements. He has worked with bloggers, pragmatically studying their strengths and limitations, who were involved in recent revolutions in Egypt and Kyrgyzstan, as discussed in a recent NPR interview. He has also collaborated with non-literate tribal populations in India to study how literacy emerges through uses of technology, and traditional Native American communities to study how non-Western understandings of the world can introduce new ways of looking at the future of the internet. His work has impacted contemporary understandings of media studies, anthropology and sociology, design, and economic and political development studies. He has given several major invited talks, including recently at LIFT in 2009 (http://vimeo.com/5520100). He holds an engineering degree from Stanford, a Masters degree from the MIT Media Lab, and a Doctorate from Harvard University. His full academic CV can be found at http://rameshsrinivasan.org/cv

See Prof. Ramesh Srinivasan's blog page

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/events/technology-power-and-revolutions-in-arab-spring

Interest of State

praskrishna — 2013-07-01T09:27:01Z

Interest of State

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/home-images/Interest.png

Biometrics or bust? India's Identity Crisis

praskrishna — 2013-07-01T09:49:48Z

Malavika Jayaram is speaking at an event organized by the Oxford Internet Institute on July 2, 2013. The talk will be held at Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford, 1 St Giles Oxford OX1 3JS.

This info was published on the Oxford Internet Institute website.

India's mammoth biometric ID project, which has registered around 270 million people and is yet to be fully realized, is already the worldís largest such endeavor. It is marketed as a potential game-changer both domestically (where it is touted as a silver bullet to solve most problems) and internationally (where countries wait and watch this experiment before importing it into their own jurisdictions). Alongside all the hype about the scale of the scheme, its potential for transforming the delivery of services and the scope for private participation in traditionally state-controlled functions, there are fears of function creep, of subversion to create new types of fraud and corruption, of increased profiling and targeting, and of a citizenry becoming transparent to its government in an unprecedented way, all in the name of ambiguous benefits and the rhetoric of inclusion.

The government praises the ease and efficiency of centralized databases, the promise of technology (including the myth of biometrics uniquely and unambiguously identifying people in a foolproof way) and the construction of the identified self. However, there is growing awareness of the dangers of joined-up databases resulting in exclusion rather than inclusion, and persecution rather than democratization.

The scheme is technically voluntary, but with the provision of benefits, goods and services being increasingly linked to the scheme, it will soon become impossible to function in India without a biometric ID. If every facet of everyday life is linked to this single number, it renders all claims of voluntariness meaningless. The lack of information self-determination in a biometrically mediated universe has important ramifications for anonymity, free speech and the maintenance of an essential private sphere.

In this talk, Malavika will provide an overview of the scheme as well as the debate around privacy and autonomy that it has triggered, framed against the backdrop of a larger civil liberties crisis. She will also describe Indiaís efforts to craft new privacy and data protection legislation.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/news/biometrics-or-bust-indias-identity-crisis

Kannada Wikipedia Workshop at Hasan (Coverage in Prajavani)

praskrishna — 2013-07-02T07:05:25Z

Dr. U.B. Pavanaja conducted a workshop in Hasan on June 4, 2013. Prajavani carried a report on June 5, 2013.


A Kannada Wikipedia workshop was conducted in Hasan by Dr. U.B. Pavanaja on June 4, 2013. Above is the report published by Prajavani in Kannada.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/news/prajavani-june-5-2013-kannada-wikipedia-workshop-coverage

Kannada Wikipedia Workshop at Hasan (Coverage in Samyukta Karnataka)

praskrishna — 2013-07-02T07:16:11Z

Dr. U.B. Pavanaja conducted a workshop in Hasan on June 4, 2013. Samyukta Karnataka published a report of the workshop on June 5, 2013.


Above is the report in Kannada of the workshop conducted in Hasan on June 4, 2013.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/news/samyukta-karnataka-june-5-2013-kannada-wikipedia-workshop-coverage