Centre for Internet and Society

State of Consumer Digital Security in India

pranav — 2021-07-05T11:07:24Z

This report attempts to identify the existing state of digital safety in India, with a mapping of digital threats, which will aid stakeholders in identifying and addressing digital security problems in the country. This project was funded by the Asia Foundation.

Since 2006, successive Union governments in India have shown increased focus on digital governance. The National e-Governance Plan was launched by the UPA government in2006, and several digital projects led by the state such as digitisation of the filing of taxes, appointment process for passports, corporate governance, and the Aadhaar programme(India’s unique digital identity system that utilises biometric and demographic data) arose under it, in the form of mission mode projects (projects that are part of a broader National e-governance initiative, each focusing on specific e-Governance aspects, like banking, land records, or commercial taxes). In 2014, when the NDA government came to power, the National e-Governance Plan was subsumed under the government’s flagship project of Digital India, and several mission mode projects were added. In the meantime, the internet connectivity, first in the form of wire connectivity, and later in the form of mobile connectivity has increased greatly. In the same period, use of digital services, first in new services native to the Internet such as email, social networking, instant messaging, and later the platformization and disruption of traditional business models in transportation, healthcare, finance and virtually every sector, has led to a deluge of digital private service providers in India.

Currently, India has 500 million internet users — over a third of its total population — making it the country with the second largest number of Internet users after China. The uptake of these technological services has also been accompanied by several kinds of digital threats that an average digital consumer in India must regularly contend with. This report is a mapping of consumer-facing digital threats in India and is intended to aid stakeholders in identifying and addressing digital security problems. The first part of the report categorises digital threats into four kinds, Personal Data Threats, Online Content Related Threats, Financial Threats, and Online Sexual Harassment Threats. Threats under each category are then defined, with detailed consumer-facing consequences, and past instances where harm has been caused because of these threats.

Read the full report here.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/state-of-consumer-digital-security-in-india

GDI Launch Event Concept Note pdf

pranav — 2021-07-06T09:10:15Z

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/gdi-launch-event-concept-note-pdf

Rethinking Data Exchange & Delivery Models pdf

pranav — 2021-04-08T05:06:10Z

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/rethinking-data-exchange-delivery-models-pdf

case fatality rate %

pranav — 2020-06-15T02:56:43Z

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/telecom/case-fatality-rate

StateGovtCovidApps PDF

pranav — 2020-07-14T08:03:10Z

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/stategovtcovidapps-pdf

Engaging with the Covid-19 Crisis

pranav — 2020-07-15T09:31:51Z

In the last six months, COVID-19 has had a far-reaching impact on the world, including on the digital sphere, how people interact with it, and its mediation of social and economic exchanges. Researchers and practitioners at the Centre for Internet and Society (CIS) have responded to this dynamic landscape from different lenses.

WikiProject India COVID-19 Task Force

The Access to Knowledge team at CIS, along with the Wikidata editor community has been maintaining a reliable district and state-wise database of COVID-19 case statistics in India (link). If you are a Wikidata editor, please consider contributing or encouraging others to join this effort.

COVID-19 Apps

Based on publicly available information, Pallavi Bedi presents a comparative analysis of COVID-19 apps launched by different state governments in India, and examines their governing policies regarding privacy and data protection (link).
In light of the central-government’s release of the contact tracing app Aarogya Setu, Siddharth Sonkar’s report seeks to constructively engage with privacy concerns surrounding the app and its operations, and works towards making privacy safeguards governing its operability more consistent with international best practices (link).
Amber Sinha examines the false binary between privacy and surveillance created during a pandemic, and proposes a necessary and proportional method of contact tracing (link).
Aman Nair writes about the lack of oversight present in the Kerala government’s deal with Sprinklr Inc, the violations to the right to privacy, and how legislation that is currently being proposed would fail to prevent situations like this in the future (link).

Gig Economy and Labour Rights

With Tandem Research, CIS organized a webinar to interact with unions representing gig workers and researchers studying labour rights and gig work, to uncover the experiences of gig workers during the lockdown. Based on the discussion, a charter of recommendations was prepared with contributions from participants, and was shared with public and private stakeholders (link).
With support from three domestic workers’ unions, the Domestic Workers Rights Union, Bruhat Bangalore Gruhakarmika Sangha, and Manegelasa Kaarmikara Union, Geeta Menon put together a report that shines light on the plight of domestic workers in Bengaluru during the lockdowns, and now as the lockdown eases. It focuses on how government and administrative bodies, and resident welfare associations, have been culpable in further pushing domestic workers to the margins (link).
Aayush Rathi and Sreyan Chatterjee argue how the suspension of labour laws proposed (and enforced) by several states in India as a part of their COVID-19 impact response, have material and discursive impact on the future of work in India (link).
Ambika Tandon discusses the impact of Covid-19 on the gig economy in Asia, especially reflecting on the measures (or lack thereof) taken by companies to support workers (link).
Zothan Mawii, Aayush Rathi and Ambika Tandon spoke with the leaders of four workers' unions and labour researchers, including the Indian Federation of App-based Transport Workers (IFAT) and the Ola and Uber Drivers and Owners’ Association (OTU), to identify recommended actions that public agencies and private companies may undertake to better support the urgent needs of gig workers in India (link).

Lateral Surveillance

Drawing from multifaceted research on surveillance around the world, Mira Swaminathan and Shubhika Saluja analyse the unique domain of lateral surveillance, and its heightened impacts on the ‘culture of suspicion’ created between social classes, especially during a pandemic (link).
On the latest episode of our In Flux podcast, Shweta Reddy and Mira Swaminathan discuss COVID-19 related surveillance with Torsha Sarkar, and talk about balancing a public health objective with protection of our fundamental rights (link).

Misinformation

In an article in The Wire, Mira Swaminathan argues that the only efficient and effective way to prevent the spread of misinformation related to the pandemic is self-verification, which means that people who consume the data on an everyday basis must educate themselves and acquire the skills to tackle it (link).
Torsha Sarkar examines content moderation measures taken by online intermediaries to tackle harmful information related to COVID-19 on their platforms, and the recommended ways in which information around these decisions can be preserved for better research going forward (link).

Gender justice

In light of a large digital divide across the usage of technology by women, Ambika Tandon and Mira Swaminathan examine how effective calls to domestic abuse helplines are during lockdown (link).

Data Protection

As part of The Bastion’s series on the education sector and children’s privacy, Pallavi Bedi writes about protecting the privacy of children on ed-tech platforms, especially as students are now more than ever dependent on such platforms for their learning (link).
Shweta Reddy was a panelist on Medianama’s Roundtable on Privacy in the era of COVID-19, where she spoke about privacy checks for data collection process for the purposes of public health during the pandemic (link).
Gurshabad Grover was a discussant for the webinar on Health, Encryption & COVID-19: Keeping people and countries safer online, organized by Internet Society, Center for Democracy and Technology and Global Partners Digital, where he spoke about recent threats to end-to-end encrypted communications, including ‘traceability’ in India and the EARN IT in the US (link).

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/engaging-with-the-covid-19-crisis

Privacy in the Age of the Pandemic

pranav — 2020-07-15T11:34:00Z

The Centre for Internet and Society, JKGA Law Chambers, and LawyersClubIndia invites you to the online panel discussion on ‘Privacy in the Age of the Pandemic.’

This event will happen on July 18 (Saturday), from 5:30pm to 7:00pm. The discussion will bring together an inter-disciplinary group of experts to unpack some of the core Privacy issues that will undoubtedly shape society, and future governance in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Register for the event here.

As panelists, we have:
1) Arnab Kumar, who was instrumental in coming up with the Aarogya Setu app and has led policy initiatives from the front at NITI Aayog;
2) Vrinda Bhandari - well known for her advocacy and academic work in this domain;
3) Sahil Deo - who is helping stakeholders make more informed decisions in policy using data analysis;
4) Mira Swaminathan - a policy researcher with deep domain experience in the dangers of surveillance; and
5) Antaraa Vasudev, founder of Civis, an initiative enabling the layperson to understand the effects of policy changes on them!

The session will be moderated by Shweta Reddy, and Akshit Goyal.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/events/privacy-in-the-age-of-the-pandemic

Comments to AIForAll pdf

pranav — 2020-08-18T06:19:35Z

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/comments-to-aiforall-pdf

Mapping Web Censorship & Net Neutrality Violations

pranav — 2020-10-05T07:59:47Z

For over a year, researchers at the Centre for Internet and Society have been studying website blocking by internet service providers (ISPs) in India. We have learned that major ISPs don’t always block the same websites, and also use different blocking techniques. To take this study further, and map net neutrality violations by ISPs, we need your help. We have developed CensorWatch, a research tool to collect empirical evidence about what websites are blocked by Indian ISPs, and which blocking methods are being used to do so. Read more about this project (link), download CensorWatch (link), and help determine if ISPs are complying with India’s net neutrality regulations.

Learn more about website blocking in India, through our recent work on the issue —

Using information from court orders, user reports, and government orders, and running network tests from six ISPs, Kushagra Singh, Gurshabad Grover and Varun Bansal presented the largest study of web blocking in India. Through their work, they demonstrated that major ISPs in India use different techniques to block websites, and that they don’t block the same websites (link).
Gurshabad Grover and Kushagra Singh collaborated with Simone Basso of the Open Observatory of Network Interference (OONI) to study HTTPS traffic blocking in India by running experiments on the networks of three popular Indian ISPs: ACT Fibernet, Bharti Airtel, and Reliance Jio (link).
For The Leaflet, Torsha Sarkar and Gurshabad Grover wrote about the legal framework of blocking in India — Section 69A of the IT Act and its rules. They considered commentator opinions questioning the constitutionality of the regime, whether originators of content are entitled to a hearing, and whether Rule 16, which mandates confidentiality of content takedown requests received by intermediaries from the Government, continues to be operative (link).
In the Hindustan Times, Gurshabad Grover critically analysed the confidentiality requirement embedded within Section 69A of the IT Act and argued how this leads to internet users in India experiencing arbitrary censorship (link).
Torsha Sarkar, along with Sarvjeet Singh of the Centre for Communication Governance (CCG), spoke to Medianama delineating the procedural aspects of section 69A of the IT Act (link).
Arindrajit Basu spoke to the Times of India about the geopolitical and regulatory implications of the Indian government’s move to ban fifty-nine Chinese applications from India (link).

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/mapping-web-censorship-net-neutrality-violations

Censorwatch

pranav — 2020-10-05T07:51:00Z

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/censorwatch

Comments to National Digital Health Mission: Health Data Management Policy pdf

pranav — 2020-10-05T14:16:10Z

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/comments-to-national-digital-health-mission-health-data-management-policy-pdf

Vacancies at CIS

pranav — 2024-09-10T14:44:45Z

Call for applications: Public Interest Technologist

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/jobs/vacancies

Vacancy for Chief Finance Officer

pranav — 2019-03-10T13:02:22Z

The Centre for Internet & Society (CIS) is seeking applications for the position of Chief Finance Officer. The position is full time and will be based in CIS’ Bangalore office (No. 194, 2nd ‘C’ Cross, Domlur, 2nd Stage, Bengaluru, 560071). The Chief Finance Officer will work closely with the CIS administrative and accounts team and will report to the Executive Director, as well as Directors/Managers of Projects.

Position Summary:

As the Chief Finance Officer, your job will be to oversee all matters concerning accounting and finance within the organisation, including but not limited to reimbursements, taxation issues, maintaining the books of accounts etc. You will be required to coordinate with the senior management to ensure seamless financial operations at CIS. This is a full time position.

Responsibilities:

You will be responsible for the overall finance-related aspects of the organisation that include supervising reimbursement procedure, taxation, maintenance of the books of accounts (monthly expenditure, financial statements, accounts receivable, accounts payable, disbursement journal, trial balance, tax reports, etc.), and preparation of budgets, proposals, objectives, audits, annual reports, etc.

Requirements:

7 or more years of experience as a financial officer or equivalent professional position.
2 or more references.
Must be fluent in English and at least in one Indian language.
Preferably prior experience of working at a Non-profit/Policy organisation.
Supervisory experience in dealing with a team.
Experience dealing with foreign remittance and familiarity with the FCRA guidelines.
Good knowledge of formulae in excel spreadsheets, and familiarity with Google Suite.
Good knowledge of Tally software.

Location: The position will based out of the CIS’s Bangalore office.

Remuneration: Compensation structure will be determined by the level of expertise, experience and current remuneration.

Contract period: Initial contract will be till 30 June 2019, followed by a review and redrafting of a longer term contract.

To apply, please send your resume and cover letter to ajoy@cis-india.org. The last date to send in your application is 18 March 2019.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/jobs/vacancy-for-chief-finance-officer

Vacancy: Programme Officer (Delhi)

pranav — 2019-03-29T08:44:03Z

The Centre for Internet & Society (CIS) is seeking applications for the position of Programme Officer, for research on intellectual property rights and access to knowledge. The position is full time and will be based in CIS’ Delhi office.

Responsibilities

To support and drive new research initiatives of the work done by the IP team, the Programme Officer will be primarily responsible for the following tasks –

Planning and developing research in the subject areas (including, but not limited to) of access to knowledge, international trade and IP treaties, intermediary liability, limitations and exceptions in copyright law, software patents, licensing of SEPs;
Participating in strategic meetings organised by stakeholders;
Locating opportunities and building research partnerships with stakeholders contributing to current and emerging issues;
Contributing to current debates in the relevant research areas.

Core Competencies

Awareness of issues at intersection of Intellectual Property law and emerging tech
Critical appreciation of open knowledge initiatives
Effective communication and collaboration
Intellectual curiosity and openness
Respect for diversity

Functional Competencies

Ability to learn-at-work, especially about the IP-Access to Knowledge and tech ecosystem
Highly organised, motivated, and able to take initiative;
Ability to produce high quality writing outputs regularly
Able to travel for domestic and international engagements

Required Skills and Experience

A degree in law (at a minimum)
Publications to demonstrate good writing and analytical capabilities
Excellent communication skills

Location and Remuneration

This position is based out of the Delhi Office of CIS.

Monthly remuneration for the position will be INR 50,000 (including taxes).

Application Process

We invite interested (and eligible) candidates to apply for the position by sending the following documents to anubha@cis-india.org and copy sunil@cis-india.org, with “Application for Programme Officer (IP)” as the subject.

Cover letter: This should introduce your relevant academic, professional, and other experiences, and describe the kind of work you look forward to do as part of the IP team. We strongly recommend reading CIS’ outputs under this vertical while writing this letter.
CV: This should provide details of your academic, professional, and other achievements.
Work Samples: The position will require you to produce high quality writing outputs regularly. Please share two samples of your writing (published or unpublished). At least one sample should demonstrate an in-depth understanding of intellectual property law.

Interested candidates are invited to send their applications at the earliest - latest by Sunday, March 31st. The shortlisted candidates will be interviewed by the CIS team. If needed, there will be multiple rounds of interviews. We will take the final hiring decision by early April, and invite the selected person to join us from May 1st, 2019.

Please do not hesitate to write to us at anubha@cis-india.org for any clarification regarding this.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/jobs/vacancy-programme-officer-delhi

AI for Healthcare: Understanding Data Supply Chain and Auditability in India PDF

pranav — 2024-12-09T10:20:06Z

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/ai-for-healthcare-understanding-data-supply-chain-and-auditability-in-india-pdf