The Centre for Internet and Society
https://cis-india.org
These are the search results for the query, showing results 11 to 25.
Your phone is a surveillance device, your ISP a surveillance provider…: Pranesh Prakash
https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/mxmindia-may-27-2015-dyanne-coelho-your-phone-is-a-surveillance-device-your-isp-a-surveillance-provider
<b>“In India there is no special privilege for journalists over ordinary citizens,” Pranesh Prakash, Policy Director at the Centre for Internet and Society began at the workshop entitled ‘Digital Security for Journalists’ organised by the Mumbai Press Club and the Centre for Internet and Society. </b>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The blog post was <a class="external-link" href="http://www.mxmindia.com/2015/05/your-phone-is-a-surveillance-device-your-isp-a-surveillance-provider-and-facebook-and-google-are-spyware-pranesh-prakash/">published by mxmindia.com</a> on May 27, 2015. Pranesh Prakash gave his inputs.</p>
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<p style="text-align: justify; ">“Even if you don’t care about your own security/privacy, think about you sources. Your sources want privacy,” Prakash said as he began the workshop on how to assess security threats, how to protect sources and how to prevent your ISP from leaking out information. With the growth of the internet since the 1980s, we know we can’t trust everyone; police stations, governments, all engage in surveillance of some sort, he pointed out. Prakash went on to explain the ‘Threat Model’, wherein journalists ought to ask questions like what are you protecting, who are you protecting yourself against, what do you hope to achieve and to what lengths are you willing to go? All of the measures you are going to take to protect your source are going to be inconvenient. Security is always at the cost of convenience he reiterated.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Data threat can be intercepted at two levels, Prakash explained; data in transit and data at rest. The important question to ask is which you wish to secure, because the means to secure both are very different.Emails being sent to someone can be intercepted by an outside source in transit. It is easier to secure you own data on your computer, but an email is so much more difficult to secure because there are multiple points where the information is stored. Targeted surveillance is much more difficult to protect yourself against than mass surveillance.<br /><br />For WiFi, password protected networks form an encryption, one more barrier to protect you. However, a WEP encrypted network is easy to break through. You need at least a WPAII to be secure enough. Airport networks usually ask for a password after connecting to the WiFi. That too is easy to see through. Avoid using these networks for sensitive work.<br /><br /> One must keep in mind who they want to secure the data from; whether from a casual threat or an Intelligence Agency like the National Security Agency (NSA), National Technical Research Organisation (NTRO) or Intelligence Bureau (IB).Mass surveillance or non-targeted surveillance is not legal in India. However. the NTRO engages in mass surveillance, for which it was criticised in a Mint article, following which they shifted only to the national borders for surveillance. It is also possible for the NSA to tamper with your laptop before delivery.The NSA’s ANT catalogue has been working on a technology that has a device that can fit within the connector that connects to your keyboards and it can last there years and years without detection. Hence Prakash suggests that if a journalist is working on a sensitive story that if leaked could cause a ruckus, he/she would be safer buying a new computer and paying for it in hard cash.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The more important a source is, the less you must use your phone, Prakash pointed out. Phones leak information time and again, information of time and location. The NSA uses it, the police use it. If you are meeting with someone and you both have your phone, then information that you have met is transmitted. Even without GPS it can track your location, when you receive/send a call/message, as your mobile network needs to access the cell tower you are around in order to reach you.<br /><br />Encrypted emails still leak identities. If the police look into an encrypted email, they will still know who you are communicating with. Background information you are doing on a story can also give away a lot you don’t want to be given away. Even with an encrypted email, they have access to your location, IP address, the sender and the receiver of the email, time stamp, Mac id and IMEI.<br /><br />End-to-end encryption is the way out here.This means that no one in the middle, including the company can read the emails you send from your company server. End-to-end encryption is the most inconvenient. End-to-end encryption means that you and the party concerned need to come up with a code that the other party needs to be able to decrypt. The software both parties use also needs to be compatible.<br /><br />“I recommend using WhatsApp over Viber and Line, Skype over other alternatives and Twitter is also safe, but never use Facebook for sensitive conversations that you don’t want to get out,” Prakash said. WhatsApp is safer than normal text messaging he points out. Prakash recommended an app called Conversations to use for messaging on your phone. It is safer than both normal SMSing and WhatsApp. An SMS leaks metadata, he explains, that’s why it is preferable to use data or apps that use the internet.<br /><br />In the 2G network space, only Airtel and Docomo use at least a weak encryption.All the rest use no encryption. Anyone can snoop in on your conversations. Instead one must use data-enabled apps for calling like RedPhone, he suggested. This is a great way to protect your source.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Most people are known to repeat passwords for various accounts. Never repeat a password, Prakash advised. Maintain different passwords for all your accounts. It is the safest. And if you are unable to remember them all, then use password managementsoftware like LastPass or KeyPass. These enable you to key in and store all your passwords in one place and you only have to remember the password to your LastPass/KeyPass account. But if you forget your master password, then there is no way to recover all your other passwords.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The session concluded with Prakash working hands-on with the journalists, helping them to download the required software on their laptops and mobile phones. This knowledge is vital for all journalists in order to protect themselves and their sources when doing a high profile, sensitive story, Prakash said.</p>
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For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/mxmindia-may-27-2015-dyanne-coelho-your-phone-is-a-surveillance-device-your-isp-a-surveillance-provider'>https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/mxmindia-may-27-2015-dyanne-coelho-your-phone-is-a-surveillance-device-your-isp-a-surveillance-provider</a>
</p>
No publisherpraskrishnaInternet Governance2015-06-17T14:53:40ZNews ItemYour mobile apps have the permission to spy on you
https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/economic-times-march-30-2018-your-mobile-apps-have-the-permission-to-spy-on-you
<b>The top applications on the Android Play store in India seek permission like access to your camera, microphone, modify contacts and download files without notifications depending on the use of the app.</b>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The article was published in the <a class="external-link" href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/small-biz/startups/newsbuzz/your-mobile-apps-have-the-permission-to-spy-on-you/articleshow/63541312.cms">Economic Times</a> on March 30, 2018. Pranesh Prakash was quoted.</p>
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<p style="text-align: justify; ">“What we need is, not just knowing what permissions are being sought, but <span>why they need such permissions,” said Pranesh Prakash, policy director of the Centre for Internet and Society.</span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><img alt="Untitled-2" src="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/img/63541363/Master.jpg" /></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Companies such as TrueCaller say that app developers should only be permitted to collect data that they can demonstrate as proportionate and “necessary for the stated purpose of their service”.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">An Uber spokesperson said they provide users with an option to turn off certain permissions like location and phone contacts within the privacy settings on app along with explanations on what data they collect and the reason behind it. Others declined comment.</p>
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For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/economic-times-march-30-2018-your-mobile-apps-have-the-permission-to-spy-on-you'>https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/economic-times-march-30-2018-your-mobile-apps-have-the-permission-to-spy-on-you</a>
</p>
No publisherAdminInternet GovernancePrivacy2018-04-03T15:48:47ZNews ItemYour life's an open Facebook
https://cis-india.org/news/dna-july-21-2013-shikha-kumar-your-life-is-an-open-facebook
<b>The jury's out on Facebook's newly introduced Graph Search. While some argue that it's a stalker's dream come true, others say it's a great tool for social research. Shikha Kumar jumps right into the debate.</b>
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<p style="text-align: justify; "><a class="external-link" href="http://www.dnaindia.com/lifestyle/1863603/report-your-life-s-an-open-facebook">Shikha Kumar's article was published in DNA on July 21, 2013</a>. Sunil Abraham is quoted.</p>
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<p style="text-align: justify; ">Do this little exercise. Log on to Facebook and type ‘friends of friends who are single’ or ‘friends of friends who like dancing’ in the search bar on the top left hand of the screen. A long list of names with photographs of people you may have never seen in your life will pop up in front of you. Better still (or worse, depending on perspective), you can refine this search further with the drop down menu on the right hand side of the screen; you can filter the results on the basis of gender, employer, current city, hometown and so on.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Now, depending on whether you are paranoid about your privacy, or don’t give a damn (since the government is snooping on us anyway), you will either view this feature as a stalker’s dream come true or just another irritant to rant about for a day and then forget.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Whatever your reaction, Graph Search, an upgrade on Facebook’s rudimentary ‘search’, is here to stay and it holds the potential to forever change the ‘search’ behaviour of its members.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">HOW DOES IT WORK?<br /> Put simply, Graph Search is the Google search of Facebook. It indexes every little detail you have shared on Facebook — every drunken ‘like’, every status update, every unflattering photograph you are tagged in, every joke you’ve shared — so that a simple search can throw up pretty specific answers. A beta version was unveiled to a select audience in January but it went live for all English (US) users early last week.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">A look at a Tumblr blog called ‘Actual Facebook Graph Searches’ gives an indication of how specific the results can get. Ranging from humorous to downright outrageous, some queries posted included ‘Single women who live nearby and who are interested in men and like Getting Drunk’ and ‘Married people who like Prostitutes.’</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">This is exactly why people like Adarsh Matham, a 29-year-old tech writer, cite as reason for never having been on Facebook. While he does admit the new feature can be very useful in finding jobs, dates, new friends and local businesses, he says the downsides trump the benefits. “Imagine if some pervert searches for ‘girls who like Fifty Shades of Grey in Mumbai’… It will make it easier for him to stalk them,” says Matham.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">If you use your imagination, the list won’t end. Imagine what perverts at your workplace and in your apartment complex who are not ‘friends’ with you on Facebook can do with information they glean about you thanks to Graph Search.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Matham is particularly concerned with Graph Search’s misuse in India because of our social attitudes and tendency to slot people into types and judge them immediately. “One of the first things that people do when they go for a job or on a date is a Google search. Soon they will do a Graph Search too. This is a complete intrusion of one’s privacy.”</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Sunil Abraham, director at the Bangalore-based Centre for Internet and Society, thinks the privacy implications are worrying because the average Indian user is not a ‘power’ user who fully exploits the site’s advanced features and is thus unclear about what personal information is public or private. “People need to be very cautious as they’re leaving behind a digital trail that is always searchable unlike on other platforms like Twitter. It’s like tattooing yourself, it’s permanent but you may not be comfortable with it in the future,” he says.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b>A brilliant format</b><br /> Privacy concerns aside, many have warmed up to the benefits of Graph Search. Raghu Mohan, a Bangalore-based writer with YourStory.in, has used it for over six months and has only good things to say about it. “I think it’s a remarkable engineering feat. Any platform with a user data of over a billion people needs to come up with such a search facility,” says Mohan, adding that the tool has been very useful in finding work-related data.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Chetan Asher, founder and CEO of Tonic Media, a social media agency, agrees with him, saying the new feature is “very exciting” purely because of its ability to index information that was always there, but was buried somewhere. “The simple phrase-like format is brilliant… It completely changes the way you network and mine for information.”</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Mohan adds that start-ups can benefit with what the feature offers. “Though not a complete marketing tool, Graph Search patterns can also provide more targeted behaviour for advertisers.” Mohan also looks at the feature as a social influencer. “If I’m looking to buy a new car, I’d rather use Graph Search to find out opinions based on my friends’ recommendations than a web search involving strangers,” he says.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">From his experience, Asher says that the site doesn’t compromise the privacy settings that the user has set. But Ankit Tuteja, a 23-year-old technology expert in Delhi, would beg to differ with this. Tuteja has experimented with random searches to gauge how the feature worked with different privacy settings and found that Facebook tends to override certain security settings. “The security of your photographs are a major cause for concern,” he cautions.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">For those concerned about privacy, it’s best to think carefully before ‘liking’ or uploading anything as it will remain in the digital realm forever, says Abraham. Mohan shrugs off privacy concerns as overrated. “You lost your personal life when you went online. Stalking can happen otherwise too.”</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">This innovation is clearly important to the company. While Asher says it is part of Facebook’s long-term plans to move beyond networking, Abraham says that faced with slow overall growth globally (except in markets like India), such innovations are just an attempt to keep its user base intact.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b>The more things change...</b><br /> Whatever the reaction, Facebook is probably banking on the fact that after initial protests and social media debates, people will come around to accepting this intrusion into their private lives.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The American news satire website The Onion pretty much nailed this when, in a satirical piece, it ‘quoted’ Zuckerberg as saying: “Facebook will introduce a bunch of new features that everyone will hate, that will make your experience worse, you will complain about it, and then you will realize you are utterly powerless to do anything about these new features, at which point you will move on and continue to use our product every single day. Any users who strongly disagree with their policy should feel free to deactivate their accounts and reactivate them two days later.”</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Admit it, you’ll probably be one of them.</p>
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For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/news/dna-july-21-2013-shikha-kumar-your-life-is-an-open-facebook'>https://cis-india.org/news/dna-july-21-2013-shikha-kumar-your-life-is-an-open-facebook</a>
</p>
No publisherpraskrishnaInternet GovernancePrivacy2013-07-26T04:53:11ZNews ItemYour digital wallet can be a ‘pickpocket’
https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/hindu-samarth-bansal-december-5-2016-your-digital-wallet-can-be-a-pickpocket
<b>If you have installed a wallet app on your smartphone, be careful. Many such apps can access data, even sensitive personal information, and have features that do more than just make payments. All that, with your due “permission”.
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<p style="text-align: justify; ">The article by Samarth Bansal was <a href="http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/Your-digital-wallet-can-be-a-%E2%80%98pickpocket%E2%80%99/article16760772.ece?utm_source=RSS_Feed&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS_Syndication">published in the Hindu</a> on December 5, 2016. Pranesh Prakash was quoted.</p>
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<p style="text-align: justify; "><br />When installing them, the apps display a list of permissions. The user is prompted to either grant permission to access to SMSs, call records and so on or decline, but the latter means rejecting the download. Barring a small fraction of tech-savvy users, most go with the flow, ignoring the permissions section.<br /><br />The Hindu reviewed permissions sought by five wallet applications: MobiKwik, Freecharge, PayTM, Jio Money and Airtel Money.<br /><br />Freecharge and Jio Money seek permission to “directly call phone numbers”. The app can call up numbers without notifying you. In fact, Freecharge asks to “read call log”. All five require permission to “read contacts”, which, as PayTM mentions, “gives you the ability to pick a number from contacts for a quick recharge or bill payment” or “helps you send and request money from friends”. FreeCharge and PayTM ask permission to “modify contacts” and “record audio”.<br /><br />PayTM is the only one that requests to “read your web bookmarks and history”. According to AndroidPit, an Android-centred news portal, this permission is needed for alternative browsers, back-up tools and possibly some social networking apps. For the rest, it is possibly a way to “spy on user’s browsing behaviour”, the portal says.<br />Wealth of data<br /><br />Pranesh Prakash, policy director at the Centre for Internet and Society, told The Hindu that access to a wealth of data about the user enables various other business models.<br /><br />“A mobile wallet application, using location tracking data, can tell a user about the discounts available on a nearby store if the payment is conducted using that platform. If the user is not explicitly made aware of such usage of data, I would call it a misuse of information,” he said. Note that “precise” location tracking feature, via GPS or mobile network, is a feature requested by all.<br /><br />For PayTM, there is a mismatch between the complete set of permissions it asks for — as stated in the app store — and the ones it mentions on a dedicated page on its website explaining “PayTM app permissions”. Apart from the six basic features, there is no mention about functions like location tracking or reading web history — which it requires — on the web page.<br /><br />“In this regard, PhonePe [another wallet app] is the model to follow: it clearly states the permissions it is seeking and explains why it needs each one of those at the time of set-up.</p>
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For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/hindu-samarth-bansal-december-5-2016-your-digital-wallet-can-be-a-pickpocket'>https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/hindu-samarth-bansal-december-5-2016-your-digital-wallet-can-be-a-pickpocket</a>
</p>
No publisherpraskrishnaInternet GovernanceData ManagementPrivacy2016-12-05T01:44:29ZNews ItemYoung Scholars' Programme, CPRSouth 2016
https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/young-scholars-programme-cpr-south-2016
<b>Rohini Lakshané took part in the Young Scholars' Programme organized by Communication Policy Research South from September 6 to 7, 2016 in Zanzibar.</b>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">CPRsouth 2016 Young Scholar Awards</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Following highly successful joint Afro-Asian CPR conferences in Mauritius in 2012, and India in 2013, CPRafrica and CPRsouth formally merged under the banner of CPRsouth in 2014. Since then, CPRsouth has hosted conferences in the Cradle of Humankind in South Africa (2014), and at the Innovation Center for Big Data and Digital Convergence at Yuan Ze University, Taiwan (2015).<br /><br />This year’s conference is co-hosted by COSTECH and TCRA in Zanzibar from 8-10 September. It will include sessions on cutting-edge developments in ICT policy and regulation in the South and discussion of the research-policy interface.<br /><br />As part of the capacity building initiative, 30 Young Scholars from Africa and the Asia-Pacific region have been selected to participate in a tutorial programme. They will be taught by recognised scholars and practitioners from Africa and Asia, and will be attending the main conference thereafter. Congratulations to the Young Scholars of 2016. See the <a class="external-link" href="http://researchictafrica.net/ria_rap/2016/05/24/cprsouth-2016-young-scholar-awards/">list here</a>.</p>
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For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/young-scholars-programme-cpr-south-2016'>https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/young-scholars-programme-cpr-south-2016</a>
</p>
No publisherpraskrishnaInternet GovernanceICT2016-09-23T01:03:13ZNews ItemYoung Scholar Tutorials
https://cis-india.org/news/young-scholar-tutorials
<b>Communication Policy Research South organised this workshop on September 3 and 4, 2013. Nehaa Chaudhari participated in the event organised by CPR South.</b>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Rohan Samarajiva, Christoph Stork, Marcio Aranha, Ang Peng Hwa, and Sujata Gamage were the speakers. Unedited notes from the workshop can be accessed by clicking on the links below:</p>
<ol>
<li><a href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/cpr-south-1" class="internal-link">CPR South Tutorial Note</a> (1)</li>
<li><a href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/cpr-south-2" class="internal-link">CPR South Tutorial Note</a> (2)</li>
</ol>
<p>Click to <a class="external-link" href="http://www.cprsouth.org/tutorials-2/">read the original here</a>.</p>
<ol> </ol>
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For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/news/young-scholar-tutorials'>https://cis-india.org/news/young-scholar-tutorials</a>
</p>
No publisherpraskrishnaInternet Governance2013-09-30T11:21:25ZNews ItemYou will need a license to create a WhatsApp group in Kashmir
https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/governance-now-april-19-2016-you-will-need-a-license-to-create-whatsapp-group-in-kashmir
<b>The internet rights activists have criticised the move stating it as unconstitutional.</b>
<p>The article was <a class="external-link" href="http://www.governancenow.com/news/regular-story/you-may-need-a-license-in-kashmir-run-a-whatsapp-group">published by Governance Now</a> on April 19, 2016. Pranesh Prakash tweeted on this.</p>
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<p style="text-align: justify; ">Moving beyond internet ban, Kashmir’s Kupwara district issued a notice asking all admins of WhatsApp news groups to register their groups with the district authority within ten days.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">With this move, the authorities are taking power in their hands to monitor WhatsApp news groups owned by private individuals. However, internet rights activists criticised it saying the move is unconstitutional as it breaches freedom of speech.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The circular is issued under the subject of ‘registering of WhatsApp news group and restrictions for spreading rumours thereof’. The district magistrate said that any spread of information by these WhatsApp news groups, “leading to untoward incidents will be dealt under the law”.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">You may need a license in Kashmir to run a WhatsApp group</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><img src="https://cis-india.org/home-images/WhatsApp.jpg" alt="WhatsApp" class="image-inline" title="WhatsApp" /></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The valley witnessed five-day internet shutdown following the Handwara firing incident. Internet ban is a common phenomenon in Kashmir. <br /><br /> “For how long will the government decide whether we can communicate with each other or not? Actually, the authorities do not want us to spread the truth about the army’s atrocities far and wide,” said a resident of Handwara as quoted in Kashmir Reader.<br /><br /> Earlier, parts of Haryan and Gujarat also witnessed internet ban during Jat and Patidar agitation, respectively.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><a href="http://www.governancenow.com/gov-next/egov/hard-broad-ban-internet-haryana-jat-agitation" target="_blank"><span>Blocking all internet access </span></a>is clearly an unnecessary and disproportionate measure that cannot be countenanced as a ‘reasonable restriction’ on freedom of expression and the right to seek and receive information, which is an integral part of the freedom of expression,” said Pranesh Prakash.<br /><br /> For instance, he adds, a riot-affected woman seeking to find out the address of the nearest hospital cannot do so on her phone. “Instead of blocking access to the internet, the government should seek to quell rumours by using social networks to spread the truth, and by using social networks to warn potential rioters of the consequences,” he said. <br /><br /> Former Mumbai police commissioner Rakesh Maria used WhatsApp to counter rumours spread after circulation of a fake photo in January 2015. <br /><br /> “The way in which the ban is imposed is unreasonable. Problem is in the method that is being used in absence of guidelines, defining circumstances under which they can impose a restriction on internet sites,” says Arun Kumar, head of cyber initiatives at Observer Research Foundation (ORF). <br /><br /> If government formulates these rules or guidelines it will set a threshold for state or central authorities, which will define the urgency of imposing ban on internet services.</p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/governance-now-april-19-2016-you-will-need-a-license-to-create-whatsapp-group-in-kashmir'>https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/governance-now-april-19-2016-you-will-need-a-license-to-create-whatsapp-group-in-kashmir</a>
</p>
No publisherpraskrishnaSocial MediaFreedom of Speech and ExpressionInternet GovernanceCensorshipWhatsApp2016-04-21T02:34:46ZNews ItemYou Have the Right to Remain Silent
https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/down-to-earth-july-17-2013-nishant-shah-you-have-the-right-to-remain-silent
<b>Reflecting upon the state of freedom of speech and expression in India, in the wake of the shut-down of the political satire website narendramodiplans.com.</b>
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<p style="text-align: justify; ">Nishant Shah's <a class="external-link" href="http://www.downtoearth.org.in/content/you-have-right-remain-silent">column was published in Down to Earth</a> on July 17, 2013.</p>
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<p style="text-align: justify; ">It took less than a day for narendramodiplans.com, a political satire website that had more than 60,000 hits in the 20 hours of its existence, to be taken down. A simple webpage that showed a smiling picture of Narendra Modi, the touted candidate for India’s next Prime Ministerial campaign, flashing his now trademark ‘V’ for <span><s>Vengeance</s> </span> Victory sign. At the first glimpse it looked like another smart media campaign by the net-savvy minister who has already made use of the social web quite effectively, to connect with his constituencies and influence the younger voting population in the country. Below the image of Mr. Modi was a text that said, "For a detailed explanation of how Mr. Narendra Modi plans to run the nation if elected to the house as a Prime Minister and also for his view/perspective on 2002 riots please click the link below." The button, reminiscent of 'sale' signs on shops that offer permanent discounts, promised to reveal, for once and for all, the puppy plight of Mr. Modi's politics and his plans for the country that he seeks to lead.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">However, when one tried to click on the button, hoping, at least for a manifesto that combined the powers of Machiavelli with the sinister beauty of Kafka, it proved to be an impossible task. The button wiggled, and jiggled, and slithered all over the page, running away from the mouse following it. Referencing the layers of evasive answers, the engineered Public Relations campaigns that try to obfuscate the history to some of the most pointed questions that have been posited to the Modi government through judicial and public forums, the button never stayed still enough to actually reveal the promised answers. For people who are familiar with the history of such political satire and protest online would immediately recognise that this wasn’t the most original of ideas. In fact, it was borrowed from another website - <a href="http://www.thepmlnvision.com/" title="http://www.thepmlnvision.com/">http://www.thepmlnvision.com/</a> that levelled similar accusations of lack of transparency and accountability on the part of Nawaz Sharif of Pakistan. Another instance, which is now also shut down, had a similar deployment where the webpage claimed to give a comprehensive view into Rahul Gandhi’s achievements, to question his proclaimed intentions of being the next prime-minister. In short, this is an internet meme, where a simple web page and a java script allowed for a critical commentary on the future of the next elections and the strengthening battle between #feku and #pappu that has already taken epic proportions on Twitter.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The early demise of these two websites (please do note, when you click on the links that the Nawaz Sharif website is still working) warns us of the tightening noose around freedom of speech and expression that politicos are responsible for in India. It has been a dreary last couple of years already, with the passing of the <a href="http://www.downtoearth.org.in/content/cis-india.org/internet-governance/intermediary-liability-in-india" target="_blank">Intermediaries Liabilities Rules</a> as an amendment to the IT Act of India, <a href="http://www.indianexpress.com/news/spy-in-the-web/888509/1" target="_blank">Dr. Sibal proposing to pre-censor the social web</a> in a quest to save the face of erring political figures,<a href="http://www.indianexpress.com/news/two-girls-arrested-for-facebook-post-questioning-bal-thackeray-shutdown-of-mumbai-get-bail/1033177/" target="_blank"> teenagers being arrested for voicing political dissent</a>, and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aseem_Trivedi" target="_blank">artists being prosecuted</a> for exercising their rights to question the state of governance in our country. Despite battles to keep the web an open space that embodies the democratic potentials and the constitutional rights of freedom of speech and expression in the country, it has been a losing fight to keep up with the ad hoc and dictatorial mandates that seem to govern the web.</p>
<table class="invisible">
<tbody>
<tr>
<th><img src="https://cis-india.org/home-images/Namo.png" alt="Narendra Modi Plans" class="image-inline" title="Narendra Modi Plans" /></th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Above is a screen shot from narendramodiplans.com website</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">We have no indication of why this latest piece of satirical expression, which should be granted immunity as a work of art, if not as an individual’s right to free speech, was suddenly taken down. The website now has a message that says, “I quit. In a country with freedom of speech, I assumed that I was allowed to make decent satire on any politician more particularly if it is constructive. Clearly, I was wrong.” The web is already abuzz with conspiracy theories, each sounding scarier than the other because they seem so plausible and possible in a country that has easily sacrificed our right to free speech and expression at the altar of political egos. And whether you subscribe to any of the theories or not, whether your sympathies lie with the BJP or with the UPA, whether or not you approve of the political directions that the country seems to be headed in, there is no doubt that you should be as agitated as I am, about the fact that we are in a fast-car to blanket censorship, and we are going there in style.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">What happens online is not just about this one website or the one person or the one political party – it is a reflection on the rising surveillance and bully state that presumes that making voices (and sometimes people) invisible, is enough to resolve the problems that they create. And what happens on the web is soon going to also affect the ways in which we live our everyday lives. So the next time, you call some friends over for dinner, and then sit arguing about the state of politics in the country, make sure your windows are all shut, you are wearing tin-foil hats and if possible, direct all conversations to the task of finally <a href="http://bollywoodjournalist.com/2013/07/08/desperately-seeking-mamta-kulkarni/" target="_blank">finding Mamta Kulkarni</a>. Because anything else that you say might either be censored or land you in a soup, and the only recourse you might have would be a website that shows the glorious political figures of the country, with a sign that says “To defend your right to free speech and expression, please click here”. And you know that you are never going to be able to click on that sign. Ever.</p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/down-to-earth-july-17-2013-nishant-shah-you-have-the-right-to-remain-silent'>https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/down-to-earth-july-17-2013-nishant-shah-you-have-the-right-to-remain-silent</a>
</p>
No publishernishantFreedom of Speech and ExpressionSocial MediaInternet GovernanceIntermediary Liability2013-07-22T06:59:53ZBlog EntryYou Have the Right to Remain Silent
https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/your-right-to-remain-silent
<b>India has a long history of censorship that it justifies in the name of national security. But new laws governing the Internet are unreasonable and — given the multitude of online voices — poorly thought out, argues Anja Kovacs in this article published in the Sunday Guardian on 17 April 2011.</b>
<p>In March 2011, Indian media - both social and traditional - was ablaze
with fears that a new set of rules, proposed to complement the IT
(Amendment) Act 2008, would thwart the freedom of expression of India's
bloggers: contrary to standard international practice, the Intermediary
Due Dilligence Rules seemed intent on making bloggers responsible for
comments made by readers on their site. Only a few weeks earlier, the
threat of online censorship had manifested itself in a different form:
although the block was implemented unevenly, mobile applications market
space Mobango, bulk SMS provider Clickatell, hacking-related portal
Zone-H.com and blogs hosted on Typepad were suddenly no longer
accessible for most Indian netizens, without warning or explanation.</p>
<p>Censorship in India is nothing new. At the time of Independence,
there was widespread fear among its lawmakers that unrestricted freedom
of expression could become a barrier to the social reforms necessary to
put the country on Nehru's path to development – particularly as the
memory of Partition continued to be vivid. Although freedom of
expression is guaranteed by the Constitution, it is therefore subject to
a fairly extensive list of so-called "reasonable" restrictions: the
sovereignty and integrity of India, the security of the State, friendly
relations with foreign States, public order, decency or morality, or in
relation to contempt of court, defamation or incitement to an offence.
But while this long list might have made sense at the time of Partition,
in the mature democracy that India has now become, its existence, and
the numerous opportunities for censorship and surveillance that it has
enabled or justified, seems out of place. Indeed, though all these
restrictions in themselves are considered acceptable internationally,
there are few other democratic states that include all of them in the
basic laws of their land.</p>
<p>An appetite for censorship does not only exist among India's
legislature and judiciary, however. Especially since the early nineties,
instances of vigilante groups destroying art, preventing film
screenings, or even attacking offending artists, writers and editors
have become noteworthy for their regularity. But it is worth noting that
even more progressive sections of society have not been averse to
censorship: for example, section of the Indian feminist movement have
voiced strong support for the Indecent Representation of Women Act that
seeks to censor images of women which are derogatory, denigrating or
likely to corrupt public morality.</p>
<p>What connects all these efforts? A belief that suppressing speech and
opinions makes it possible to contain the conflicts that emanate from
India's tremendous diversity, while simultaneously ensuring its
homogenous moral as much as political development. But if the advent of
satellite television already revealed the vulnerabilities of this
strategy, the Internet has made clear that in the long term, it is
simply untenable. It is not just that the authors of a speech act may
not be residents of India; it is that everybody can now become an
author, infinitely multiplying the number of expressions that are
produced each year and that thus could come within the Law's ambit. In
this context, even if it may still have a role, suppression clearly can
no longer be the preferred or even dominant technology of choice to
manage disagreements. What is urgently needed is the building of a much
stronger culture of respectful disagreement and debate within and across
the country's many social groups. If more and more people are now
getting an opportunity to speak, what we need to make sure is that they
end up having a conversation.</p>
<p>Yet the government of India so far has mostly continued on the beaten
track, putting into place a range of legislations and policies to
meticulously monitor and police the freedom of expression of netizens
within its borders. Thus, for example, section 66F(1)(B) of the IT
(Amendment) Act 2008 defines "cyberterrorism" so broadly as to include
the unauthorised access to information on a computer with a belief that
that information may be used to cause injury to...decency or morality.
The suggested sentence may extend to imprisonment for life. The proposed
Intermediary Due Dilligence Rules 2011 privatise the responsibility for
censorship by making intermediaries responsible for all content that
they host or store, putting unprecedented power over our acts of speech
into the hands of private bodies. The proposed Cyber Cafe Rules 2011
order that children who do not possess a photo identity card need to be
accompanied by an adult who does, constraining the Internet access of
crores of young people among the less advantaged sections of society in
particular. And while the US and other Western countries continue to
debate the desireability of an Internet Kill Switch, the Indian
government obtained this prerogative through section 69A of the IT
(Amendment Act) 2008 years ago.</p>
<p>Such measures are given extra teeth by being paired with unprecedented
systems of surveillance. For example, there are proposals on the table
that make it obligatory for telecommunication carriers and manufacturers
of telecommunications equipment to ensure their equipment and services
have built-in surveillance capabilities. While at present, records are
only kept if there is a specific requirement by intelligence or security
agencies, the Intelligence Bureau has proposed that ISPs keep a record
of all online activities of all customers for at least six months. The
IB has also suggested putting into place a unique identification system
for all Internet users, whereby they would be required to submit some
form of online identification every time they go online.</p>
<p>Proponents of such legislation often point to the new threats to
safety and security that the Internet poses to defend these measures,
and it is indeed a core obligation of any state to ensure the safety of
its citizens. But the hallmark of a democracy is that it carefully
balances any measures to do so with the continued guarantee of its
citizens' fundamental rights. Despite the enormous changes and
challenges that the Internet brings for freedom of expression
everywhere, such an exercise seems to sadly not yet have been
systematically undertaken in India so far.</p>
<p>The recent blocking of websites with which we started this article
reflects the urgent need to do so. In response to RTI applications by
the Centre for Internet and Society and Medianama, the Department of
Information Technology, which is authorised to order such blocks,
admitted to blocking Zone-H, but not any of the other websites affected
earlier this year. In an interview with The Hindu, the Department of
Telecommunication too had denied ordering the blocking of access,
despite the fact that some users trying to access Typepad had reported
seeing the message "this site has been blocked as per request by
Department of Telecom" on their screen. In the mean time, Clickatell and
Mobango remain inaccessible for this author at the time of writing.
That we continue to be in the dark as to why this is so in the world's
largest democracy deserves to urgently become a rallying point.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/your-right-to-remain-silent'>https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/your-right-to-remain-silent</a>
</p>
No publisheranjaFreedom of Speech and Expressionhuman rightsInternet GovernanceCensorship2011-08-02T07:55:22ZBlog EntryYou can still get into trouble for online posts: Digital law experts
https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/times-of-india-march-30-2015-kim-arora-you-can-still-get-into-trouble-for-online-posts
<b>The internet in India is freer now, but individuals could still to get into trouble for online posts, say digital media and law experts. Hailing the Supreme Court judgment on Tuesday as a landmark verdict for free speech in India, experts who have closely read the judgment say there is much to be careful about too. </b>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The article by Kim Arora was <a class="external-link" href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/tech/tech-news/You-can-still-get-into-trouble-for-online-posts-Digital-law-experts/articleshow/46741580.cms">published in the Times of India</a> on March 30, 2015. Sunil Abraham is quoted.</p>
<hr />
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The scrapping of the contentious section doesn't mean that one has a free run, cautions Sunil Abraham, executive director, Centre for Internet and Society. An online comment can still land you in jail, he says.<br /><br />"The judgement in no way means that speech on online platforms will be unregulated now. You can still be charged for pornography or voyeurism under the IT Act. There are many provisions in the Constitution and Indian Penal Code that the government can use to target people it wants to go after. You can be still charged for hate speech or defamation - which is a criminal offence in India - for an online comment," says Abraham.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">While lawyer Apar Gupta found the judgment to be forward-looking, he pointed to Para 98 of the 120 page judgment, which addresses Article 14 of the Constitution regarding "discrimination" and talks of the distinction between online and other media.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">"We make it clear that there is an intelligible differentia between speech on the internet and other mediums of communication for which separate offences can certainly be created by legislation," says the judgment. "The court has indicated that special offences can be created for the internet. Constant vigilance is the price of liberty. We need to constantly engage with these issues to keep the internet free," says Gupta.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The judgment has been praised for making a distinction between online posts and messages that pertain to advocacy, discussion and incitement. "This is an excellent decision. The SC is saying that no matter what the medium, we stand for constitutional rights. The judges were ready to listen, and ready to share their experience of using the internet also," says Mishi Choudhary, legal director at Software Freedom Law Center, adding, "It was a lost opportunity for the Modi government. They should have gotten rid of section 66 A themselves."</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Section 69A of the Act, which stands as is, allows non-transparent blocking of online content in the interest of "sovereignty and integrity of India, defense of India, security of the State, friendly relations with foreign states or public order or for preventing incitement to the commission of any cognizable offence relating to above." However, Choudhary says that since it is a narrowly-drawn provision, it ensures more safeguards.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">"It will be noticed that Section 69A unlike Section 66A is a narrowly drawn provision with several safeguards. First and foremost, blocking can only be resorted to where the Central Government is satisfied that it is necessary so to do. Secondly, such necessity is relatable only to some of the subjects set out in Article 19(2). Thirdly, reasons have to be recorded in writing in such blocking order so that they may be assailed in a writ petition under Article 226 of the Constitution," she says.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Going forward, the government plan of action should focus on balancing safety and freedom on the internet, says Rajya Sabha MP Rajeev Chandrasekhar, who himself was one of the petitioners. "The final endgame has to be one where we have a new law or even a new IT Act which meets the twin objectives of a safe and free internet. The two need not be mutually exclusive," he says.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><i>(With inputs from Anand J in Bengaluru) </i></p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/times-of-india-march-30-2015-kim-arora-you-can-still-get-into-trouble-for-online-posts'>https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/times-of-india-march-30-2015-kim-arora-you-can-still-get-into-trouble-for-online-posts</a>
</p>
No publisherpraskrishnaIT ActCensorshipFreedom of Speech and ExpressionInternet GovernanceChilling Effect2015-04-02T01:44:32ZNews ItemYou Are Not the Only One: India stares at a loneliness epidemic
https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/indian-express-asad-ali-tabassum-barnagarwala-april-29-2018-you-are-not-the-only-one-india-stares-at-a-loneliness-epidemic
<b>“To anyone looking at me from the outside, I seem like a fairly successful woman. I have a good job with great pay. I am in a relationship and have a bunch of close friends. I couldn’t figure out why I felt so angry or so lonely all the time.</b>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The article by Asad Ali and Tabassum Barnagarwala was published in the <a class="external-link" href="http://indianexpress.com/article/express-sunday-eye/you-are-not-the-only-one-5154976/">Indian Express</a> on April 29, 2018.</p>
<hr style="text-align: justify; " />
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Most people will presume that throwing a bunch of hangers on the bed is a harmless act of venting. Akanksha Joshi knew it was the tipping point for her. Her mood swings had become more mercurial and she had been lashing out at people close to her or simply shutting herself in her room, watching Netflix for hours. But that day was different. “I had opened my cupboard and a hanger fell out. I don’t know what happened to me, but I suddenly picked up all the hangers and threw them on the bed in rage. The impulse lasted for 30 to 40 seconds, but it left me shaken. I had changed my job recently. It was a good one with great pay. It was what I wanted. I was in a relationship, had a bunch of close friends. I couldn’t figure out why I felt so angry or so lonely,” says Joshi, 32, who had moved to Mumbai from Dehradun in 2008 to look after her ageing grandparents and to work with a business process outsourcing firm.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The first inkling of trouble had come when her three-year-old marriage ended in divorce in 2013. Joshi underwent counselling for nearly two years, and, slowly, life seemed to get back on track. She entered into a new relationship, moved up the job ladder, formed new friendships. But the anger and the loneliness wouldn’t go. “To anyone looking at me from the outside, I seem like a fairly successful woman,” she says. But it has come at a cost.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">In 2004, the National Sample Survey Office reported that 4.91 million people in India were living alone and suffered from loneliness. More recently, the National Mental Health Survey of India (2015-16) reported that high suicidal risk is an increasing concern in India; that children and adolescents are vulnerable to mental disorders; and, mental disorders, including depression and anxiety, affect nearly 10 per cent of the population. In 2016, the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies in partnership with Konrad Adenauer Stiftung conducted a survey of the attitudes, anxieties and aspirations of India’s young population (aged 15-34 years). The findings, released in April 2017, revealed that 12 per cent of the youth reported feeling depressed often, and 8 per cent said they felt lonely quite frequently.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">“Youngsters who move from tier-II and III cities to metropolises find a sudden change in lifestyle. Even if you have friends, it is difficult to meet them in a city like Mumbai. Having a social life does not mean they have good social support,” says Dr Vishal Sawant, who is currently treating Joshi. When she first approached Dr Sawant, Joshi had great reservations. “Opening up to treatment makes you feel vulnerable. I am at a senior marketing position. To talk about mental health issues is also to put myself out in the open at this point in my career. But I knew I needed intervention,” she says. Now, after six months, she says her reactions to situations are more even.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">In January this year, British Prime Minister Theresa May announced a minister for loneliness to address the condition that afflicts 14 per cent of UK’s population. In Japan, it has been an affliction that has affected generations. In India, though, conversations around mental health are only getting started. Apart from a lack of information and widespread social stigma, the cost of treatment also remains prohibitively expensive. Each session, depending on the therapist, may cost between Rs 2,000 and Rs 7,000. Besides the cost of medication, therapy and consultations, there is also the possibility of reduced work efficiency. In addition to these, despite multiple reports and surveys indicating that there might be a serious health problem at hand, the conversation around loneliness doesn’t go beyond conventional markers, such as the isolation of the elderly. But loneliness can be an equally debilitating experience for other demographies, including the youth. A 2010 research in the Indian Journal of Psychiatry finds that women suffer more from depression than men. The National Mental Health Survey (2015-16) in 12 states of India covering 39,532 people found that one in 20 people suffers from depression. “Depression was reported to be higher in females, in the age-group of 40-49 years and among those residing in urban metros,” the report observes.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">In India, psychologists say, conversations around loneliness need to expand in scope and look at the condition born out of conflicts in gender identity, class, or isolation even within the framework of a family or a relationship. When 18-year-old Harshit Patel (name changed), a resident of south Mumbai’s plush Charni Road, visited psychiatrist Dr Sagar Mundada at his Fort clinic last November, he already had suicidal thoughts. He lived in a joint family of 10 in a well-to-do Gujarati household. He had just joined engineering college and was struggling to find his feet. Patel had tried discussing his feelings with his parents, but they had brushed it off as adolescent mood swings. They also refused to entertain thoughts of therapy when a tutor brought it up. Patel had called Mundada on his own, seeking help. The doctor advised him to call whenever he felt suicidal. Within 10 days, a call came: “Nobody notices me at home. What is the point of living?” Patel was contemplating throwing himself in front of a train, he said. Mundada immediately called him to his clinic and got in touch with his parents.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The road to therapy has been littered with obstacles for Patel. His parents are still not entirely convinced about therapy and refuse to attend sessions at the clinic. Instead, they meet at a McDonald’s outlet near the clinic.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Even as a 10-year-old child with a physically abusive father, Dharmesh Mekala knew — through all the loneliness and trauma that he hadn’t yet developed a vocabulary to articulate — that he had to escape. He wrote the entrance test for Navodaya Vidyalaya in Nalgonda, Telengana. “I just knew that I had to leave home somehow,” says Mekala, 29, a freelance artist, now based in Delhi. The arc of his loneliness had started developing early in his childhood — the beatings he received; the bouts of sadness that enveloped him; the isolation he felt from his family; and, finally, the suicidal thoughts that he had all the time.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Mekala made it to boarding school, but the reprieve that he had sought did not come to pass. His sense of isolation grew more acute when Mekala started discovering his sexuality, much later, he says, than his friends. By the time Mekala reached college he knew he was homosexual, but could not bring himself to admit it. “Being homosexual in a hetero world is a lonely life in any case, but when I first came to Delhi in 2010 — a dusky South Indian man with an accent, not well read or fluent in English, with far too little money — I felt adrift,” he says.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Dr Neetu Rana, psychologist at the Vidya Sagar Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences, Delhi, says, people like Mekala are more prone to mental health issues. “When we can’t find our social anchor we feel lonely. It could be a result of bullying, isolation and being ostracised, but it could also reflect changes in the family structures due to urbanisation and a shift towards an individualistic society,” she says.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><span class="custom-caption"><img class="size-full wp-image-5155042" src="http://images.indianexpress.com/2018/04/loneliness-epidemic.jpg" />More recently, the National Mental Health Survey of India (2015-16) reported that high suicidal risk is an increasing concern in India; that children and adolescents are vulnerable to mental disorders.</span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The UK-based National Society for the Prevention and Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) released data in 2017 on the number of calls received by its helpline to deal with loneliness. In 2016-17, the helpline counselled 4,063 children on loneliness, 73 per cent of whom were girls. Parul Tank, a psychiatrist who counsels students studying in a foreign country, says, many Indian students who venture abroad for higher studies, come to her with complaints of loneliness and depression. “In the US or UK, students have no structured classes. They lead an isolated life, the only idea of socialisation is to go out in cafes or pubs. Many do not know how to deal with this lifestyle,” she says.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Sahil, 45, a media professional, remembers how things started spiralling out of control for him when he went to London for a post-graduate degree. He had lived in Mumbai all his life and found London disconcerting. Soon, he wanted to “remain in my room all day” or spent time in the college library “figuring out a way to kill myself”. A friend took him to the university psychiatrist but the drugs he was prescribed didn’t help. By the time he came to Delhi in the mid-’90s for a job, he could barely hold it together; he had also become addicted to drugs and alcohol. “You feel lonely, and then you drink, and you feel even more lonely,” he says. Around this time, he got married. The thoughts of suicide receded somewhat, only to be replaced by an insatiable appetite for sex. “You don’t talk about things like loneliness when you are married. My wife and I never discussed my sex addiction either, though she was aware of it,” says Sahil, who is undergoing therapy at Sex Addicts Anonymous.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">According to the <a href="http://indianexpress.com/about/economic-survey-2018/">Economic Survey</a> 2016-17, the inter-state migration of workers in India has increased to 9 million annually during 2011-16 compared to previous years. A large section of these people leave their families behind in search of better prospects. In the hierarchy of visible discourse on loneliness, perhaps the migrant worker is the most affected, says Surinder Jodhka, professor of sociology at <a href="http://indianexpress.com/about/jawaharlal-nehru">Jawaharlal Nehru</a> University, Delhi. “The family structure is non-existent in the urban cities, and even in rural societies, there has been a disintegration. So, their feeling of loneliness is more pronounced.”</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">When his father died, Manik left his hometown in West Bengal’s Malda district for Delhi, more than 10 years ago. He was about 20 years old then. A distant uncle of his, a driver with a private company in the city, had promised to set him up with a job. But when Manik showed up, the uncle looked “surprised that I had actually come and grew distant.” Desperate, Manik began taking up odd jobs to survive. “I didn’t have friends and didn’t speak Hindi. The only person I knew refused to acknowledge me. I felt lonely and lost,” says Manik. He found a job as a cook/peon at a small company, but the pay was minimal and Manik says he spent it on “cheap alcohol and women”. “Otherwise, I’d be crying in my room all the time. I used to keep the radio on, not to feel less lonely but to not hear myself cry. I was so ashamed of my feebleness,” says Manik. He still can’t bear to be in a room without the radio on, but he doesn’t believe that his condition merits medical attention. In any case, it is a luxury he can’t afford. “It’s a personal battle, which only you can fight, no?” he asks.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">A first-of-its-kind study conducted by Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, between October 2015 till September 2017 analysing patients in its major hospitals — KEM, Sion, Nair and RN Cooper — found that 31 per cent patients visiting these hospitals suffered from mental disorders. At least 1,70,000 patients attended these four major hospitals for psychiatric aid. Depression formed the second-most common mental disorder in out-patient departments forming 20 per cent of the total chunk. All of them came from a low income group. “We realised that there is a need to have more treatment facilities in primary healthcare centres for mental health. Rates of depression are high even in urban poor, and diagnosis shouldn’t be delayed until they reach a tertiary centre,” says dean of KEM hospital, Dr Avinash Supe. “For poor people, it is unemployment, frustrated political environment that affects their livelihood, that leads to depression. Take for instance, the farmers who are committing suicide. They feel isolated in the agrarian and financial distress, they have no one to seek aid from,” says Dr Vinayak Kale, head of psychiatry department in JJ Group of Hospitals, Mumbai. For affluent sections, he says, it’s the opposite. Steady career growth is not enough. The stress to win the corporate race often leads to loneliness.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">One of the biggest contributors to loneliness, say psychologists and social scientists is our increasing reliance on technology. “One may have hundreds of friends on social media, but communication on that platform is virtual. Our culture is not individualised and we still need physical proximity. Social media has widened the gap of physical interaction,” says Dr Shubhangi Parkar, head of psychiatry at KEM hospital.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Nishant Shah, co-founder of The Centre for Internet and Society, Bengaluru, points out how “technologies have transformed what we understand as sociality, friendship and intimacy”. He says that young people — constant consumers of social media like Snapchat and WhatsApp — are “being told that they are always connected. Which means that they can, by definition, not feel lonely”. Yet, especially within the Indian context, says Shah, the pace of life and the rapid transformation of societies means that we no longer pay attention to the emotional needs of belonging, which actually alleviate loneliness. “We have replaced belonging with connectivity and this is going to have dire consequences in how we reshape our cities and lives,” he says.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Rachna Saxena (name changed), 31, agrees. Saxena migrated to Mumbai from a small town in Uttar Pradesh 14 years ago. “It was a big shift from the protective environment of home,” she says. She moulded herself to the demands of her new life once she joined the creative team in a multinational FMCG firm. She had been dating a Christian boy, but, at 28, when she finally broached the topic of marriage, the boy dithered on grounds of religious differences. The relationship crumbled, but something shifted inside her. “On <a href="http://indianexpress.com/about/facebook/">Facebook</a>, I’d look at photographs of my friends on their honeymoon. Everyone looked so happy, I felt depressed. I really wanted to get married, have a stable relationship. But that was just one part of my problems. I was a star performer at work, my social media feed showcased my ‘happening’ life, but no one could sense the immense pressure to live up to it,” she says.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Last year, a colleague she was close to died of a sudden heart attack at the age of 36. She saw his family squabble over property and his pregnant widow shunted out. “Another very close friend of mine, with whom I would share my distress, committed suicide. One fine day, he just shot himself,” says Saxena. She stopped meeting friends or inviting people over. In February this year, Saxena fell unconscious in her office. She had been sleeping fitfully and now had constant headaches. During her medical leave, she went home. “I ate and slept well, and, after a long time, felt happy. My parents are super supportive. But when I returned to Mumbai, it all came back. I realised I live two lives and I just couldn’t handle the stress of it,” she says. She started undergoing counselling sessions, and, a month ago, she deactivated her WhatsApp and Facebook accounts, choosing to travel and forge real friendships instead. “Now that I observe things more closely, I see that a lot of people around me are lonely even if they don’t look it. It can happen to anyone, you know,” she says.</p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/indian-express-asad-ali-tabassum-barnagarwala-april-29-2018-you-are-not-the-only-one-india-stares-at-a-loneliness-epidemic'>https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/indian-express-asad-ali-tabassum-barnagarwala-april-29-2018-you-are-not-the-only-one-india-stares-at-a-loneliness-epidemic</a>
</p>
No publisherAdminInternet Governance2018-04-29T16:15:42ZNews ItemYes, You Can Get Arrested for a Facebook Status Update Now
https://cis-india.org/news/the-atlantic-wire-november-29-2012-david-wagner-you-can-get-arrested-for-facebook-status-update-now
<b>A 21-year-old Indian woman thought Mumbai shouldn't have been shutdown for the funeral of an Islamophobic leader. Broadcasting such opinions on Facebook was apparently grounds for arrest. </b>
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<p style="text-align: justify; ">The article by David Wagner was <a class="external-link" href="http://www.theatlanticwire.com/global/2012/11/yes-you-can-get-arrested-facebook-status-update-now/59450/">published in the Atlantic Wire</a> on November 29, 2012. Pranesh Prakash is quoted.</p>
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<p style="text-align: justify; "><span><span>A Muslim graduate student, Shaheen Dhada posted a note (<a href="https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=300712513362810&set=a.299963443437717.55180.299958060104922&type=1">of her iPhone message</a>) on her timeline November 18th, writing, "Every day thousands of people die, but still the world moves on ... Today, Mumbai shuts down out of fear, not out of respect." Her status was written in reference to the death of Bal Thackeray, the late leader of Hindu extremist group Shiv Sena, responsible for repeated waves violence against Muslims in the Maharashtra state, <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-20383401">according to the BBC</a>. Another 21-year-old woman, Rinu Shrinivasan, was also arrested by Indian police for stoking "religious enmity." She'd simply clicked "like" on Dhada's post. </span></span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><span><span>A mob of angry Thackeray supporters thronged around the police station Dhada's house. Others vandalized her uncle's clinic two days after her arrest. Mumbai newspaper </span></span><i><span><span>The Hindu </span></span></i><span><span><a href="http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/facebook-row-police-to-drop-case-against-girls/article4146343.ece">reports today</a> that charges have been dropped against the two arrested women, but those observing the case are worried about the precedent this sets for free speech in India. "I have 3,500 followers on Twitter, and I'm pretty sure I annoy 100 of them on a daily basis," says Centre for Internet and Society director Pranesh Prakash. But should that mean he and others in India should picture themselves in handcuffs every time they type a potentially controversial status update? Retired Supreme Court Justice Markandey Katju tells NPR's Julie McCarthy that, at least in this case, the arrest was totally inappropriate: </span></span></p>
<table class="listing">
<tbody>
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<td>You can mourn a death in whichever way you want, but you can't bring a whole city to a stoppage. So what this girl wrote was in consonance with the verdict of the Supreme Court—nothing illegal.</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/news/the-atlantic-wire-november-29-2012-david-wagner-you-can-get-arrested-for-facebook-status-update-now'>https://cis-india.org/news/the-atlantic-wire-november-29-2012-david-wagner-you-can-get-arrested-for-facebook-status-update-now</a>
</p>
No publisherpraskrishnaFreedom of Speech and ExpressionInternet GovernanceCensorship2012-11-30T08:16:20ZNews ItemWWW: The Hackers’ Haven
https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/business-world-9-2-2015-abraham-c-mathews-www-the-hackers-haven
<b>In an increasingly connected world, it pays to be careful when sharing personal information </b>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">This story by Abraham C. Mathews was published in <a class="external-link" href="http://www.businessworld.in/news/business/it/www-the-hackers%E2%80%99-haven/1707848/page-1.html">BW | Businessworld Issue Dated 09-02-2015</a>. Sunil Abraham gave his inputs.</p>
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<p style="text-align: justify; ">Last year, Whatsapp changed its encryption algorithm several times and, every time, it was breached,” says Saket Modi, hacker, entrepreneur and CEO of Lucideus Technologies, which just created an app that monitors wayward activity on your smartphone. That’s geekspeak for: “Your WhatsApp chats, including deleted ones, would have been accessible to any hacker worth his salt”. And we are talking about a company that was valued at $19 billion at some point during the year. Only in November 2014 did WhatsApp finally embrace end-to-end encryption, which will ostensibly address the issue.<br /> <br />Or take the sales claim that every smartphone purchaser has heard — “Android is safe from virus.” That’s not, however, what a joint study by security solutions company Kaspersky and Interpol found. In the first half of 2014, 1,75,442 unique malicious programmes targeted at Android were discovered. Clearly a tribute to the platform on which 85 per cent of smartphones run.<br /> <br />In a TEDx talk last year titled ‘What’s physically possible in the virtual world’, Modi demonstrated how, with access to your smartphone for barely 20 seconds, he can see everything that has ever happened on your phone — text messages, call log, browsing history, and so on. He also showed how fraudulent emails could be disguised so as to appear to have come from a yahoo.com email address, and how you could be hacked even without being connected to the Internet. “There are only two kinds of people in the world,” he says. “Those who know they have been hacked and those who don’t.”<br /> <br /><b>Epidemic Proportions</b><br />For cyber security, 2014 was annus horribilis. From celebrities whose intimate pictures were dumped on the Internet, to corporates such as Sony, JP Morgan and Target whose records were hacked into and personal information of millions of their customers compromised, it was the year when the proverbial shit hit the fan. Details (names, numbers, even favourite pizza toppings) of six lakh customers of Domino’s Pizza in France and Belgium were stolen for a $40,000 ransom. One hundred and ten million records (credit card details, social security numbers, along with addresses) from Target were stolen. The company later admitted that its sales were “meaningfully weaker” after the data theft was disclosed. One hundred and forty-five million records were stolen from eBay, 109 million from Home Depot and 83 million from JP Morgan during the year.<br /> <br />In 2013, a group that calls itself the Syrian Electronic Army hacked into Swedish company TrueCaller’s database. TrueCaller, an app, allows you to identify phone numbers. The data is collected from the contact list of those who download the app, which means, it even has details of those who haven’t downloaded or used the app in any way. Estimates put the number of Indians whose numbers could have been stolen at a million.<br /> <br />Cyber security is not yet a boardroom topic, says Anil Bhasin, MD, India & Saarc, Palo Alto Networks, which claims to create comprehensive security solutions for users but is fast becoming one with the increase in security breach incidents. Enterprises still use legacy technology that at times is 20 years old, he says, giving the example of banks that sometimes have a layer-3 staple inspection firewall, when they should ideally be running on layer-7.<br /> <br />When companies store your information, you also benefit. For example, when an e-commerce company does so, online shopping becomes faster and easier. But these companies should invest in measures to protect the information, says Sunil Abraham, executive director of the Centre for Internet and Society in Bangalore. But then again, he says, a lot of breaches, like the celebrity iCloud hack, happen because users are negligent with measures designed to protect them. Passwords, for instance.<br /> <br />A Pew Research report found that only four out of 10 Internet users changed passwords after the ‘heartbleed’ virus (which found a way to unlock encrypted data) was uncovered in April 2014. Only 6 per cent thought their information was stolen. But, in August, it emerged that a Russian crime ring had amassed 1.2 billion user name-password combinations of 500 million email addresses from 4,20,000 websites. A Kaspersky study found that the number of malicious programmes detected rose 10 times in just six months to 6,44,000 in March 2014. This shows the call for vigil cannot not be more critical.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Interestingly, your online financial payments may be relatively more secure, thanks to Reserve Bank of India’s dogged persistence in continuing with the two-step verification process for electronic payments (a one-time password and PIN verification). The central bank drew a lot of flak for barring taxi app Uber from storing payment information and automatically deducting charges at the end of a ride. But Modi isn’t impressed. He likens the two-step verification to a batsman going onto the pitch wearing just a helmet. “The rest of your body is still exposed,” he says.<br /> <br /><b>Easy Targets</b><br />Here’s one easy hack that Modi describes. Any app that you download from the app store on your phone asks for a set of permissions, which mostly come as an ‘all or nothing’ option. You either grant all the access it asks for, or you can’t download the app. Suppose, you grant a scrabble app access to your text messages. Your number can then be accessed by the app provider. Now think about how your banking transactions are verified — with a one-time password sent as a text message. With access to your text messages, entering that password would hardly be a challenge for hackers, says Modi. Or, suppose you were to set up a new WhatsApp account with that same number. The verification, like we all know, comes through a one-time password sent to your number. With access to your text messages, the hacker is given a virtual key to your entire WhatsApp history.<br /> <br />Or, take for instance, an app that requests access to your SD card (the storage card in your phone). With that permission, the app gets access to everything on your SD card, including your most private photos. Modi’s company Lucideus recently came out with an app, UnHack, that scans your phone to see which apps can access what data. If you use the app, you will find that not only can Facebook access the call logs on your phone, but apps like Wunderlist (which organises to-do lists) and Pocket (which stores articles for future offline reading) can access your contacts as well. The apps from TED (of TED Talks fame) as well as Flipkart can see as well as edit your personal photos and documents.<br /> <br />Companies —Uber, for instance — have in the past been found to be frivolous with data collected. Late last year, Uber greeted a Buzzfeed reporter who had arrived at the company’s New York headquarters with “There you are — I was tracking you”. No prior permission was sought. A venture capitalist, Peter Sims, had written earlier that his exact whereabouts in New York were displayed to a room full of people as part of a demonstration at a company event in Chicago.<br /> <b><br />Information Overload</b><br />Adam Tanner, a Harvard fellow and a Forbes columnist, was at an annual conference of the Direct Marketers Association, where he noticed a list of names of 1.8 million people with erectile dysfunction (ED), along with their email addresses and numbers. The organisers claimed the details were volunteered by the people themselves. Knowing that ED is something that men rarely admit to, he made the organisers an offer — “Let me purchase a list of a thousand people, and write to them to see if they know that they are on such a list.” The organisers refused, saying it would be an immoral use of their data. From this, one can tell that the information came from websites that took their details, promising a cure.<br /> <br />This, and other similar anecdotes made their way to his recent book, What Stays in Vegas, which deals with the world of personal data and the end of privacy as we know it. When Tanner meets Indians, he brings up matrimonial websites. What surprises him is the volume of information that people disclose. To westerners, details such as sub-caste or blood type, as well as in many cases the admission that a person is HIV+ is an outright breach of privacy. That people would volunteer to put this out in public is shocking. “When you are looking for a suitable match, giving the information may be important at the moment, but you must not forget that once something is on the Internet, it can never be completely deleted,” he warns.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">But what is the problem if somebody has all the details, you may ask. Is the potential risk greater than the possibility of a perfect match? A PTI report from 2009 talks about a confession by an Indian Mujahideen operative who used information from such sites to get a student identity card as well as a driving licence. Mukul Shrivastava, a partner in the forensic practice at EY, gives you another alarming scenario. Let’s say somebody trawls your Facebook, what is the amount of information that such a person can get access to? Your daily routine, your physical movement, your favourite restaurant or whether you will be at home at a certain time (from a status message like “Can’t wait to watch the Devils trouncing Liverpool at ManU Café tonight!”). Even if a physical attack is not on the agenda, much of the information can be used to guess security questions (favourite cat, first school) and find out required details for phone banking (date of birth, email address, mother’s name). An HDFC Bank official says there is a rise in vishing (the voice equivalent of phishing) attacks, where people with access to bank account numbers as well as personal details pose as bank executives and lure customers with special benefits and convince them to divulge their banking passwords. <br /> <br />Security is an individual’s responsibility, says Sunil Abraham. “You have to remember that you have volunteered to put the information online,” he says. Information once put online is not private anymore. It’s like making an announcement in a large hall that is broadcast on TV. That’s what the Internet is. And once the Internet gets to know, it can never really be forgotten, says Vishnu Gopal, chief technology officer at MobME, a mobile value-added services provider. It will be available on some weblink or at least on archive.org, which claims to have ‘435 billion pages saved over time’.<br /> <br />While reclaiming lost information might be difficult, one can still reclaim privacy. Both Facebook and Gmail have options to disable monitoring by other applications. It might be worthwhile to pay the permissions page a visit. Routine password changes, as well as keying them in every time (rather than saving them on the system) might be worth the trouble. That said, nothing works like caution.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b>An Attacking Refrigerator!</b><br />A year ago, Proofpoint, a US-based security solutions provider, noticed an unusual type of cyber attack. Emails were sent in batches of about a lakh, thrice a day, aimed at slowing down large enterprises. What was unique about this attack was that upto 25 per cent of the volume was sent by devices other than computers, laptops, mobile phones or such devices. Instead, the emails came from everyday consumer electronic items like network routers, televisions, and at least one refrigerator, according to the company, with not more than 10 emails from any one device, making the attack difficult to block. This is now known as the first Internet of Things or IoT-based attack, where connected everyday-use devices are hacked into and used as cyber weaponry.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "> </p>
<div>With the IoT, you have devices talking to one another, opening up multiple places to be breached, says MobME’s Gopal. From your shoe to T-shirt, everything becomes a potential bot. India should be concerned. Research by securities provider Symantec says India tops the list of countries wherein Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks originate. DDoS attacks are those where hundreds of bots target a website (say, an e-commerce company) on its big discount day, thereby slowing down traffic to the site. The report says a bot’s services can be bought for as low as Rs 300 to bring down a site for a few minutes. Monthly subscription plans are available for lengthier attacks.</div>
<div>Corporates can never be too careful, feels Shrivastava who, as part of his investigations, comes across several instances where companies are hacked into because of lack of best practices. How many companies have blocked pen drives on office machinery, he asks. In a tiny device, a humungous amount of data can be stolen. Till the first incident happens, nobody realises the importance of security, he says. For example, at EY, the IT security does not permit copying of the text of emails by the recipient. Recent reports suggest that the JP Morgan security breach was the result of neglect of one of its servers in terms of a security upgrade.</div>
<div></div>
<div>According to a study by Microsoft, the estimated loss to enterprises from lost data in 2014 was $491 billion.</div>
<div></div>
<div><b>You Against The Mafia</b><br />The fight really is about who’s weaker, says Altaf Halde, managing director, Kaspersky Lab-South Asia. “The problem here is the consumer.” Nothing excuses us from not protecting ourselves. That includes getting an anti-virus installed, but most people often disable it when it flags a particular activity that we want to pursue online. <br /> <br />Halde also brings up the BYOD (bring your own device) culture that is taking root. Asking employees to bring their own devices could help cut costs for a company, but that also brings in their inadequate protection, which could potentially translate into a much higher cost to the company, he says. <br /> <br />On the other side of the ring is the virtual underground mafia that profits from all types of data that get compromised — details of one’s sexual preferences, favourite restaurants or credit card details. Modi says in underground circles, the going rate for a stolen credit card number is $2.2 for a Visa, $2.5 for a MasterCard and $3 for an AmEx number. Transactions are made through crypto-currencies such as bitcoins, making them virtually untraceable.<br /> <br />As Modi says, the ideal scenario would be for all of us to throw away our smartphones and live an entirely offline existence. “But since that isn’t feasible, let’s embrace the risk, but with adequate measures to ensure that we are not affected.”</div>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/business-world-9-2-2015-abraham-c-mathews-www-the-hackers-haven'>https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/business-world-9-2-2015-abraham-c-mathews-www-the-hackers-haven</a>
</p>
No publisherpraskrishnaCyber SecurityInternet Governance2015-02-05T02:20:04ZNews ItemWSIS+10 High-Level Event: Open Consultation Process
https://cis-india.org/news/wsis-high-level-event-open-consultation-process
<b>Jyoti Panday represented the Centre for Internet and Society (CIS) at the WSIS+10 High-Level Event:Open Consultation Process held in Geneva from May 28 to 31, 2014. </b>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The Fifth Physical Meeting marked Phase Six of the Open Consultation Process for the WSIS+10 High-Level Event (HLE) to be held in Geneva from June 10 to 13, 2014.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The meeting saw the culmination of the multistakeholder review process on the WSIS+10 Statement on the Implementation of the WSIS Outcomes and the WSIS+10 Vision for WSIS Beyond 2015.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">CIS made interventions on text related to increasing women's participation, freedom of expression, media rights, data privacy, network security and human rights.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">CIS also endorsed text on action line 'Media' which reaffirmed committment to freedom of expression, data privacy and media rights offline and online including protection of sources, publishers and journalists.</p>
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<p style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/wsis-final-agreed-draft.pdf" class="internal-link">Download the final agreed draft</a> of the WSIS+10 Statement on the Implementation of WSIS Outcomes that will be deliberated upon and agreed at the HLE, for your reference.</p>
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For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/news/wsis-high-level-event-open-consultation-process'>https://cis-india.org/news/wsis-high-level-event-open-consultation-process</a>
</p>
No publisherpraskrishnaFreedom of Speech and ExpressionInternet GovernancePrivacy2014-06-04T10:14:01ZNews ItemWSIS+10 High Level Event: A Bird's Eye Report
https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/wsis-10-high-level-event-a-birds-eye-report
<b>The WSIS+10 High Level was organised by the ITU and collaborative UN entities on June 9-13, 2014. It aimed to evaluate the progress on implementation of WSIS Outcomes from Geneva 2003 and Tunis 2005, and to envision a post-2015 Development Agenda. Geetha Hariharan attended the event on CIS' behalf.</b>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><span>The World Summit on Information Society (WSIS) +10 </span><a href="http://www.itu.int/wsis/implementation/2014/forum/">High Level Event</a><span> (HLE) was hosted at the ITU Headquarters in Geneva, from June 9-13, 2014. The HLE aimed to review the implementation and progress made on information and communication technology (ICT) across the globe, in light of WSIS outcomes (</span><a href="http://www.itu.int/wsis/index-p1.html">Geneva 2003</a><span> and </span><a href="http://www.itu.int/wsis/index-p2.html">Tunis 2005</a><span>). Organised in three parallel tracks, the HLE sought to take stock of progress in ICTs in the last decade (High Level track), initiate High Level Dialogues to formulate the post-2015 development agenda, as well as host thematic workshops for participants (Forum track).</span><span> </span></p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">The High Level Track:</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><img src="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/copy2_of_HighLevelTrack.jpg/@@images/be5f993c-3553-4d63-bb66-7cd16f8407dc.jpeg" alt="High Level Track" class="image-inline" title="High Level Track" /></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><i>Opening Ceremony, WSIS+10 High Level Event </i>(<a class="external-link" href="https://twitter.com/ITU/status/334587247556960256/photo/1">Source</a>)</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The High Level track opened officially on June 10, 2014, and culminated with the endorsement by acclamation (as is ITU tradition) of two <a href="http://www.itu.int/wsis/implementation/2014/forum/inc/doc/outcome/362828V2E.pdf">Outcome Documents</a>. These were: (1) WSIS+10 Statement on the Implementation of WSIS Outcomes, taking stock of ICT developments since the WSIS summits, (2) WSIS+10 Vision for WSIS Beyond 2015, aiming to develop a vision for the post-2015 global information society. These documents were the result of the WSIS+10 <a href="http://www.itu.int/wsis/review/mpp/">Multi-stakeholder Preparatory Platform</a> (MPP), which involved WSIS stakeholders (governments, private sector, civil society, international organizations and relevant regional organizations).</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The <strong>MPP</strong> met in six phases, convened as an open, inclusive consultation among WSIS stakeholders. It was not without its misadventures. While ITU Secretary General Dr. Hamadoun I. Touré consistently lauded the multi-stakeholder process, and Ambassador Janis Karklins urged all parties, especially governments, to “<i>let the UN General Assembly know that the multi-stakeholder model works for Internet governance at all levels</i>”, participants in the process shared stories of discomfort, disagreement and discord amongst stakeholders on various IG issues, not least human rights on the Internet, surveillance and privacy, and multi-stakeholderism. Richard Hill of the Association for Proper Internet Governance (<a href="http://www.apig.ch/">APIG</a>) and the Just Net Coalition writes that like NETmundial, the MPP was rich in a diversity of views and knowledge exchange, but stakeholders <a href="http://www.ip-watch.org/2014/06/16/what-questions-did-the-wsis10-high-level-event-answer/">failed to reach consensus</a> on crucial issues. Indeed, Prof. Vlamidir Minkin, Chairman of the MPP, expressed his dismay at the lack of consensus over action line C9. A compromise was agreed upon in relation to C9 later.<span> </span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Some members of civil society expressed their satisfaction with the extensive references to human rights and rights-centred development in the Outcome Documents. While governmental opposition was seen as frustrating, they felt that the <strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">MPP had sought and achieved a common understanding</span></strong>, a sentiment <a href="https://twitter.com/covertlight/status/476748168051580928">echoed</a> by the ITU Secretary General. Indeed, even Iran, a state that had expressed major reservations during the MPP and felt itself unable to agree with the text, <a href="https://twitter.com/covertlight/status/476748723750711297">agreed</a> that the MPP had worked hard to draft a document beneficial to all.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Concerns around the MPP did not affect the <strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">review of ICT developments</span></strong> over the last decade. High Level Panels with Ministers of ICT from states such as Uganda, Bangladesh, Sweden, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia and others, heads of the UN Development Programme, UNCTAD, Food and Agriculture Organisation, UN-WOMEN and others spoke at length of rapid advances in ICTs. The focus was largely on ICT access and affordability in developing states. John E. Davies of Intel repeatedly drew attention to innovative uses of ICTs in Africa and Asia, which have helped bridge divides of affordability, gender, education and capacity-building. Public-private partnerships were the best solution, he said, to affordability and access. At a ceremony evaluating implementation of WSIS action-lines, the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC), India, <a href="https://twitter.com/covertlight/status/476748723750711297">won an award</a> for its e-health application MOTHER.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><span>The Outcome Documents themselves shall be analysed in a separate post. But in sum, the dialogue around Internet governance at the HLE centred around the success of the MPP. Most participants on panels and in the audience felt this was a crucial achievement within the realm of the UN, where the Tunis Summit had delineated strict roles for stakeholders in paragraph 35 of the </span><a href="http://www.itu.int/wsis/docs2/tunis/off/6rev1.html">Tunis Agenda</a><span>. Indeed, there was palpable relief in Conference Room 1 at the </span><a href="http://www.cicg.ch/en/">CICG</a><span>, Geneva, when on June 11, Dr. Touré announced that the Outcome Documents would be adopted without a vote, in keeping with ITU tradition, even if consensus was achieved by compromise.</span></p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">The High Level Dialogues:</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><img src="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/HighLevelDialogues.jpg/@@images/3c30d94f-7a65-4912-bb42-2ccd3b85a18d.jpeg" alt="High Level Dialogues" class="image-inline" title="High Level Dialogues" /></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><i>Prof. Vladimir Minkin delivers a statement.</i> (<a class="external-link" href="https://twitter.com/JaroslawPONDER/status/476288845013843968/photo/1">Source</a>)</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The High Level Dialogues on developing a post-2015 Development Agenda, based on WSIS action lines, were active on June 12. Introducing the Dialogue, Dr. Touré lamented the Millennium Development Goals as a “<i>lost opportunity</i>”, emphasizing the need to alert the UN General Assembly and its committees as to the importance of ICTs for development.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">As on previous panels, there was <strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">intense focus on access, affordability and reach in developing countries</span></strong>, with Rwanda and Bangladesh expounding upon their successes in implementing ICT innovations domestically. The world is more connected than it was in 2005, and the ITU in 2014 is no longer what it was in 2003, said speakers. But we lack data on ICT deployment across the globe, said Minister Knutssen of Sweden, recalling the gathering to the need to engage all stakeholders in this task. Speakers on multiple panels, including the Rwandan Minister for CIT, Marilyn Cade of ICANN and Petra Lantz of the UNDP, emphasized the need for ‘smart engagement’ and capacity-building for ICT development and deployment.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">A crucial session on cybersecurity saw Dr. Touré envision a global peace treaty accommodating multiple stakeholders. On the panel were Minister Omobola Johnson of Nigeria, Prof. Udo Helmbrecht of the European Union Agency for Network and Information Security (ENISA), Prof. A.A. Wahab of Cybersecurity Malaysia and Simon Muller of Facebook. The focus was primarily on building laws and regulations for secure communication and business, while child protection was equally considered.<span> </span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The lack of laws/regulations for cybersecurity (child pornography and jurisdictional issues, for instance), or other legal protections (privacy, data protection, freedom of speech) in rapidly connecting developing states was noted. But the <strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">question of cross-border surveillance and wanton violations of privacy went unaddressed</span></strong> except for the customary, unavoidable mention. This was expected. Debates in Internet governance have, in the past year, been silently and invisibly driven by the Snowden revelations. So too, at WSIS+10 Cybersecurity, speakers emphasized open data, information exchange, data ownership and control (the <a href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/ecj-rules-internet-search-engine-operator-responsible-for-processing-personal-data-published-by-third-parties">right to be forgotten</a>), but did not openly address surveillance. Indeed, Simon Muller of Facebook called upon governments to publish their own transparency reports: A laudable suggestion, even accounting for Facebook’s own undetailed and truncated reports.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">In a nutshell, the post-2015 Development Agenda dialogues repeatedly emphasized the importance of ICTs in global connectivity, and their impact on GDP growth and socio-cultural change and progress. The focus was on taking this message to the UN General Assembly, engaging all stakeholders and creating an achievable set of action lines post-2015.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">The Forum Track:</h3>
<p><img src="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/copy_of_ForumTrack.jpg/@@images/dfcce68a-18d7-4f1e-897b-7208bb60abc9.jpeg" alt="Forum Track" class="image-inline" title="Forum Track" /></p>
<p><i>Participants at the UNESCO session on its Comprehensive Study on Internet-related Issues</i> (<a class="external-link" href="https://twitter.com/leakaspar/status/476690921644646400/photo/1">Source</a>)</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The HLE was organized as an extended version of the WSIS Forum, which hosts thematic workshops and networking opportunities, much like any other conference. Running in parallel sessions over 5 days, the WSIS Forum hosted sessions by the ITU, UNESCO, UNDP, ICANN, ISOC, APIG, etc., on issues as diverse as the WSIS Action Lines, the future of Internet governance, the successes and failures of <a href="http://www.internetgovernance.org/2012/12/18/itu-phobia-why-wcit-was-derailed/">WCIT-2012</a>, UNESCO’s <a href="http://www.unesco.org/new/internetstudy">Comprehensive Study on Internet-related Issues</a>, spam and a taxonomy of Internet governance.<span> </span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Detailed explanation of each session I attended is beyond the scope of this report, so I will limit myself to the interesting issues raised.<span> </span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">At ICANN’s session on its own future (June 9), Ms. Marilyn Cade emphasized the <strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">importance of national and regional IGFs</span></strong> for both issue-awareness and capacity-building. Mr. Nigel Hickson spoke of engagement at multiple Internet governance fora: “<i>Internet governance is not shaped by individual events</i>”. In light of <a href="http://www.internetgovernance.org/2014/04/16/icann-anything-that-doesnt-give-iana-to-me-is-out-of-scope/">criticism</a> of ICANN’s apparent monopoly over IANA stewardship transition, this has been ICANN’s continual <a href="https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/process-next-steps-2014-06-06-en">response</a> (often repeated at the HLE itself). Also widely discussed was the <strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">role of stakeholders in Internet governance</span></strong>, given the delineation of roles and responsibilities in the Tunis Agenda, and governments’ preference for policy-monopoly (At WSIS+10, Indian Ambassador Dilip Sinha seemed wistful that multilateralism is a “<i>distant dream</i>”).<span> </span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">This discussion bore greater fruit in a session on Internet governance ‘taxonomy’. The session saw <a href="https://www.icann.org/profiles/george-sadowsky">Mr. George Sadowsky</a>, <a href="http://www.diplomacy.edu/courses/faculty/kurbalija">Dr. Jovan Kurbalija</a>, <a href="http://www.williamdrake.org/">Mr. William Drake</a> and <a href="http://www.itu.int/wsis/implementation/2014/forum/agenda/session_docs/170/ThoughtsOnIG.pdf">Mr. Eliot Lear</a> (there is surprisingly no official profile-page on Mr. Lear) expound on dense structures of Internet governance, involving multiple methods of classification of Internet infrastructure, CIRs, public policy issues, etc. across a spectrum of ‘baskets’ – socio-cultural, economic, legal, technical. Such studies, though each attempting clarity in Internet governance studies, indicate that the closer you get to IG, the more diverse and interconnected the eco-system gets. David Souter’s diagrams almost capture the flux of dynamic debate in this area (please see pages 9 and 22 of <a href="http://www.internetsociety.org/sites/default/files/ISOC%20framework%20for%20IG%20assessments%20-%20D%20Souter%20-%20final_0.pdf">this ISOC study</a>).</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">There were, for most part, insightful interventions from session participants. Mr. Sadowsky questioned the effectiveness of the Tunis Agenda delineation of stakeholder-roles, while Mr. Lear pleaded that techies be let to do their jobs without interference. <a href="http://internetdemocracy.in/">Ms. Anja Kovacs</a> raised pertinent concerns about <strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">including voiceless minorities in a ‘rough consensus’ model</span></strong>. Across sessions, <strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">questions of mass surveillance, privacy and data ownership rose</span></strong> from participants. The protection of human rights on the Internet – especially freedom of expression and privacy – made continual appearance, across issues like spam (<a href="http://www.itu.int/ITU-D/CDS/sg/rgqlist.asp?lg=1&sp=2010&rgq=D10-RGQ22.1.1&stg=1">Question 22-1/1</a> of ITU-D Study Group 1) and cybersecurity.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">Conclusion:</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The HLE was widely attended by participants across WSIS stakeholder-groups. At the event, a great many relevant questions such as the future of ICTs, inclusions in the post-2015 Development Agenda, the value of muti-stakeholder models, and human rights such as free speech and privacy were raised across the board. Not only were these raised, but cognizance was taken of them by Ministers, members of the ITU and other collaborative UN bodies, private sector entities such as ICANN, technical community such as the ISOC and IETF, as well as (obviously) civil society.<span> </span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Substantively, the HLE did not address mass surveillance and privacy, nor of expanding roles of WSIS stakeholders and beyond. Processually, the MPP failed to reach consensus on several issues comfortably, and a compromise had to be brokered.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><span>But perhaps a big change at the HLE was the positive attitude to multi-stakeholder models from many quarters, not least the ITU Secretary General Dr. Hamadoun Touré. His repeated calls for acceptance of multi-stakeholderism left many members of civil society surprised and tentatively pleased. Going forward, it will be interesting to track the ITU and the rest of UN’s (and of course, member states’) stances on multi-stakeholderism at the ITU Plenipot, the WSIS+10 Review and the UN General Assembly session, at the least.</span></p>
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For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/wsis-10-high-level-event-a-birds-eye-report'>https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/wsis-10-high-level-event-a-birds-eye-report</a>
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No publishergeethaWSIS+10PrivacyCybersecurityHuman Rights OnlineSurveillanceFreedom of Speech and ExpressionInternet GovernanceFacebookData ProtectionMulti-stakeholderICANNInternet AccessITUInternet StudiesE-GovernanceICT2014-06-20T15:57:32ZBlog Entry