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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
<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>
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<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>
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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>
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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>
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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>
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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>
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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>
<hr />
<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>
<p>
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>
<p>
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>
</p>
No publishergeethaWSIS+10PrivacyCybersecurityHuman Rights OnlineSurveillanceFreedom of Speech and ExpressionInternet GovernanceFacebookData ProtectionMulti-stakeholderICANNInternet AccessITUInternet StudiesE-GovernanceICT2014-06-20T15:57:32ZBlog EntryWould it be a unique identity crisis ?
https://cis-india.org/news/unique-identity-crisis
<b>The UID project will centralise a humongous amount of data but the fear is that it might fall into the wrong hands.</b>
<p>The Unique Identification (UID) project is already up and running. It’s touted as a watershed in inclusive politics, of bringing people, who by virtue of physical remoteness, their station in society or other liabilities were excluded from the system, back into it. UID Chairman Nandan Nilekani recently said that the aadhaar number will not replace the passport, driving license or the voter identity card and that by 2014, 60 per cent of the country’s population will have the 12-digit UID number. The idea, though it has not been made explicit, is that Aadhaar will eventually become the key document for the common man to navigate the system, whether it is opening a bank account or making a rent agreement to booking a train ticket or applying for a job.</p>
<p>In fact, there is the implicit danger that sooner than later the original idea of inclusiveness could be turned on its head by denying benefits to people who don’t have the Aadhaar! “There is nothing to ensure that you will continue to receive the same benefits like those who have the UID number. The claim that it is not mandatory is legally correct. But in practice it would not be,” said Prof Sridhar Krishnaswamy of W B University for Juridical Sciences.</p>
<p>It is a fundamental premise that data subjects ought to have “inalienable moral rights” about the “integrity” of the data collected about them. But even as UID is one of the best things that could have happened to deepen the democratic process in our society, the often un-remarked fact is that the project has also become the biggest industrial collector of personal information. Considering the size and heterogeneity of the Indian population, it becomes as big as Google, and the implications of this are quite frightening. The UID draft bill, which has to be cleared by Parliament for it to become law, has only perfunctorily looked at the dangers posed by such huge and centralized collection of data. It glosses over the issue, content with making conservative noises about “the interlinking of databases”. This only shows how casual our policy makers, even the most enlightened of them, are towards the whole issue of safeguarding privacy.</p>
<p>The Bangalore-based Centre for Internet and Society (CIS) has analyzed the draft UID bill in considerable depth. They have identified three main areas where the bill needs to be drastically reworked: (i) plugging all loopholes which would enable corporate organizations from accessing information from the Aadhar database for their own commercial or R & D purposes; (ii) stipulating a maximum period for the data to be stored; (iii) to be transparent about the methods it uses to collect, store and disseminate data.</p>
<p>Prof Krishnaswamy agreed that the UID bill has not taken the corporate threat seriously enough. He contends that the UID authorities should take small, concrete steps that would act as effective safeguards. “In the mobile phone segment, user information is stored only for six months. Now, the government is proposing a similar time cap for ISP too. But when it comes to UID there is no such time limit. It means personal information could be held perpetually,” he explained. All that UID Assistant Director A K Pandey had to say to this was, “if that is it, then we have to live with it.”</p>
<p>Another worrying aspect of the proposed bill, according to Usha Ramanathan, an activist and expert on identity and digital issues, is its failure to fix accountability on the main players including enrollers, outsourcing companies, and the UDAI authority itself. “The data collector and data controller should be equally held responsible for the protection of data,” she said. However, UID authorities themselves are of the view that the apprehensions are being overplayed. Pandey maintained that there was nothing in the UID that would compromise the privacy of individuals. “You go to a bank or the LIC office and you give whatever information they ask you. But when it comes to UID alone you say the information you give could be dangerous. We don’t quite understand this,” he retorted. He played down the fears that in the central data storage vital information could go corrupt. “We have taken adequate measures to protect it. We will have a backup,” he said.</p>
<p>The issue of transparency of data collection and storage remains. The CIS analysts feel that the UID should put out a synopsis of the algorithms it will use in collating and protecting data so that the public at large can be reassured of the firewalls that are in place. Then there is also the issue of not having concrete provisions in the UID bill to deal with special cases like whistleblowers and victims of abuse whose identities need to be protected even more carefully. </p>
<p>The UID authority also bypasses the question of whether it is confusing data protection with the larger issue of protection of privacy. A person’s identity is more than her date of birth, surname, religion, fingerprint or even the sum of these. Such information is basically data and allows governments or corporate bodies to provide a person a nominal identity, one that is indispensable if she is to be part of a socio-political system. The state and corporate entities conveniently deny a person her self, thereby reducing her to a subject instead of seeing each individual as a thinking, acting agency.</p>
<p>Be that as it may, right now the concern of civil society is to make at least protection of data as foolproof as possible. Aadhaar is just one of the projects that pose a threat to the privacy of individual citizens. There is the broader problem of how the Internet and mobile phones, the popularity of social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter, and the widespread use of credit and debit cards has led to blatant misuse of personal information gathered online, sharing of consumer data without consent and the state’s own Big Brother surveillance. The need for an effective privacy law in India is imperative.</p>
<p>Read the original in <a class="external-link" href="http://www.bangaloremirror.com/index.aspx?page=article&sectid=81&contentid=20110102201101020220400536210faa">Bangalore Mirror</a></p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/news/unique-identity-crisis'>https://cis-india.org/news/unique-identity-crisis</a>
</p>
No publisherpraskrishnaInternet Governance2011-04-01T17:10:30ZNews ItemWorries voiced over ID project
https://cis-india.org/news/worries-voiced-over-id-project
<b>An article in The Hindu - 17th April</b>
<p>The Government of India's Unique Identification (UID) Project came under flak at a workshop organised jointly by the Citizen Action Forum (CAF), the People's Union of Civil Liberties - Karnataka, the Alternative Law Forum and the Centre for Internet and Society.</p>
<p>At the workshop "UID Project: A Debate on Fundamental Rights", held on Friday, members from civil socities expressed their apprehension over the project. Dissenters said the potential dangers to privacy and other civil liberties need to be discussed also.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/news/worries-voiced-over-id-project'>https://cis-india.org/news/worries-voiced-over-id-project</a>
</p>
No publisherradhaInternet Governance2011-04-02T12:33:50ZNews ItemWorldwide: International Privacy - 2013 Year in Review - Asia
https://cis-india.org/news/mondaq-january-8-2014-gonzalo-s-zeballos-james-a-sherer-alan-m-pate-worldwide-international-privacy-2013-year-in-review-asia
<b>Asian Data Privacy Updates</b>
<p>The article by Gonzalo S. Zeballos, James A. Sherer and Alan M. Pate was <a class="external-link" href="http://www.mondaq.com/x/284334/Data+Protection+Privacy/International+Privacy+2013+Year+in+Review+Asia">published in Mondaq's yearly review</a> on January 8, 2014.</p>
<hr />
<h3>China</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">China's Personal Information Protection Law Proposal was submitted to the State Council in 2008, which was followed by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology's non-binding <a href="http://www.taylorwessing.com/globaldatahub/article_china_dp.html." target="_blank">Internet Information Services Market Order Provisions of 2011</a>. However, little direct progress was made until the standing committee of the National People's Congress (NPC) introduced its <a href="http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205403445_text." target="_blank">Decision on Strengthening Internet Information</a> Protection (the Decision) on December 28, 2012. Echoing Directive 95/46/EC in the EU by stipulating that the collection and use of information will be "legitimate, proper, and necessary," the Decision seeks to protect network information security; the lawful interest of citizens, legal persons, and other organizations; and safeguard <a href="http://privacylaw.proskauer.com/2013/02/articles/online-privacy/china-introduces-new-data-privacy-law/" target="_blank">China's security and social order</a> through its Articles.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">he Decision's first Article states that "[n]o organization or individual may steal or obtain in other illegal manners [ ] citizens' individual electronic information, sell or illegally provide citizens' individual <a href="http://chinacopyrightandmedia.wordpress.com/2012/12/28/national-peoples-congress-standing-committee-decision-concerning-strengthening-network-information-protection/" target="_blank">electronic information to other persons</a>." Instruction to Internet Service Providers (ISPs) continues, where providers must, among other activities:</p>
<ul>
<li> Clearly indicate the purposes, methods, and scope of collection and use of citizens' data; </li>
<li> Obtain agreement from citizens before collecting their data; </li>
<li> Publicize rules for the collection and use of personal data; </li>
<li> Preserve the secrecy of collected data; </li>
<li> Not divulge, distort, or damage the data; </li>
<li> Refrain from selling or otherwise illegally providing the data to others; and </li>
<li> Adopt technical measures and other methods to ensure information security and prevent damage to or loss of the data. </li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Among the provisions of the Decision is Article Six, specifically directed at network service providers, whereby users of the services must "provide real identity information" prior to "website access," "fixed telephone, mobile telephone," "other surfing formalities," or "information publication services." In response to criticism that Article Six would be used to discourage whistleblowers and other Chinese dissention, the government-sponsored Xinhua News Agency argued that the Decision "<a href="http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/indepth/2012-12/28/c_132069782.htm." target="_blank">will help, rather than harm, the country's netizens</a>."</p>
<h3>Japan</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">On May 24, 2013, the LDP-led ruling coalition directed the passage of the "Common Number" Bill through both Diet chambers. The Common Number Bill plans to assign every Japanese resident, including <a href="http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/adv/chuo/dy/research/20120510.htm" target="_blank">mid-to-long-stay foreigners and special permanent residents</a>, a personal identification number beginning in January 2016. Additionally, a portal site through which people can check their social security records and other information <a href="http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2013/06/11/reference/new-id-system-for-keeping-tax-tabs-finding-cheats/" target="_blank">via the Internet is planned for 2017</a>. The numbering system was originally proposed in 2009, but remained quiescent until the LDP-New Komeito ruling coalition mustered sufficient support based, in part, on a philosophical foundation for fair social welfare and tax systems.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">To oversee some aspects of the ID system, a third-party independent committee with <a href="http://2013.rigf.asia/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/Privacy%20in%20Asia%20%20Building%20on%20the%20APEC%20Privacy%20Principles%20-%20Taro%20Komukai.pdf" target="_blank">independent authority</a> will oversee allegations of data mishandling by public officials. Those who leak or illegally commercialize ID information will face up to four years in prison or a ¥2 million fine. While the use of a single number system has raised some concerns, including the potential for "forcible data-matching," the government push for support has focused on efficiencies in administration and easier detection of tax evasion and welfare fraud.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">Malaysia</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">On November 15, 2013, the Personal Data Protection Act (PDPA) of 2010 was entered into force, introducing an omnibus privacy regime in <a href="http://www.dataguidance.com/news.asp?id=2147" target="_blank">Malaysia for the first time</a>. This new regulation carries a host of requirements, including registration with the Personal Data Protection Department of Malaysia (PDPD) for a number of industries, including (among others) banking and financial institutions. The PDPA also includes the threat of severe consequences for non-compliance, including "fines for companies and/or fines and imprisonment for directors and officers of the company."</p>
<ul>
</ul>
<h3>Khazaksthan</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">On November 26, 2013, <a href="http://online.zakon.kz/Document/?doc_id=31396226" target="_blank">Kazakhstani Law No. 94-V on Personal Data and its Protection</a> came into force, defining such concepts as "personal data" among others, but left some ambiguity in <a href="http://www.dataguidance.com/news.asp?id=2154" target="_blank">how data might be transferred and/or stored internationally</a>. It also contained a number of limitations: <a href="http://www.deloitte.com/assets/Dcom-Kazakhstan/Local%20Assets/Documents/T&L/En/Legislative%20tracking_%D0%92%D0%B5%D1%81%D1%82%D0%BD%D0%B8%D0%BA%20%D0%B8%D0%B7%D0%BC%D0%B5%D0%BD%D0%B5%D0%BD%D0%B8%D0%B9%20%D0%B2%20%D0%B7%D0%B0%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%BD%D0%BE%D0%B4%D0%B0%D1%82%D0%B5%D0%BB%D1%8C%D1%81%D1%82%D0%B2%D0%BE/2013/Legal%20Alert_May%202013_en.pdf" target="_blank">Law No. 94-V does not extend to</a> the collection of personal data for personal and family needs; the use of information for the Kazakhstani National Archive; the collection, processing, and protection of personal data related to Kazakhstani state secrets; or the use of information related to intelligence, counter-intelligence, and criminal activities, within legal limits.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">South Korea</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Article 16 of <a href="http://koreanlii.or.kr/w/images/0/0e/KoreanDPAct2011.pdf" target="_blank">South Korea's Personal Information Protection Act</a> (effective September 30, 2011) was amended on August 6, 2013 to incorporate an affirmative obligation on the part of a personal information processor, requiring notification to data subjects that data subjects may deny consent for the collection of any personal information other than for any purposes under Article 15(1). This continues South Korea's stringent efforts to promote data privacy, and provides another instance of South Korea's articulation of a minimum data collection regime.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">Singapore</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Singapore's <a href="http://www.pdpc.gov.sg/personal-data-protection-act/the-act" target="_blank">Personal Data Protection Act (PDPA)</a>, passed in 2012, went into effect on January 2, 2013, the same day Singapore's <a href="http://www.pdpc.gov.sg/about-us/who-we-are" target="_blank">Personal Data Protection Commission (PDPC)</a> was established; some portion of PDPA <a href="http://www.out-law.com/en/articles/2013/september/new-data-protection-guidelines-issued-for-businesses-operating-in-singapore-/" target="_blank">does not come into full effect</a> until July 2, 2014. The PDPC followed-up the implementation of the PDPA with a further guidance note on September 24, 2013 which, among other topics, gave direction to organizations regarding notification requirements for the collection, use, or disclosure of personal data <a href="http://www.pdpc.gov.sg/docs/default-source/public-consultation/guidelines-closing-note-%2824-sept%29.pdf?sfvrsn=2" target="_blank">as well as the anonymization of personal data</a>. This guidance outlined the use of 'cookies' for internet user's online activity, distinguishing in part between active consent on one hand, and "<a href="http://www.out-law.com/en/articles/2013/september/new-data-protection-guidelines-issued-for-businesses-operating-in-singapore-/" target="_blank">the mere failure of an individual to actively manage his browser settings</a>" on the other.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">Hong Kong</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Revisions to Hong Kong's Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance – <a href="http://www.pcpd.org.hk/english/ordinance/files/CCDCode_2013_e.pdf." target="_blank">Code of Practice on Consumer Credit Data</a> – took effect on April 1, 2013. These revisions require consent prior to the use of personal data in the <a href="http://www.legalweek.com/legal-week/analysis/2282712/handle-with-care-hong-kongs-new-data-protection-laws-in-the-spotlight." target="_blank">context of targeted, direct advertising</a>, and instruct individuals that, while direct marketers must notify individuals of their opt-out right prior to using personal data for the first time, individuals may choose to opt out at any time at <a href="http://www.pcpd.org.hk/english/publications/files/opt_out_e.pdf" target="_blank">no cost to the individual opting out</a>. The Ordinance also provides for the following penalties: if "the transfer of personal data to third parties [is] for gain, the maximum penalty is a fine of HK$1,000,000 and imprisonment for 5 years. For other direct marketing contraventions, the maximum penalty is a fine of HK$500,000 and imprisonment for 3 years."</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">India</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">While India currently adheres to the Information Technology (Reasonable Security Practices and <a href="http://op.bna.com/pl.nsf/id/byul-8gypzn/$File/IndiaIndia.pdf." target="_blank">Procedures and Sensitive Personal Data or Information) Rules, 2011</a> (Rules) enacted in 2011, the Centre for Internet and Society presented a new Privacy (Protection) Bill, <a href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/privacy-protection-bill-2013-updated-third-draft." target="_blank">2013 (Bill), on September 30, 2013</a>. The Bill seeks to further refine provisions of the Rules, with a focus on protection of personal data through limitations on use and requirements for notice. The collection of personal data would be prohibited unless "necessary for the achievement of a purpose of the person seeking its collection," and, subject to sections 6 and 7 of the Bill, "no personal data may be collected under this Act prior to the data subject being given notice, in such form and manner as may be prescribed, of the collection." The Bill acknowledges the collection of data with and without consent; the regulation of personal data storage, processing, transfer, and security; and discusses the different types of disclosure.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><i>The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances</i>.</p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/news/mondaq-january-8-2014-gonzalo-s-zeballos-james-a-sherer-alan-m-pate-worldwide-international-privacy-2013-year-in-review-asia'>https://cis-india.org/news/mondaq-january-8-2014-gonzalo-s-zeballos-james-a-sherer-alan-m-pate-worldwide-international-privacy-2013-year-in-review-asia</a>
</p>
No publisherpraskrishnaInternet GovernancePrivacy2014-01-31T08:44:20ZNews ItemWorld Wide Rule
https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/indian-express-june-14-2013-nishant-shah-world-wide-rule
<b>Nishant Shah's review of Schmidt and Cohen's book was published in the Indian Express on June 14, 2013.</b>
<hr />
<p><a class="external-link" href="http://www.indianexpress.com/news/world-wide-rule/1129208/0">Click to read the original published in the Indian Express here</a></p>
<hr />
<p><b>Book: The New Digital Age</b><b><br />Author: Eric Schmidt & Jared Cohen<br /></b><b>Publisher: Hachette</b><b><br />Price: Rs 650<br />Pages: 315</b></p>
<hr />
<p style="text-align: justify; ">When I first heard that Eric Schmidt the chairman of Google and Jared Cohen, the director of the techno-political think-tank Google Ideas, are co-authoring a book about our future and how it is going to be re-shaped with the emergence of digital technologies, I must confess I was sceptical. When people who do things that you like start writing about those things, it is not always a pretty picture. Or an easy read. However, like all sceptics, I am only a romantic waiting to be validated. So, when I picked up The New Digital Age I was hoping to be entertained, informed and shaken out of my socks as the gurus of the interwebz spin science fiction futures for our times. Sadly, I have been taught my lesson and have slid back into hardened scepticism.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Here is the short version of the book: Technology is good. Technology is going to be exciting. There are loads of people who haven't had it yet. There are not enough people who have figured out how things work. Everybody needs to go online because no matter what, technologies are here to stay and they are going to be the biggest corpus of power. They write, "There is a canyon dividing people who understand technology and people charged with addressing the world's toughest geopolitical issues, and no one has built a bridge…As global connectivity continues its unprecedented advance, many old institutions and hierarchies will have to adapt or risk becoming obsolete, irrelevant to modern society." So the handful who hold the reigns of the digital (states, corporates, artificial intelligence clusters) are either going to rule the world, or, well, write books about it.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The long version is slightly more nuanced, even though it fails to give us what we have grown to expect of all things Google — the bleeding edge of back and beyond. For a lay person, observations that Schmidt and Cohen make about the future of the digital age might be mildly interesting in the way title credits to your favourite movie can be. Once they have convinced us, many, many times, that the internet is fast and fluid and that it makes things fast and fluid and hence the future we imagine is going to be fast and fluid, the authors tell us that the internet is spawning a new "caste system" of haves, have-nots, and wants-but-does-not-haves.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Citing the internet as "the largest experiment involving anarchy in history" they look at the new negotiations of power around the digital. Virulent viruses from the "Middle East" make their appearance. Predictably wars of censorship and free information in China get due attention. Telcos get a big hand for building the infrastructure which can sell Google phones to people in Somalia. The book offers a straightforward (read military) reading of drones and less-than-expected biased views on cyberterrorism, which at least escapes the jingoism that the USA has been passing off in the service of a surveillance state. And more than anything else, the book shows politicos and governments around the world, that the future is messy, anarchy is at hand, but as long as they put their trust in Big Internet Brothers, the world will be a manageable place.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">So while you can clearly see where my review for the book is heading, I must give it its due credit.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">There are three things about this book that make it interesting. The first is how Schmidt and Cohen seem to be in a seesaw dialogue with themselves. They realise that five billion people are going to get connected online. They gush a little about what this net-universality is going to mean. And then immediately, they also realise that we have to prepare ourselves for a "Brave New World," which is going to be infinitely more messy and scary. They recognise that the days of anonymity on the Web are gone, with real life identities becoming our primary digital avatars. However, they also hint at a potential future of pseudonymity that propels free speech in countries with authoritarian regimes. This oscillation between the good, the bad, the plain and the incredible, keeps their writing grounded without erring too much either on the side of techno-euphoria or dystopic visions of the future.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Second, and perhaps justly so, the book doles out a lot of useful information not just for the techno-neophytes but also the amateur savant. There are stories about "Currygate" in Singapore, or of what Vodaphone did in Egypt after the Arab Spring, or of the "Human Flesh Search Engine" in China, which offer a comprehensive, if not critical, view of the way things are. Schmidt and Cohen have been everywhere on the ether and they have cyberjockeyed for decades to tell us stories that might be familiar but are still worth the effort of writing.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Third, it is a readable book. It doesn't require you to Telnet your way into obscure meaning sets in the history of computing. It is written for people who are still mystified not only about the past of the Net but also its future, and treads a surprisingly balanced ground in both directions. It is a book you can give to your grandmother, and she might be inspired to get herself a Facebook (or maybe a Google +) account.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">But all said and done, I expected more. It is almost as if Schmidt and Cohen are sitting on a minefield of ideas which they want to hint at but don't yet want to share because they might be able to turn it into a new app for the Nexus instead. It is a book that could have been. It wasn't. It is ironic how silent the book is about the role that big corporations play in shaping our techno-futures, and the fact that it is printed on dead-tree books with closed licensing so I couldn't get a free copy online. For people claiming to build new and political futures, the fact that this wisdom could not come out in more accessible forms and formats, speaks a lot about how seriously we can take their views of the future.</p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/indian-express-june-14-2013-nishant-shah-world-wide-rule'>https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/indian-express-june-14-2013-nishant-shah-world-wide-rule</a>
</p>
No publishernishantInternet Governance2013-07-01T10:26:24ZBlog EntryWORLD WIDE PLAYGROUND
https://cis-india.org/news/the-telegraph-op-ed-may-15-2013-world-wide-playground
<b>The Delhi High Court recently asked the central government to explain why minors are allowed to create online accounts on social networking sites such as Facebook or Orkut. The High Court’s question stems from a petition filed by former senior BJP leader K.N. Govindacharya last year. </b>
<hr />
<p>The Op-ed was <a class="external-link" href="http://www.telegraphindia.com/1130515/jsp/opinion/story_16900282.jsp#.Ua8HhthmMQN">published in the Telegraph</a> on May 15, 2013. Pranesh Prakash is quoted.</p>
<hr />
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Govindacharya argued that by allowing minors to open accounts on social media sites, the companies of these sites were violating the Indian Majority Act, 1875, the Indian Contract Act, 1872, and the Information Technology Act, 2000.</p>
<p align="left" class="story">One of Govindacharya’s main concerns is that when minors give false information to open an account on an online portal, they are liable to be held guilty for a criminal offence.</p>
<p class="story" style="text-align: justify; ">“Providing false information about oneself is more of a crime than a civil wrong,” explains Debsankar Chowdhury, a Calcutta-based cyber law expert. “However, if it is provided with an intention to enter into a contract which otherwise is not allowed, it is tantamount to fraud under Section 17 of the Contract Act of 1872.”</p>
<p class="story" style="text-align: justify; ">For minors, though, Chowdhury points out that the Juvenile Justice Act, 2005, will be brought into play, and they will face lighter sentences.</p>
<p class="story" style="text-align: justify; ">As for the social networking companies themselves, according to the law of the land they can be held accountable if a user provides them with false information. As Pavan Duggal, a Supreme Court advocate and expert on cyber law, points out, “All social networking sites are intermediaries under Section 2(1)(w) of the amended Information Technology Act, 2000. They are made responsible for all third party data or information made available by them under Section 79 of the Information Technology Act, 2000.” As such, social networking sites would be held accountable for allowing people, especially minors, to create fake profiles on their networks under Section 79 and 85 of the Information Technology Act, 2000, he adds.</p>
<p class="story" style="text-align: justify; ">The other problem here is that while a social networking site like Facebook allows anyone over 13 to open an account, according to Indian law, anyone under 18 years of age is a minor; and a minor cannot enter into a contract with any entity. “The issue raised in Govindacharya’s petition is of a fundamental nature,” opines Duggal. “Section 3 of the Indian Majority Act, 1875, clearly states that every person domiciled in India shall attain the age of majority on his completing the age of 18 years. However, Facebook allows 13-year-olds to become its members. Since children lack the inherent capacity to contract under the Indian Contract Act, 1872, the contract entered into between Indian children below the age of 18 years and Facebook is null and void.”</p>
<p class="story" style="text-align: justify; ">But though the nitty gritty of the law seems to be weighted against children below 18 — or even 13 — joining social networking sites, not everyone believes that kids should be prevented from having a presence online. Six months ago, 10-year-old Shruti (name changed) met with an accident, and was bedridden for some time. She was bored and miserable. To cheer her up, her father signed her on to Facebook — yes, by providing false information about her age.</p>
<p class="story" style="text-align: justify; ">Other parents may not take a similar view of their young children joining Facebook under false pretexts. But Ashok Agarwal, a Delhi-based lawyer and child rights activist, believes that Govindacharya’s petition demonstrates an outdated way of thinking. “We are letting children speak at the UN and in Parliament, but we don’t want to let them speak online,” he says. “Allowing children to use sites like Facebook doesn’t hurt them, and if anything, denying them access to it would be denying them their universal Right to Participate. This right is part of Unicef’s Convention on the Rights of the Child.” And also it’s denying them access to a tool and medium that is, and will be, an integral part of their lives, adds Agarwal.</p>
<p class="story" style="text-align: justify; ">Leaving aside the debate on whether or not children below a certain age should be allowed on social networking sites, Chowdhury points out that right now there is no means of checking the age of those who are signing in to these online portals.</p>
<p class="story" style="text-align: justify; ">In fact, Section D of Govindacharya’s petition does point out the need for some kind of verification process when people create an online account, much like what phone service providers do when someone applies for a new connection.</p>
<p class="story" style="text-align: justify; ">But experts point out that this is not feasible in the case of social networking sites. Says Chowdhury, “Mobile companies operate their network in specific locations, whereas sites like Facebook exist worldwide. Moreover, these portals don’t take a single penny from their users. So do you really think it is possible to make offline verification?”</p>
<p class="story" style="text-align: justify; ">Indeed, verification of user data — ostensibly to cut out underage persons from logging on to social networking sites — has much wider ramifications. Pranesh Prakash, policy director at the Centre for Internet and Society in Bangalore, points out that it could start a downward spiral towards loss of online privacy. “If anyone wants to create an account on a website, but has to provide some sort of verifiable data, you’re going to remove a person’s ability to post anonymously on the Internet. Then what happens to freedom of speech? People like to post online anonymously, but if everyone’s identity is known, that privacy is revoked.”</p>
<p class="story" style="text-align: justify; ">The effect of social networking sites on children will be debated for a long time. But clearly, it would be tough to enforce laws to prevent children from logging on to these sites.</p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/news/the-telegraph-op-ed-may-15-2013-world-wide-playground'>https://cis-india.org/news/the-telegraph-op-ed-may-15-2013-world-wide-playground</a>
</p>
No publisherpraskrishnaInternet Governance2013-06-05T09:47:33ZNews ItemWorld Trends in Freedom of Expression and Media Development
https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/unesco-world-trends-in-freedom-of-expression-and-media-development
<b>The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) had published a book in 2014 that examines free speech, expression and media development. The chapter contains a Foreword by Irina Bokova, Director General, UNESCO. Pranesh Prakash contributed to Independence: Introduction - Global Media Chapter. The book was edited by Courtney C. Radsch.</b>
<h2 style="text-align: justify; ">Foreword</h2>
<p class="Marge" style="text-align: justify; ">Tectonic shifts in technology and economic models have vastly expanded the opportunities for press freedom and the safety of journalists, opening new avenues for freedom of expression for women and men across the world. Today, more and more people are able to produce, update and share information widely, within and across national borders. All of this is a blessing for creativity, exchange and dialogue.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">At the same time, new threats are arising. In a context of rapid change, these are combining with older forms of restriction to pose challenges to freedom of expression, in the shape of controls not aligned with international standards for protection of freedom of expression and rising threats against journalists.</p>
<p class="Marge" style="text-align: justify; ">These developments raise issues that go to the heart of UNESCO’s mandate “to promote the flow of ideas by word and image” between all peoples, across the world. For UNESCO, freedom of expression is a fundamental human right that underpins all other civil liberties, that is vital for the rule of law and good governance, and that is a foundation for inclusive and open societies. Freedom of expression stands at the heart of media freedom and the practice of journalism as a form of expression aspiring to be in the public interest.</p>
<p class="Marge" style="text-align: justify; ">At the 36<sup>th</sup> session of the General Conference (November 2011), Member States mandated UNESCO to explore the impact of change on press freedom and the safety of journalists. For this purpose, the Report has adopted four angles of analysis, drawing on the 1991 <i>Windhoek Declaration</i>, to review emerging trends through the conditions of media freedom, pluralism and independence, as well as the safety of journalists. At each level, the Report has also examined trends through the lens of gender equality.</p>
<p class="Marge" style="text-align: justify; ">The result is the portrait of change -- across the world, at all levels, featuring as much opportunity as challenge. The business of media is undergoing a revolution with the rise of digital networks, online platforms, internet intermediaries and social media. New actors are emerging, including citizen journalists, who are redrawing the boundaries of the media. At the same time, the Report shows that the traditional news institutions continue to be agenda-setters for media and public communications in general – even as they are also engaging with the digital revolution. The Report highlights also the mix of old and new challenges to media freedom, including increasing cases of threats against the safety of journalists.</p>
<p class="Marge" style="text-align: justify; ">The pace of change raises questions about how to foster freedom of expression across print, broadcast and internet media and how to ensure the safety of journalists. The Report draws on a rich array of research and is not prescriptive -- but it sends a clear message on the importance of freedom of expression and press freedom on all platforms.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">To these ends, UNESCO is working across the board, across the world. This starts with global awareness raising and advocacy, including through <i>World Press Freedom Day</i>. It entails supporting countries in strengthening their legal and regulatory frameworks and in building capacity. It means standing up to call for justice every time a journalist is killed, to eliminate impunity. This is the importance of the <i>United Nations Plan of Action on the Safety of Journalists and the Issue of Impunity</i>, spearheaded by UNESCO and endorsed by the UN Chief Executives Board in April 2012. UNESCO is working with countries to take this plan forward on the ground. We also seek to better understand the challenges that are arising – most recently, through a <i>Global Survey on Violence against Female Journalists</i>, with the International News Safety Institute, the International Women’s Media Foundation, and the Austrian Government.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Respecting freedom of expression and media freedom is essential today, as we seek to build inclusive, knowledge societies and a more just and peaceful century ahead. I am confident that this Report will find a wide audience, in Member States, international and regional organizations, civil society and academia, as well as with the media and journalists, and I wish to thank Sweden for its support to this initiative. This is an important contribution to understanding a world in change, at a time when the international community is defining a new global sustainable development agenda, which must be underpinned and driven by human rights, with particular attention to freedom of expression.</p>
<h2 style="text-align: justify; ">Executive Summary</h2>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Freedom of expression in general, and media development in particular, are core to UNESCO’s constitutional mandate to advance ‘the mutual knowledge and understanding of peoples, through all means of mass communication’ and promoting ‘the free flow of ideas by word and image.’ For UNESCO, press freedom is a corollary of the general right to freedom of expression. Since 1991, the year of the seminal Windhoek Declaration, which was endorsed by the UN General Assembly, UNESCO has understood press freedom as designating the conditions of media freedom, pluralism and independence, as well as the safety of journalists. It is within this framework that this report examines progress as regards press freedom, including in regard to gender equality, and makes sense of the evolution of media actors, news media institutions and journalistic roles over time.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">This report has been prepared on the basis of a summary report on the global state of press freedom and the safety of journalists, presented to the General Conference of UNESCO Member States in November 2013, on the mandate of the decision by Member States taken at the 36th session of the General Conference of the Organization.<a href="#fn*" name="fr*">[*]</a></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The overarching global trend with respect to media freedom, pluralism, independence and the safety of journalists over the past several years is that of disruption and change brought on by technology, and to a lesser extent, the global financial crisis. These trends have impacted traditional economic and organizational structures in the news media, legal and regulatory frameworks, journalism practices, and media consumption and production habits. Technological convergence has expanded the number of and access to media platforms as well as the potential for expression. It has enabled the emergence of citizen journalism and spaces for independent media, while at the same time fundamentally reconfiguring journalistic practices and the business of news.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The broad global patterns identified in this report are accompanied by extensive unevenness within the whole. The trends summarized above, therefore, go hand in hand with substantial variations between and within regions as well as countries.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/world-trends-in-freedom-of-expression-and-media-development" class="internal-link"><b>Download the PDF</b></a></p>
<hr style="text-align: justify; " />
<p style="text-align: justify; ">[<a href="#fr*" name="fn*">*</a>]. 37 C/INF.4 16 September 2013 “Information regarding the implementation of decisions of the governing bodies”. http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0022/002230/223097e.pdf; http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0022/002230/223097f.pdf</p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/unesco-world-trends-in-freedom-of-expression-and-media-development'>https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/unesco-world-trends-in-freedom-of-expression-and-media-development</a>
</p>
No publisherpraneshFreedom of Speech and ExpressionInternet Governance2016-02-17T17:03:42ZBlog EntryWorld Press Freedom Day 2017
https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/world-press-freedom-day-2017
<b>Udbhav Tiwari represented the Centre for Internet & Society at the World Press Day event organised by UNESCO and the Digital Empowerment Foundation (DEF) at UNESCO House, New Delhi on May 3, 2017.</b>
<p class="gmail-m_1334623882080896793moz-forward-container" style="text-align: justify; ">The event had the release of two reports, one on Violence against Journalists in South Asia and one of Internet Shutdowns in India, with a panel accompanying the last one. The panel was quite interesting, with perspectives from Osama Manzar and a Editor from The Hoot standing out in particular about how social media websites are being used for rapid response governance and how these bans negatively affect those attempts. The agenda for the event is attached to this email.</p>
<p class="gmail-m_1334623882080896793moz-forward-container" style="text-align: justify; "><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/files/human-rights-versus-national-security.pdf">Click to read</a> about the Internet Shutdown report from the event.</p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/world-press-freedom-day-2017'>https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/world-press-freedom-day-2017</a>
</p>
No publisherpraskrishnaFreedom of Speech and ExpressionInternet FreedomInternet Governance2017-05-20T02:52:39ZNews ItemWorld Narrow Web
https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/world-narrow-web
<b>Censorship and how govt reacts to it may push us to country-specific networks, writes Pranesh Prakash in an article published in the Indian Express on 4 February 2012. </b>
<p>Twitter, a popular micro-blogging service, recently announced that “[today] we give ourselves the ability to reactively withhold content from users in a specific country — while keeping it available in the rest of the world”. In a move a few weeks ago, Blogger, Google’s blogging service, in effect announced something similar, by saying that default they would redirect Blogger users trying to get to Blogspot.com addresses (like <a class="external-link" href="http://example.blogspot.com">http://example.blogspot.com</a>) to their respective country sites (like <a class="external-link" href="http://example.blogspot.in">http://example.blogspot.in</a>). Twitter’s announcement was greeted with much disapproval by many Twitter users, as a move towards censorship, with some talking (on Twitter) about a boycott. Blogger’s move was hidden away, deep within a help page, and is being noticed now, and is causing quite a stir as caving in to censorship. Are these concerns justified? Before answering that question, let’s look at what the platforms’ announcements really say.</p>
<p>Twitter has given itself the ability to withhold specific tweets and users in particular countries where that content is legally required to be removed (generally with a court order). Their earlier option, they inform us, was to block the offending tweets and users in all countries. Apart from this, they will publish a notice for each tweet/ user that is blocked in a country. They will also be proactively publishing every removal request they receive at ChillingEffects.org, which allows us to hold them to account and question their decision to remove tweets.</p>
<p>Google, by redirecting you to the country-specific Blogger, is allowing for country-level removal of both blogs and individual blog posts. However, they also note that you can circumvent this by using a special “no redirect” address. Google currently forwards all search-related removals, but does not do so for Blogger-related requests, and all copyright-related complaints to ChillingEffects.org. Google does publish aggregate data relating to censorship of Blogger, on which free-speech advocates have been asking them to provide more granular information.</p>
<p>There are three problems. First, while Twitter was just as open to repressive governments’ requests last week, by making this change, they are advertising this fact to such governments. Thailand has noted it, and has congratulated Twitter.</p>
<p>Second, as Rob Beschizza, managing editor of the website Boing Boing, pointed out, there have been no instances of political content having been removed by Twitter. Even British courts’ super-injunctions (injunctions on speech, that prevent you from mentioning the fact that there is an injunction) were defeated by Twitter users, which only showed that attempts to censor material results in even more attention being drawn to it (which is popularly known as the “Streisand Effect”). So, does this now mean that Twitter will start applying local laws to judge “valid and applicable legal requests”, instead of American laws? What if the law is as bad as that which exists in India, where they are required to remove content within 36 hours based on any affected person’s complaint — without a court order? Will they still act on it? If they don’t, will the government or courts order Twitter.com to be blocked in India, finding it liable for illegal omissions?</p>
<p>Third, this trend points increasingly to the fact that we are witnessing a Balkanisation of the Web as more countries start asserting their sovereignty online. As Chinese dissident journalist Michael Anti pointed out recently, it seems we now need visas (read “circumvention techniques”) to visit the international Web. But even then, there is no longer a singular “international” Web, but an Indian Web and a Guatemalan Web, and an Angolan Web. And the government’s recent proposal of requiring companies to locate their servers in India is a move towards this (apart from being a move towards killing cloud computing).<br /><br />That having been said, the reality is that the CEOs of Google, Google India, and Microsoft have been summoned to appear in Indian courts for allowing their users to publish material which they don’t know about, which is in a sealed envelope (and most of the accused companies haven’t been shown yet), and which they weren’t even asked once to remove.<br /><br />The Intermediary Guidelines Rules passed by the Department of Information Technology in April 2011 do not require the user, whose content it is, to be told that there is a complaint, nor to be given a chance to defend themselves. It does not even require public notice that the content has been removed.</p>
<p>The truth is, the transparency around censorship that Google and Twitter are providing is far better than what most other companies are providing. For instance, Big Rock, an Indian DNS provider, suspended the CartoonsAgainstCorruption.com web address on the basis of a seemingly not legal request by the Cyber Cell of the Mumbai Crime Branch, and did so without any public notice and without even informing the cartoonist whose web address it was. At least Google and Twitter are pushing back against non-legal requests, and refusing to remove content that doesn’t violate local laws. Single-mindedly criticising them will only put off other companies from following in their footsteps.<br /><br />Instead of criticising those who are actually working towards transparency in censorship, we should encourage them and others, push intermediaries not to cave in to unreasonable censorship requests, prevent them from over-censoring on their own, and push hard for the government to incorporate their best practices as part of the Intermediary Guidelines Rules.</p>
<p><a class="external-link" href="http://www.indianexpress.com/news/world-narrow-web/907579/1">The original article was published in the Indian Express</a></p>
<p> </p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/world-narrow-web'>https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/world-narrow-web</a>
</p>
No publisherpraneshGoogleFreedom of Speech and ExpressionTwitterInternet GovernanceFeaturedCensorship2012-03-27T16:00:24ZBlog EntryWorld Library and Information Congress 2018
https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/world-library-and-information-congress-2018
<b>Swaraj Paul Barooah was a speaker at two panels during the World Library and Information Congress 2018 (WLIC2018), organised by the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) in Kuala Lumpur on August 26 and 27, 2018.</b>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Swaraj's first panel, titled "Intellectual Freedom in a Polarised World" was selected as one of 9 sessions to be live-streamed and recorded, out of 249 sessions in total. The recording can be accessed on <a class="external-link" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0HujFHQn1zY">YouTube</a>.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b>Session 123 Intellectual Freedom in a Polarised World - Freedom of Access to Information and Freedom of Expression (FAIFE) Advisory Committee (SI)</b></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Chair: Martyn Wade, United Kingdom</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">In many national contexts, citizens are seen to be either “with the government or against it,” leaving little opportunity to freely and safely express more nuanced views of current social, political or economic issues. While notable authoritarian regimes quite transparently monitor and limit societal discussion, others, ostensibly democratic, may work in practice to blunt potentially unfavourable social commentary on the pretence of defending political stability or public morality. IFLA’s Freedom of Access to Information and Freedom of Expression (FAIFE) Advisory Committee explores this phenomenon--and the potential role of civil society and information professionals in advancing freedom of expression--through the experience and insights of an NGO leader, an academic public intellectual, and an officer of UNESCO.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Presentations</p>
<ol>
<li>Internet and the freedom of expression in Indonesia: opportunity and challenges - Indriaswati Dyah Saptaningrum, University of New South Wales; former Executive Director of the ELSAM human rights organization (Indonesia), Australia</li>
<li>Freedom of Expression in Malaysia - Azmi Bin Sharom, Faculty of Law, University of Malaysia, Malaysia</li>
<li>What's up with WhatsApp - polarisation and lynchings in India - Swaraj Paul Barooah, The Centre for Internet and Society, India</li>
<li>How to align national laws with international standards on freedom of expression? - Ming-Kuok Lim, Programme Specialist for Communication and Information, UNESCO, Indonesia</li>
</ol>
<p><br /><b>Session 140 To Have and not to Hold: The End of Ownership - CLM and FAIFE</b></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The shift from buying physical library media to licensing digital content has profound impacts on the way libraries acquire and give access to content. From e-books that can disappear at the whim (or the mistake) of the owners of a server far away, to the limits on sharing and archiving imposed by some contracts. From the potential monitoring of reader behaviour, to the criminalisation of those who simply want to improve user experience. The dominance of digital media in information provision has both broadened the field of information to which we have access, but potentially made it shallower in terms of the use that libraries, and their users, can make of it. The joint CLM-FAIFE session will look at the question of the end of ownership from a legal and an ethical point of view, drawing on the experience and knowledge of the two communities.</p>
<ul>
<li>Tomas A. Lipinski, School of Information Studies, University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, USA – The Limits of Licensing.</li>
<li>Ann Okerson, Centre for Research Libraries, Chicago, USA – The Possibilities of Licensing.</li>
<li>Swaraj Paul Barooah, Centre for Internet and Society – The Balance among Licenses and Exceptions and Limitations to Copyright.</li>
<li>Brent Roe - Laurentian University, Sudbury, Canada – Privacy Concerns and Other Side Effects of Licensing.</li>
<li>Jonathan Hernandez-Perez, Researcher, Instituto de Investigaciones Bibilotecologicas, UNAM, Mexico City, Mexico (Invited) – Special Issues in the Developing World; Open Access as a Recapturing of Ownership.</li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; "> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/world-library-and-information-congress-2018'>https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/world-library-and-information-congress-2018</a>
</p>
No publisherAdminFreedom of Speech and ExpressionInternet Governance2018-08-31T02:23:29ZNews ItemWorkshop Report - UIDAI and Welfare Services: Exclusion and Countermeasures
https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/workshop-report-uidai-and-welfare-services-august-27-2016
<b>This report presents summarised notes from a workshop organised by the Centre for Internet and Society (CIS) on Saturday, August 27, 2016, to discuss, raise awareness of, and devise countermeasures to exclusion due to implementation of UID-based verification for and distribution of welfare services.</b>
<p> </p>
<h2>Introduction</h2>
<p>The Centre for Internet and Society organised a workshop on "UIDAI and Welfare Services: Exclusion and Countermeasures" at the Institution of Agricultural on Technologists on August 27 in Bangalore to discuss, raise awareness of, and devise countermeasures to exclusion due to implementation of UID-based verification for and distribution of welfare services <strong>[1]</strong>. This was a follow-up to the workshop held in Delhi on “Understanding Aadhaar and its New Challenges” at the Centre for Studies in Science Policy, JNU on May 26th and 27th 2016 <strong>[2]</strong>. In this report we summarise the key concerns raised and the case studies presented by the participants at the workshop held on August 27, 2016.</p>
<h2>Implementation of the UID Project</h2>
<p><strong>Question of Consent:</strong> The Aadhaar Act <strong>[3]</strong> states that the consent of the individual must be taken at the time of enrollment and authentication and it must be informed to him/her the purpose for which the data would be used. However, the Act does not provide for an opt-out mechanism and an individual is compelled to give consent to continue with the enrollment process or to complete an authentication.</p>
<p><strong>Lack of Adherence to Court Orders:</strong> Despite of several orders by Supreme Court stating that use of Aadhaar cannot be made mandatory for the purpose of availing benefits and services, multiple state governments and departments have made it mandatory for a wide range of purposes like booking railway tickets <strong>[4]</strong>, linking below the poverty line ration cards with Aadhaar <strong>[5]</strong>, school examinations <strong>[6]</strong>, food security, pension and scholarship <strong>[7]</strong>, to name a few.</p>
<p><strong>Misleading Advertisements:</strong> A concern was raised that individuals are being mislead in the necessity and purpose for enrollment into the project. For example, people have been asked to enrol by telling them that they might get excluded from the system and cannot get services like passports, banks, NREGA, salaries for government employees, denial of vaccinations, etc. Furthermore, the Supreme Court has ordered Aadhaar not be mandatory, yet people are being told that documentation or record keeping cannot be done without UID number.</p>
<p><strong>Hybrid Governance:</strong> The participants pointed out that with the Aadhaar (Targeted delivery of financial and other subsidies, benefits and services) Act, 2016 (hereinafter referred to as Aadhaar Act, 2016 ) being partially enforced, multiple examples of exclusion as reported in the news are demonstrating how the Aadhaar project is creating a case of hybrid governance i.e private corporations playing a significant role in Governance. This can be seen in case of Aadhaar where we see many entities from private sector being involved in its implementation, as well as many software and hardware companies.</p>
<p><strong>Lack of Transparency around Sharing of Biometric Data:</strong> The fact how and why the Government is relying on biometrics for welfare schemes is unclear and not known. Also, there is no information on how biometric data that is collected through the project is being used and its ability as an authenticating device. Along with that, there is very little information on companies that have been enlisted to hold and manage data and perform authentication.</p>
<p><strong>Possibility of Surveillance:</strong> Multiple petitions and ongoing cases have raised concerns regarding the possibility of surveillance, tracking, profiling, convergence of data, and the opaque involvement of private companies involved in the project.</p>
<p><strong>Denial of Information:</strong> In an RTI filed by one of the participant requesting to share the key contract for the project, it was refused on the grounds under section 8(1) (d) of the RTI Act, 2005. However, it was claimed that the provision would not be applicable since the contract was already awarded and any information disclosed to the Parliament should be disclosed to the citizens. The Central Information Commission issued a letter stating that the contractual obligation is over and a copy of the said agreement can be duly shared. However, it was discovered by the said participant that certain pages of the same were missing , which contained confidential information. When this issue went before appeal before the Information Commissioner, the IC gave an order to the IC in Delhi to comply with the previous order. However, it was communicated that limited financial information may be given, but not missing pages. Also, it was revealed that the UIDAI was supposed to share biometric data with NPR (by way of a MoU), but it has refused to give information since the intention was to discontinue NPR and wanted only UIDAI to collect data.</p>
<h2>Concerns Arising from the Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) on Implementation of PAHAL (DBTL) Scheme</h2>
<p>A presentation on the CAG compliance audit report of PAHAL on LPG <strong>[8]</strong> revealed how the society was made to believe that UID will help deal with the issue of duplication and collection as well as use of biometric data will help. The report also revealed that multiple LPG connections have the same Aadhaar number or same bank account number in the consumer database maintained by the OMCs, the bank account number of consumers were also not accurately recorded, scrutiny of the database revealed improper capture of Aadhaar numbers, and there was incorrect seeding of IFSC codes in consumer database. The participants felt that this was an example of how schemes that are being introduced for social welfare do not necessarily benefit the society, and on the contrary, has led to exclusion by design. For example, in the year 2011, by was of the The Liquefied Petroleum Gas (Regulation of Supply and Distribution) Amendment Order, 2011 <strong>[9]</strong>, the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas made the Unique Identification Number (UID) under the Aadhaar project a must for availing LPG refills. This received a lot of public pushback, which led to non-implementation of the order. In October 2012, despite the UIDAI stating that the number was voluntary, a number of services began requiring the provision of an Aadhaar number for accessing benefits. In September 2013, when the first order on Aadhaar was passed by court <strong>[10]</strong>, oil marketing companies and UIDAI approached the Supreme Court to change the same and allow them to make it mandatory, which was refused by the Court. Later in the year 2014, use of Aadhaar for subsidies was made mandatory. The participants further criticised the CAG report for revealing the manner in which linking Aadhaar with welfare schemes has allowed duplication and led to ghost beneficiaries where there is no information about who these people are who are receiving the benefits of the subsidies. For example, in Rajasthan, people are being denied their pension as they are being declared dead due to absence of information from the Aadhaar database.</p>
<p>It was said that the statistics of duplication mentioned in the report show how UIDAI (as it claims to ensure de-duplication of beneficiaries) is not required for this purpose and can be done without Aadhaar as well. Also, due to incorrect seeding of Aadhaar number many are being denied subsidy where there is no information regarding the number of people who have been denied the subsidy because of this. Considering these important facts from the audit report, the discussants concluded how the statistics reflect inflated claims by UIDAI and how the problems which are said to be addressed by using Aadhaar can be dealt without it. In this context, it is important to understand how the data in the aadhaar database maybe wrong and in case of e-governance the citizens suffer. Also, the fact that loss of subsidy-not in cash, but in use of LPG cylinder - only for cooking, is ignored. In addition to that, there is no data or way to check if the cylinder is being used for commercial purposes or not as RTI from oil companies says that no ghost identities have been detected.</p>
<h2>UID-linked Welfare Delivery in Rajasthan</h2>
<p>One speaker presented findings on people's experiences with UID-linked welfare services in Rajasthan, collected through a 100 days trip organised to speak to people across the state on problems related to welfare governance. This visit revealed that people who need the benefits and access to subsidies most are often excluded from actual services. It was highlighted that the paperless system is proving to be highly dangerous. Some of the cases discussed included that of a disabled labourer, who was asked to get an aadhaar card, but during enrollment asked the person standing next to him to put all his 5 fingers for biometric data collection. Due to this incorrect data, he is devoid of all subsidies since the authentication fails every time he goes to avail it. He stopped receiving his entitlements. Though problems were anticipated, the misery of the people revealed the extent of the problems arising from the project. In another case, an elderly woman living alone, since she could not go for Aadhaar authentication, had not been receiving the ration she is entitled to receive for the past 8 months. When the ration shop was approached to represent her case, the dealers said that they cannot provide her ration since they would require her thumb print for authentication. Later, they found out that on persuading the dealer to provide her with ration since Aadhaar is not mandatory, they found out that in their records they had actually mentioned that she was being given the ration, which was not the case. So the lack of awareness and the fact that people are entitled to receive the benefits irrespective of Aadhaar is something that is being misused by dealers. This shows how this system has become a barrier for the people, where they are also unaware about the grievance redressal mechanism.</p>
<h2>Aadhaar and e-KYC</h2>
<p>In this session, the use of Aadhaar for e-KYC verification was discussed The UID strategy document describes how the idea is to link UIDAI with money enabled Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) to the beneficiaries without any reason or justification for the same. It was highlighted by one of the participants how the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) believed that making Aadhaar compulsory for e-KYC and several other banking services was a violation of the Money Laundering Act as well as its own rules and standards, however, later relaxed the rules to link Aadhaar with bank accounts and accepted its for e-KyC with great reluctance as the Department of Revenue thought otherwise. It was mentioned how allowing opening of bank accounts remotely using Aadhaar, without physically being present, was touted as a dangerous idea. However, the restrictions placed by RBI were suddenly done away with and opening bank accounts remotely was enabled via e-KYC.</p>
<p>A speaker emphasised that with emerging FinTech services in India being tied with Aadhaar via India Stack, the following concerns are becoming critical:</p>
<ol><li>With RBI enabling creation of bank accounts remotely, it becomes difficult to to track who did e-KYC and which bank did it and hold the same accountable.<br /><br /></li>
<li>The Aadhaar Act 2016 states that UIDAI will not track the queries made and will only keep a record of Yes/No for authentication. For example, the e-KYC to open a bank account can now be done with the help of an Aadhaar number and biometric authentication. However, this request does not get recorded and at the time of authentication, an individual is simply told whether the request has been matched or not by way of a Yes/No <strong>[11]</strong>. Though UIDAI will maintain the authentication record, this may act as an obstacle since in case the information from the aadhaar database does not match, the person would not be able to open a bank account and would only receive a yes/no as a response to the request.<br /><br /></li>
<li>Further, there is a concern that the Aadhaar Enabled Payment System being implemented by the National Payment Corporation of India (NCPI) would allow effectively hiding of source and destination of money flow, leading to money laundering and cases of bribery. This possible as NCPI maintains a mapper where each bank account is linked (only the latest one). However, Aadhaar number can be linked with multiple bank accounts of an individual. So when a transaction is made, the mapper records the transaction only from that 1 account. But if another transaction takes place with another bank account, that record is not maintained by the mapper at NCPI since it records only transactions of the latest account seeded in that. This makes money laundering easy as the money moves from aadhaar number to aadhaar number now rather than bank account to bank account.</li></ol>
<h2>Endnotes</h2>
<p><strong>[1]</strong> See: <a href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/events/uidai-and-welfare-services-exclusion-and-countermeasures-aug-27">http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/events/uidai-and-welfare-services-exclusion-and-countermeasures-aug-27</a>.</p>
<p><strong>[2]</strong> See: <a href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/report-on-understanding-aadhaar-and-its-new-challenges">http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/report-on-understanding-aadhaar-and-its-new-challenges</a>.</p>
<p><strong>[3]</strong> See: <a href="https://uidai.gov.in/beta/images/the_aadhaar_act_2016.pdf">https://uidai.gov.in/beta/images/the_aadhaar_act_2016.pdf</a>.</p>
<p><strong>[4]</strong> See: <a href="http://scroll.in/latest/816343/aadhaar-numbers-may-soon-be-compulsory-to-book-railway-tickets">http://scroll.in/latest/816343/aadhaar-numbers-may-soon-be-compulsory-to-book-railway-tickets</a>.</p>
<p><strong>[5]</strong> See: <a href="http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/karnataka/linking-bpl-ration-card-with-aadhaar-made-mandatory/article9094935.ece">http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/karnataka/linking-bpl-ration-card-with-aadhaar-made-mandatory/article9094935.ece</a>.</p>
<p><strong>[6]</strong> See: <a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/After-scam-Bihar-to-link-exams-to-Aadhaar/articleshow/54000108.cms">http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/After-scam-Bihar-to-link-exams-to-Aadhaar/articleshow/54000108.cms</a>.</p>
<p><strong>[7]</strong> See: <a href="http://www.dailypioneer.com/state-editions/cs-calls-for-early-steps-to-link-aadhaar-to-ac.html">http://www.dailypioneer.com/state-editions/cs-calls-for-early-steps-to-link-aadhaar-to-ac.html</a>.</p>
<p><strong>[8]</strong> See: <a href="http://www.cag.gov.in/sites/default/files/audit_report_files/Union_Commercial_Compliance_Full_Report_25_2016_English.pdf">http://www.cag.gov.in/sites/default/files/audit_report_files/Union_Commercial_Compliance_Full_Report_25_2016_English.pdf</a>.</p>
<p><strong>[9]</strong> See: <a href="http://petroleum.nic.in/docs/lpg/LPG%20Control%20Order%20GSR%20718%20dated%2026.09.2011.pdf">http://petroleum.nic.in/docs/lpg/LPG%20Control%20Order%20GSR%20718%20dated%2026.09.2011.pdf</a>.</p>
<p><strong>[10]</strong> See: <a href="http://judis.nic.in/temp/494201232392013p.txt">http://judis.nic.in/temp/494201232392013p.txt</a>.</p>
<p><strong>[11]</strong> Section 8(4) of the Aadhaar Act, 2016 states that "The Authority shall respond to an authentication query with a positive, negative or any other appropriate response sharing such identity information excluding any core biometric information."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/workshop-report-uidai-and-welfare-services-august-27-2016'>https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/workshop-report-uidai-and-welfare-services-august-27-2016</a>
</p>
No publishervanyaDigital PaymentData SystemsResearchers at WorkUIDInternet GovernanceSurveillanceBig DataAadhaarWelfare GovernanceBig Data for DevelopmentDigital ID2019-03-16T04:34:11ZBlog Entry