Programme
Internet Governance
Privacy, free speech, surveillance, digital identity and cybersecurity. 3,058 items.
12 Aug 2011
Event
The Mirror in the Enigma: How Germany lost World War II to a Mathematical TheoremToday we use encryption in pretty much everything — cellphones, Internet, banking, satellites, and spaceships. How far have we come since the days of the Enigma and how does it affect our daily lives? CIS invites you to attend a short …
10 Aug 2011
Blog post
CCTV in UniversitiesBasic Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) Infrastructure is used to observe movements from a central room, and consists of one or more video cameras that transmit video and audio images to a set of monitors or video recorders.
9 Aug 2011
Blog post
Re-thinking Key EscrowWould you make duplicates of your house keys and hand them over to the local police authority? And if so, would you feel safe? Naturally, one would protest this invasion of privacy. Similarly, would it be justified for the government to …
9 Aug 2011
News
Govt wants to monitor Facebook, TwitterThe Union home ministry has written to the department of telecom asking it to "ensure effective monitoring of Twitter and Facebook".
6 Aug 2011
Event
'Privacy Matters' ChennaiPrivacy India invites individuals to attend “Privacy Matters”, a one day conference on August 6th 2011 at the Madras Institute of Development Studies, Chennai. Privacy India, Society in Action Group, IDRC, the Centre for Internet & Society, …
25 Jul 2011
Blog post
UID: Nothing to Hide, Nothing to Fear?Isn’t it interesting that authorities ask you about your identity and you end up showing your proof of existence! Isn’t this breaching into one’s personal life? Why so much transparency only from the public side? Why can’t the government be …
25 Jul 2011
News
Portal augurs well for transparencyData.gov.in will have meta-data, which will facilitate discovery of data and access from portals of ministries, says T Ramachandra. The article was published in the Hindu on 25 July 2011.
24 Jul 2011
News
Facebook, my boyfriend is lousyWhile a sizeable chunk of users do not mind living their life in public, oversharing can have nasty repercussions in real life. This article by Sahana Saran was published in the Bangalore Mirror on 24 July 2011.
24 Jul 2011
Blog post
An Overview of DNA Labs in IndiaDNA fingerprinting has become the most precise and technologically advanced method for identifying crimes such as murder, kidnapping, robbery and rape. Police and judicial authorities and in some cases even private parties retain this in …
23 Jul 2011
Blog post
Video Surveillance and Its Impact on the Right to PrivacyThe need for video surveillance has grown in this technologically driven era as a mode of law enforcement. Video Surveillance is very useful to governments and law enforcement to maintain social control, recognize and monitor threats, and …
23 Jul 2011
News
UID: The World’s Largest Biometric DatabaseAt the start of his presentation, Sunil Abraham pointed to two aerial drawings of cybercafes: one where each computer was part of a private booth, and one where the computers were in the open so the screens would be visible to any one. …
23 Jul 2011
Blog post
Consumer Privacy in e-CommerceLooking at the larger picture of national security versus consumer privacy, Sahana Sarkar says that though consumer privacy is important in the world of digital technology, individuals must put aside some of their civil liberties when it …
21 Jul 2011
Blog post
Privacy Matters, Guwahati — Event ReportOn June 23, a public seminar on “Privacy Matters” was held at the Don Bosco Institute in Karhulli, Guwahati. It was organised by IDRC, Society in Action Group, IDEA Chirang, an NGO initiative working with grassroots initiatives in Assam, …
20 Jul 2011
News
Transparent Government, via Webcams in IndiaTHIRUVANANTHAPURAM, India — Little Brother is watching you. That is the premise for the webcam that a top government official here has installed in his office, as an anticorruption experiment. Goings-on in his chamber are viewable to the …
20 Jul 2011
Blog post
Right to Privacy Bill 2010 — A Few CommentsEarlier this year, in February 2011, Rajeev Chandrasekhar introduced the Right to Privacy Bill, 2010 in the Rajya Sabha. The Bill is meant to “provide protection to the privacy of persons including those who are in public life”. Though the …
20 Jul 2011
News
NYT lauds Oommen Chandy’s 24/7 office webcastThe Kerala chief minister Mr Oommen Chandy’s much hyped 24/7 webcast of his office has received global attention with the New York Times coming out with an article on the initiative.
19 Jul 2011
Blog post
Privacy & Media LawIn her research, Sonal Makhija, a Bangalore-based lawyer, tries to delineate the emerging privacy concerns in India and the existing media norms and guidelines on the right to privacy. The research examines the existing media norms …
18 Jul 2011
Blog post
When Data Means Privacy, What Traces Are You Leaving Behind?How do you know yourself to be different from others? What defines the daily life that you live and the knowledge you produce in the span of this life? Is all that information yours or are you a mere stakeholder on behalf of the State whose …
15 Jul 2011
Blog post
My Experiment with Scam BaitingToday, as I am sure many of you have experienced, Internet scams are widespread and very deceptive. As part of my research into privacy and the Internet, I decided to follow a scam and attempt to fully understand how Internet scams work, …
12 Jul 2011
Blog post
RTI and Third Party Information: What Constitutes the Private and Public?The passing of the Right to Information Act, 2005 was seen as giving an empowering tool in the hands of the citizens of India, six years post its implementation, loopholes have surfaced with misuse of the many fundamental concepts, which …
5 Jul 2011
News
Aadhaar’s moment of truthIt’s time for the unique identity project to answer tough questions it has dodged so far, writes MA Arun in the Deccan Herald.
22 Jun 2011
Blog post
Privacy and Security Can Co-existThe blanket surveillance the Centre seeks is not going to make India more secure, writes Sunil Abraham in this article published in Mail Today on June 21, 2011.
14 Jun 2011
Blog post
Copyright Enforcement and Privacy in IndiaCopyright can function contradictorily, as both the vehicle for the preservation of privacy as well as its abuse, writes Prashant Iyengar. The research examines the various ways in which privacy has been implicated in the shifting terrain …
12 Jun 2011
News
Tough neighbourhood tests India's e-toleranceThe combination of having restrictive neighbours as well as security threats could make freedom on the web in India a casualty, writes Anahita Mukherji in this article published by the Times of India on June 12, 2011.
12 Jun 2011
News
Look what the state just did to youThe government's recent introduction of new rules in the IT Act allows 'offensive' material on any website to be removed within 36 hours. Did the state just arm everyone to shoot the messenger, online?Th
9 Jun 2011
Blog post
The New Right to Privacy Bill 2011 — A Blind Man's View of the ElephuntOver the past few days various newspapers have reported the imminent introduction in Parliament, during the upcoming Monsoon session, of a Right to Privacy Bill. Since the text of this bill has not yet been made accessible to the public, …
9 Jun 2011
Blog post
Snooping Can Lead to Data AbuseTHE NATGRID, aiming to link databases of 21 departments and ministries for better counter-terror measures, adopts blunt policy approach, subjecting every citizen to the same level of blanket surveillance, instead of a targeted approach that …
9 Jun 2011
Blog post
Do You Want to be Watched?The new rules under the IT Act are an assault on our freedom, says Sunil Abraham in this article published in Pragati on June 8, 2011.
8 Jun 2011
Blog post
The Digital is PoliticalTechnologies are not just agents of politics, there is politics in their design, writes Nishant Shah in this article published in Down to Earth in the Issue of June 15, 2011.
8 Jun 2011
Blog post
Say 'Password' in HindiEnglish might be the language of the online world, but it’s time other languages had their say, writes Nishant Shah. The article was published in the Indian Express on June 5, 2011.