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Disha Verma

Disha Verma

DigiYatra

Dear Digi Yatris, it’s time to deboard

Amid suspicions about its tech operator’s criminal records and vast allegations of data privacy violations, the Digi Yatra Foundation has announced a revamp of the service and is urging its users to abandon the old app and re-install a new version. We shed light on this shady ‘makeover’.
22 April, 2024
7 min read
Disha VermaDisha Verma
2024 Elections

Your personal data, their political campaign? Beneficiary politics and the lack of law

As the 2024 elections inch closer, we look into how political parties can access personal data of welfare scheme beneficiaries and other potential voters through indirect and often illicit means, to create voter profiles for targeted campaigning, and what the law has to say about it.
10 April, 2024
6 min read
Disha VermaDisha Verma
artificial intelligence

What we do in the shadows: IFF seeks transparency in how Indian ‘smart governments’ are using AI

Noting a glaring lack of transparency and publicly available information on how union and state governments are deploying AI in the public sector, we write to the National Institute of Smart Government urging proactive disclosures and publication of government-led AI projects.
26 March, 2024
5 min read
Disha VermaDisha Verma
MeitY

A DM from the PM (and the storm it stirred)

Last week, millions of WhatsApp users received a message from the Ministry of Electronics & IT, undersigned by the Prime Minister, asking for feedback on schemes introduced by the incumbent government. We unravel what this means for your privacy and the electoral process.
22 March, 2024
7 min read
Tejasi PanjiarTejasi Panjiar & Disha VermaDisha Verma
Surveillance

We will not be tracked! Indian Railways’ plans to introduce FRT surveillance in train coaches is a big departure from the right to privacy

Indian Railways has floated a tender for the installation of 3.3 lakh FRT-enabled CCTV cameras in train coaches which will be used alongside face-matching servers to surveil and identify passengers and ‘curb crime’. We write to authorities pushing back against this massive privacy violation.
12 March, 2024
10 min read
Disha VermaDisha Verma
DigiYatra

IFF presents: A Know-Your-Rights information leaflet and merchandise on Digi Yatra #RejectDigiYatra

You asked, we delivered! In collaboration with several artists, IFF presents an all-you-should-know leaflet and a special line of merchandise on Digi Yatra that you can flaunt when catching your next flight.
01 March, 2024
3 min read
Disha VermaDisha Verma
Deepfakes

Read our Open Letter to Electoral Candidates & Parliamentary Representatives on the Impact of Deepfakes on Electoral Outcomes

With endorsement from civil society organisations and individuals, we wrote to electoral candidates, political parties, and parliamentarians, urging them to publicly declare that they will not use deepfake technologies to create deceptive or misleading synthetic content for the 2024 Elections.
26 February, 2024
3 min read
Disha VermaDisha Verma & Tejasi PanjiarTejasi Panjiar
drones

Haryana police’s use of drones against protesting farmers is a disproportionate and unconstitutional response

Haryana police is deploying drones to drop tear gas shells and potentially surveil farmers protesting near the Shambhu border as part of their Delhi Chalo march. We write to state authorities contending that such use of technology is disproportionate and unconstitutional, and must cease immediately.
24 February, 2024
5 min read
Disha VermaDisha Verma
worker rights

No place for tech: How digital interventions in NREGA are undermining rural social security

Mandatory digital ‘solutions’ introduced in the NREGA scheme by union and state governments, like Aadhaar-based payments, mobile monitoring apps, facial authentication and surveillance tools, are impinging on workers’ statutory rights and poking holes in the rural social security net.
20 February, 2024
8 min read
Disha VermaDisha Verma
Parliament

Into IT Standing Committee’s review of action taken by MeitY following its recommendations on citizen data security and privacy

This post breaks down the 55th report of the Standing Committee on Communications and IT, in which the Committee assesses the extent to which its recommendations on citizen data security and privacy were accepted and acted upon by the Ministry of Electronics and IT.
16 February, 2024
11 min read
Disha VermaDisha Verma

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