Blogposts

RTI

Digital Transparency: A Right to Information Report for March, 2021

Since our last report in the month of February, IFF has filed 23 RTI requests, 5 first appeals and 1 second appeal. . Here, we give you an overview of the requests filed and why demanding transparency from government authorities is one of the key elements in our fight to protect digital rights.
06 April, 2021
5 min read
Anushka JainAnushka Jain
Data Protection

#StartFromScratch: An Explainer on the Personal Data Protection Bill, 2019

Part 2 of our series on the data bill will explain the basics of the Personal Data Protection Bill, 2019. In it, we provide an introduction to the main definitions, the Data Processing Authority is, user rights, and exemptions provided to the government.
03 April, 2021
8 min read
Rohin GargRohin Garg
Data Protection

CIC observes that IT Ministry's denial on RTI for comments on the Data Protection Bill is, "grossly improper" #SaveOurPrivacy

In a positive order in our second appeal related to the Data Protection Bill, the CIC directed the CPIO of MeitY to re-visit the RTI application and provide us with a revised reply.
02 April, 2021
7 min read
Anushka JainAnushka Jain & Tanmay SinghTanmay Singh
accesstointernet

#ElectionFever: What do party manifestos have in store for tech and digital rights?

With state elections incoming, we thought we would do our bit for #electionfever by analysing the manifestos of political parties across the spectrum. Our analysis is guided by our focus areas and is meant to help voters understand how political parties are looking at these issues.
01 April, 2021
10 min read
Rohin GargRohin Garg
Data Protection

Kwik to deny a data breach, MobiKwik must move faster to address it

We have written to the Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-IN) asking them to initiate an inquiry over the data breach in terms of Section 70B(6) of the Information Technology Act, 2000. In this post, we point out the five steps MobiKwik must take to alleviate the situation.
31 March, 2021
5 min read
Krishnesh BapatKrishnesh Bapat
facebook

Examining Facebook’s Human Rights Policy

We analyse Facebook's recently announced Human Rights Policy. It is too little, too late, and we call on it to improve its practices openly and transparently for Indian users of its platforms.
30 March, 2021
8 min read
Krishnesh BapatKrishnesh Bapat
ITRules

Tandav is a Case Study for OTT censorship under the IT Rules, 2021 #LetUsChill

Documents accessed through RTI paint a grim picture for creativity and diversity of content for online streaming platforms in India.
27 March, 2021
6 min read
Apar GuptaApar Gupta & Anushka JainAnushka Jain
PDPB

#StartFromScratch: The data bill series part #1!

As a part of our new series #Startfromscratch on the Personal Data Protection Bill, 2019, we explain the importance of protecting one's data online, the need for data protection legislation, and a brief history of the Bill.
26 March, 2021
7 min read
Rohin GargRohin Garg

Why is the UP Police not taking down child porn? Also, a privacy fail.

The UP Police Women Power Line has recently launched the ‘Hamari Suraksha’ Programme. After looking at the few details of the programme available in the public and information gathered from news sources, we wrote to the UP Police highlighting our concerns.
25 March, 2021
5 min read
Anushka JainAnushka Jain
ITRules

Dear MEITY, withdraw the new IT Rules!

We write to MEITY urging them to withdraw the Guidelines For Intermediaries And Digital Media Ethics Code Rules, 2021 while objectively noting the marginal positives within them are eclipsed by the larger illegalities that threaten digital rights.
23 March, 2021
6 min read
Rohin GargRohin Garg

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