Blogposts

Reactions to the Aadhaar Judgement

Yesterday the Supreme Court pronounced a historic judgement on the constitutionality of the Aadhaar, biometric programme. We urge people to read this statement [https://rethinkaadhaar.in/blog/2018/9/26/press-statement-on-supreme-court-5-judge-bench-ruling-on-aadhaar-challenges] by our friends at Rethink Aadhaar [https://twitter.com/no2uid/] that contains a considered public response to it. Rethink Aadhaar's statement clearly sets out that there is a need for sustained engagement on the issue o
27 September, 2018
1 min read
Apar GuptaApar Gupta

The legal disconnect: An analysis of India’s Internet Shutdown Laws #KeepUsOnline

As concerns increase in India about the increasing number of shutdowns, Nakul Nayak has authored a paper with a legal analysis of the legal regime on it ( click here [https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3254857]). Nakul consults as a legal fellow at the Internet Freedom Foundation on online censorship concentrating on online shutdowns and his analysis confirms that the new rules on internet shutdowns issued in August, 2018 are secretive in their operation, lack sufficient safegua
25 September, 2018
1 min read
Apar GuptaApar Gupta
Privacy
Featured

#SaveOurPrivacy initial statement on Justice Srikrishna Committee Report

Originally posted on SaveOurPrivacy.in [https://saveourprivacy.in/blog/initial-statement-on-justice-srikrishna-committee-report] The Expert Committee chaired by Retd. Justice B.N. Srikrishna submitted its 176 page report [http://meity.gov.in/writereaddata/files/Data_Protection_Committee_Report.pdf] to the Minister of Electronics and Information Technology at 1600 Hrs on 27 July 2018 (today). The Committee also submitted a draft of the legislation on data protection titled, ‘The Personal Data P
27 July, 2018
3 min read
IFF Public Policy TeamIFF Public Policy Team

Complete Net Neutrality in India. One step closer to the finish line.

Complete Net Neutrality in India. One step closer to the finish line. Towards yesterday evening we heard news that the Telecom Commission had among other things approved TRAI’s recommendations on net neutrality. The Process Last November, the TRAI made recommendations to expressly prohibit discriminatory treatment of content (more information here) [https://static.internetfreedom.in/trais-recommendations-are-another-big-victory-for-net-neutrality-but-follow-up-action-is-needed/] . The Telecom
13 July, 2018
2 min read
Apar GuptaApar Gupta
keep us online

We demand disclosure on India's shutdown law #KeepUsOnline

Last week we made considerable progress in our mission to reform India’s Internet Shutdown laws. This work has been extensively covered by The Wire in an opinion piece titled, “The Worst Aspect of India’s Internet Shutdowns Is the Official Secrecy About It” [https://thewire.in/tech/secrecy-abounds-the-creation-of-of-indias-internet-shutdown-law-why] , and “Jan Gan Man Ki Baat, Episode No. 271” [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWtx4G36Ru]. A Short Recap * Noticing a growth in the frequency of
07 July, 2018
2 min read
Apar GuptaApar Gupta

#SaveOurPrivacy a community project powered by IFF

Today we launched a community, public interest project called, “Save Our Privacy” [https://saveourprivacy.in/] to assist an effort to put forth a model citizens bill on data protection that safeguards your right to privacy. This model bill titled as the, "Indian Privacy Code, 2018", has been drafted by a group of lawyers, many of whom made a joint submission to the Justice B.N. Srikrishna Committee on its call for comments on a white paper. Given the concerns which have been repeatedly made o
08 June, 2018
3 min read
Apar GuptaApar Gupta

Stop the "Social Media Communication Hub" #SaveOurPrivacy

We often feel we are under constant watch. Our data is gathered continuously and analysed by social networking websites. It can't get worse, or can it? Well, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting now wants to surveil our social media activities by creating a “Social Media Communication Hub”. Through a tender [http://www.becil.com/uploads/tender/TendernoticeBECIL01pdf-04836224e38fdb96422221c4e057f6c5.pdf] that was supposed to close today at noon but has now been extended to June 16 [htt
30 May, 2018
3 min read
Apar GuptaApar Gupta

Ministry of Telecom, call us maybe? #KeepUsOnline

Just like us, sometimes the government does not wake up to the first-morning alarm. But we ask [https://drive.google.com/file/d/1E1oao2HHcjkWLQy5OtF4G7D1Wr_ts9XK/view?usp=sharing] the Ministry of Telecom to stop pressing the snooze button on the issue of Internet Shutdowns. Network disruptions require urgent policy and legal intervention. When we launched, KeepUsOnline [https://keepusonline.in] campaign more than 16,000 people and 100 organisations clearly communicated to the Government that th
22 May, 2018
2 min read
Apar GuptaApar Gupta

Standing Committee on IT can do more to #SaveOurPrivacy

In April, we corresponded [https://static.internetfreedom.in/standing-it-letter/] with the Parliament’s Standing Committee on Information Technology when we learnt that it was conducting hearings on ‘Citizen’s Data Security and Privacy’, following the Cambridge Analytica revelations and the longer discussion in India around data privacy. Last week we learned that the Committee has through a press release taken up the citizen demand for public consultation [link] [http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintR
21 May, 2018
2 min read
Apar GuptaApar Gupta

Dear Prime Minister KeepUsOnline

Just like you, we really do care about the internet. It acts as an engine for our economy, allows incredible amounts of individual expression and fosters social connections like never before. Much of the progress we have made is under threat as governments shut down the Internet in different parts of the country. That's why we launched https://KeepUsOnline.in. Given this continuing concern, we have written to the Prime Minister’s Office to issue a statement against internet shutdowns and have a
23 April, 2018
2 min read
Apar GuptaApar Gupta

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