IFF writes to MeitY on the multiple changes made to the Draft India Data Accessibility & Use Policy, 2022 without any public acknowledgement. IFF calls for a fresh start to the consultation process.
In our latest explainer, we look at the National Digital Education Architecture, detailing what this policy entails and exploring its legislative and policy origins. We also explore issues of a lack of internet access, low digital literacy, and an inadequate consent framework.
We have provided our comments on the Draft Approach Paper for creating a Digital Address Code, highlighting governance issues around geospatial data, data protection issues around the use of geospatial data, and potential surveillance and function creep challenges which will arise from DAC.
The RBI’s Account Aggregator framework went live on 2nd September this year. The government has claimed that the framework will have a transformative impact on the financial ecosystem. In this explainer, we take a look at what this framework really is and highlight certain issues that may arise.
This week, the Union cabinet saw a major reshuffle. This included new ministers for MEITY, MOC, and MIB. We wrote to the new ministers, welcoming them to their new role and highlighting key areas that need to be addressed.
Since our last report for the month of May, IFF has filed 18 RTI requests, 2 First Appeals and 1 Second Appeal. Here, we give you an overview of the requests filed and why demanding transparency and accountability from Government authorities essential in our fight to protect digital rights.
IFF has submitted its comments on the IDEA consultation paper. We suggest that all implementation be halted till farmers have been consulted. We have also addressed issues of data localisation, federalism, data protection, user rights, the need for public investment, and inadequate data standards.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare has recently signed 4 more MoUs regarding the Agristack with Patanjali Organic Research Institute, ESRI India Technologies, Amazon Web Services, and Star Agribazaar. Here, we analyse these MoUs, and explain what they mean for Indian agriculture.
In response to an RTI query by us, the Ministry of Agriculture provided us with a MoU between the Department of Agriculture and Microsoft, and a document titled “Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for verifying Farmer’s Database (100 Villages)”.
The government recently announced that Microsoft would be conducting a pilot for the Agristack. Along with several other organisations, we wrote to the Union Minister for Agriculture, asking for further consultations, highlighting the need for statutory backing, and demanding greater transparency.