With an aim to keep a tab on their force and ensure that complainants are not harassed, the Thane police are installing close-circuit television (CCTV) in all police stations in the commissionerate. “Complainants are under constant fear to visit police stations and think twice before approaching the cops. Initiatives like these will help in building…
Global Information Society Watch 2014 The internet is a key tool to exercise the right to freedom of expression. It not only allows us to exercise the right to receive information, knowledge, ideas and opinions, but also allows us to exercise the right to express these – be it in the form of video, audio…
In December 2014, DEF conducted a study to analyse connectivity in the pilot locations of the NOFN (which consists of 30 Gram Panchayats in Rajasthan, 15 in Andhra Pradesh and 14 in North Tripura). The study reveals that there is a fairly large gap between the initial claims made and the re-alities. There is an…
The reaction to the recent Paris attacks has shown that digital communications are at the centre of debates about security and human rights. There have been calls to give European governments greater surveillance powers against terrorism, but any policy decisions must also address unresolved questions about the legitimacy and democratic oversight of large-scale data collection.…
The scheme, part of the Central government’s National e-Governance Plan (NeGP), will be implemented in all 30 districts with the setting up of 5,713 CSCs across gram panchayats in the coming months. The CSCs will provide hundreds of Government to Citizen (G2C) and Business to Citizen (B2C) services such as payment of utility bills, booking of railway…
Hollywood, the glamorous film industry of the world’s biggest votary of free speech, the US, has withheld the release of “The Interview” after threats linked to North Korean hackers upset over the comedy built around the assassination of its leader, Kim Jong-un. The US and North Korea are in a diplomatic face-off, with Pyongyang denying…
The Right to Information Act (RTI) was a landmark act of the Parliament of India. Under this act, any citizen of the country can request any information from a public authority (largely referring to the Government). The authority is required to reply to this request within 30 days. This law has helped bring out many…
The U.S. Justice Department is restructuring its national security prosecution team to deal with cyber-attacks and the threat of sensitive technology ending up in the wrong hands, as American business and government agencies face more intrusions. The revamp, led by Assistant Attorney General John Carlin, also marks a recognition that national security threats have broadened…
A note prepared by the Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DeitY) proposes backing for the popular view on a multi-stakeholder approach to Internet Governance. This is a departure from the earlier stand where India had argued that only governments, working through international organisations like the United Nations and International Telecommunications Union, have the legitimacy…
Author (s), Editor (s): Leslie Budd, Lisa Harris ISBN-10: 0203883888, 9780203883884 Link/ Website: Click here Taking a multidisciplinary approach, this book explores e-Governance in theory and practice with an analytical narrative from heterodox perspectives. Covering such essential issues as global governance of the Internet, the European Knowledge Economy, the transformative promise of mobile telephony, the…