Data protection: Can India overcome the spy-security state and big tech to enact a strong law?: The government has set up a committee headed by Justice BN Srikrishna, a former judge of the Supreme Court, to “identify key data protection issues” and “recommend methods of addressing them”. This is not the Indian state’s first foray into the…
Fatwa issued on Facebook against Tripura CM Manik Sarkar: The Tripura police on Friday launched a probe over a fatwa issued against Chief Minister Manik Sarkar on Facebook, the authorities said. “After noticing the fatwa post on Thursday, an inquiry has been initiated following the registering of a criminal case at the West Agartala police station,”…
Allahabad University website hacked on Independence Day: The official website of the Allahabad University was hacked purportedly by Pakistan-based hackers who posted anti-national message with a clip of a burning tricolour on it. The matter came to light at around 1.30 am on Tuesday after which the officials shut down the site to take back…
Right to privacy crucial element of consumer rights in Digital India; here is why it is not absolute: I have written, spoken extensively about, and legally fought for a framework of legal rights for consumers and citizens—a critical issue as technology transforms and disrupts our lives, business and relationship between citizen and the government. I…
The problem with the right to privacy: The recently concluded Supreme Court hearings on Aadhaar and privacy pitted a quintessentially American idea of the “right to be left alone” against the long-standing demand of India’s poor for the “right to be acknowledged” by the state—which was the genesis of Aadhaar in the first place. Clearly,…
Privacy a Fundamental Right, But it Cannot be Absolute: BJD MP Jay Panda: BJD MP Baijayant ‘Jay’ Panda, who had introduced a Bill on data privacy and protection in the Parliament, has said that privacy is a fundamental right guaranteed by the Constitution, but it would be impractical to make it absolute and we must…
Realities remain in Digital India: My exposure to Digital India was till recently a mix of government hype and the data my team routinely put together to share with our international partners. My first-hand interface began quite innocuously when the government asked us to link our Aadhaar and PAN cards and made this a requirement…
Privacy and the ‘nothing to hide’ argument: The right to privacy hearings before the nine-judge bench of the Supreme Court ended recently. During the conclusion, it was argued on behalf of the state of Gujarat that privacy claims are only made by those who have done something wrong. Read More
Indians deserve their right to privacy: On the day after the 75th anniversary of Mohandas Gandhi’s call to the British to quit India in 1942, and in the week before India celebrates the 70th anniversary of its independence in 1947, there are a few points worth recalling as the Supreme Court deliberates over whether privacy…
Aadhaar Data Breach: 20,100 User Details Published On Punjab Government Website: A Punjab government entity has published the Aadhaar details of 20,100 citizens on its official website. These details include Aadhaar numbers, user names and their father’s name. The data belongs to people who have applied for low-cost housing in Ludhiana and Jagraon in Punjab.…