Over 650 Social Media URLs Already Blocked in 2017, Compared to Just 10 in 2014: Ahir: The number of social media URLs blocked by the government on the recommendation of an official panel has shown a rising trend with 652 web addresses shut down this year alone compared to just 10 in 2014, official date…
On the Indian Government’s Data Protection committee: India’s Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (Meity) has set up a committee to look into data protection in India, even as the government of India argues in the Supreme Court that there is no fundamental right to privacy. The committee has 8 weeks to give its recommendations.…
SC hears right to privacy cases: Misuse of personal information cannot be dealt on a case-to-case basis, says top court: The Supreme Court on Tuesday said that there has to be “overarching” guidelines to protect an individual’s private information in public domain to ensure that it was used only for an intended purpose. A nine-judge…
Why a pro-privacy approach is crucial to Digital India: After over two years of the government maintaining that Indian citizens don’t have a fundamental right to privacy, a nine-judge Constitution bench of the Supreme Court is hearing a bunch of cases on the matter. Read More
Right to Information Act can hinder officials giving advice on decisions: Jaitley: The Indian Right to Information (RTI) Act can sometimes inhibit bureaucrats from giving their honest opinion during the process of decision making, Finance and Defence Minister Arun Jaitley said on Friday. “Bureaucrats are free to render their advice and opinion during the process of decision making,”…
High time India had a right to privacy law: Public discourse around data privacy is probably at its zenith in India today. In the Supreme Court, a nine-judge bench is hearing arguments to decide whether right to privacy is part of the right to life of an individual under Article 21 of the Constitution. Meanwhile,…
IIT graduate, his firm booked for hacking Aadhaar data: The Unique Identity Development Authority of India (UIDAI) has lodged a complaint against an IIT-Kharagpur graduate and his mobile-payment company for allegedly accessing its central information depository to create and operate a private app called Aadhaar ‘eKYC Verification’. Read More
Cybercrime spiked after demonetisation, say experts: Cybercrime has increased drastically in the country after demonetisation and has been under-reported, cyber experts said at a fintech conference organized by the Confederation of Indian Industry on Friday. Read More
How Fundamental are Privacy Rights?: India’s Supreme Court has constituted a nine-member bench to decide on whether the Right to Privacy is a fundamental right. This decision will be an important landmark in the advocacy of privacy rights in our country. The hearing has commenced and a judgement is expected in the near future. Read…
Facebook’s Free Basics violates net neutrality and isn’t even that good, says report: A report released today by activist group Global Voices found that not only does Facebook’s Free Basics violate net neutrality principles, it’s not even very helpful to those who use it. Free Basics, an app that provides free access to specific services in parts…