Thread by @internetfreedom

Read our comments to the AI Standardisation Committee constituted by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) on their paper for the Development of an Indian Artificial Intelligence Stack released on September 2, 2020.
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internetfreedom.in/read-our-comme…

On September 2, 2020, the AI Standardisation Committee constituted by the DoT released the paper for the Development of an Indian Artificial Intelligence Stack.
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ourgovdotin.files.wordpress.com/2020/09/paper-…

The paper states that the Government of India has recognised that an AI driven economy, can transform the lives of millions, i.e., AI is the main driver for the desired socio- economic transformation of India.
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After analysing the paper, we came to the conclusion that while it highlights certain problems which are generally associated with AI, it fails to provide nuance to these concerns specifically how these concerns will be resolved.
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These concerns mainly relate to:
1. Privacy/Security of data collected
2. Algorithmic Bias

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The paper puts forward the EU's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) as the data protection law which will be applied to the AI Stack. However, the paper fails to address how it will comply with the extensive provisions of the GDPR.
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The paper fails to address how the stack will address algorithmic bias and how it will ensure that ethical standards are followed in the collection of data and in the building of the algorithm itself.

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AI surveillance tech is spreading at a faster rate to a wider range of countries than experts have commonly understood. One of the gaps in the paper is its failure to address the concerns surrounding use of AI for state sponsored mass surveillance.
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carnegieendowment.org/files/WP-Felds…

As has been reported since December 2019, use of facial recognition and drones for surveillance has been rampant in the country and especially in New Delhi.
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internetfreedom.in/is-the-illegal…

The NCRB’s National Automated Facial Recognition System, which is a central level project aiming to create a national database of photographs which will use facial recognition to identify suspects, is also in the Request for Proposals (RFP) stage.
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internetfreedom.in/iffs-legal-not…

Thus, we recommended:
1. An independent supervisory data protection authority consisting of relevant stakeholders should be set-up to regulate the AI Stack.
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2. The Data Protection Authority should lay down a privacy framework to ensure the right to privacy of citizens is not violated. The privacy framework should also address how the AI Stack will address the concerns relating to state-sponsored mass surveillance.
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3. The Data Protection Authority should also work on expanding how it will ensure against algorithmic bias. For this, the authority should develop an ethical framework for data collection and storage.
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