As per reports, internet services (mobile + broadband) have been blocked in parts of Kashmir. It does not appear that orders have been published. We are filing RTIs with the J&K Govt. to obtain a copy of the orders and to understand the reason for the restriction. #KeepItOn 1/4
The Hon' Supreme Court’s directions in #AnuradhaBhasin (2020) 3 SCC 637 requires that internet suspension orders must be proactively published, and should detail the legal basis for such suspension. #KeepItOn 2/4
Publishing of government orders is essential for assessing their legality and availing judicial remedies. Compliance with the binding #AnuradhaBhasin directions, however, remains quite low — and it is a repeated occurrence in #Kashmir. #KeepItOn 3/4
We have repeatedly asked for compliance from the Government of #JammuAndKashmir on the @AnuradhaBhasin_ directions. We have also assisted @mediatrack_in in a petition before the Supreme Court. Such serious breaches of public trust must stop! 4/4
"World's most surveilled city" is not a tag to be proud of! In the last 10 yrs, 4100 CCTVs have been installed — Cost: 231.44 Crore INR. #Delhi
The need for safeguards to prevent privacy violations was recognised earlier & needs to be recognised now. 2/5 internetfreedom.in/legal-notice-t…
On May 8 '18, a Committee was constituted by the LG to draft a SOP for CCTV use in public spaces — the Draft Rules for Regulation of CCTV Systems were framed but not put in place.
But present CCTV deployment in Delhi is under a non-legal SOP, and privacy concerns arise. 3/5
To reach our estd. costs (salaries, equipment, infrastructure), we need 30 lakhs INR. It is a large amount so we need all the support we can get — through one-time donations.
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Revealed: IFF has its hands on 4 MoUs by the Department of Agriculture with private companies (including @Cisco, @ITCCorpCom, #Ninjakart & @reliancejio) on implementing pilot projects re: 'Digital Agriculture'.
.@Cisco will, among other things, provide the Dept. of Agriculture with software like the 'Smart Agriculture Platform' that integrates sensor & satellite farming data into a single dashboard. ICT and IoT tech will soon become a reality in farming. 2/8
The MoU with #NinjaKart, on the other hand, promises to use algorithm based tech, #machinelearning and image recognition to help with agricultural market creations and 'increase efficiency'.
The product: a 'AgriMarket place Platform' (AMP) 3/8
#Copyrightlaw as a weapon against political dissent and fair critique in India? 🇮🇳
Seems like it! Big media houses have found that “complaint bombing” a particular video or channel that is critical of their work prompts @YouTubeIndia to actually take that video down! 2/5
What YouTube fails to consider: The content creator’s right to fair use under Indian and US #copyright law — it’s even mentioned in its own policies❗️
Legitimate reportage & journalism is removed, and channels are frozen by #YouTube at the requests of large media houses. 3/5
COWIN has been under scrutiny since it was launched.
From turning vaccination into a game of “fastest fingers first” to mandating online registration, the record hasn’t been great. Read IFF's joint letter w/ C-Help & FMES to NHA on CoWIN’s new API! ⬇️ 1/n internetfreedom.in/read-our-joint…
Remember the use of FRT in conjunction with Aadhaar at vaccination centres? We have a new issue in a long list.
COWIN launched a ‘Know Your Customer/Client’s Vaccination Status’ on September 10, '21 which claims to be: consent-based and privacy preserving. But is it really? 2/n
This API will allow government & private entities to instantly know the status of vaccination of an individual. It will also legally allow an enterprise/employer to know the vaccination status of their employee.
But the new API cannot do this without breaching your privacy. 3/n
IFF advocates for your constitutional rights in a digital India. Every month, here's what we do: Release a transparency report & increase our accountability to the IFF community.
The RTI Act is an important legal tool that helps us ask for transparency and accountability from the authorities. We use it to extract information about various ongoing policies and projects. On our radar this month: #facialrecognition, #netneutrality, #censorship & #freespeech.
Did you know?
❗️The Govt. of Assam plans to install AI based facial recognition attendance system across 48000 govt. schools.
❗️The Ministry of Law & Justice plans to link your Voter ID with Aadhaar, incorrectly assuming that this passes the #Puttaswamy proportionality tests.