After many study commissions and multiple serious attempts at a comprehensive data privacy bill, India's Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has proposed a new draft privacy bill, and has opened a public consultation regarding the draft until 17 December 2022. The Ministry states that the proposed bill, the Digital ...
WPF’s Executive Director Pam Dixon will be moderating a Center for Global Development roundtable May 20 to discuss data governance models from the perspective of low and middle income countries. This is part of her ongoing work as co-chair of the Governing Data for Development project working group. Michael Pisa, ...
This coming Friday, the government of India is planning to announce the winner of a Request For Proposals to create a large, national, centralized facial recognition system for law enforcement purposes. The tender for the project outlines an ambitious program of facial surveillance in India utilizing image databases that law ...
The government of India has published an important white paper discussing its approach to data protection legislation, White Paper of the Committee of Experts on Data Protection Framework for India . The government of India is accepting comments on its white paper until January 31, 2018. This paper is particularly ...
WPF has conducted original research on India's Aadhaar, a national biometric ID system, including field research in India during 2010-2014. WPF has published the original research in a peer-reviewed journal, Nature-Springer, and in Harvard-based Journal of Technology Science. The research found that systemic challenges to data protection and privacy exist in the Aadhaar system, challenges which do have potential remedies. Key lessons can be learned for both the US and the EU as biometric systems grow in popularity.
India's Supreme Court has ruled in a unanimous decision that privacy is a fundamental right under Article 21 of India's constitution. This is a landmark decision for India, and it was decided by a full bench of nine judges. The decision comes at a time when India's national biometric ID ...
India's Supreme Court has issued an important ruling and interim orders about a much-watched case related to India's national biometric IDs and how they are used. More than 800 million biometric IDs have been issued to Indians, and are called the Aadhaar card or the UID, for Universal ID. The ...
I was honored to address students at the National Law University, Delhi this past week about privacy in the US and global privacy trends and issues. The talk included a Q and A session, during which the students engaged in a spirited conversation about US policies regarding surveillance and privacy. I enjoyed the session thoroughly. The students asked challenging questions in particular about telecommunications policies and the idea of safety versus privacy and achieving proper balance.
India's national biometric ID card -- In the May/June, 2013 issue of Foreign Policy Magazine, Pam Dixon writes about the privacy issues related to India's national biometric ID card. In the piece, Mission Creep, Dixon discusses how government-issued biometric ID cards that serve as national ID cards and as the basis for employment and financial transactions create profound civil liberties and privacy challenges that are neither easily or well-constrained by government policy.
India and Privacy -- WPF has researched privacy extensively in India, and has documented a number of key privacy issues in a video series. So far, 5 videos in the series have been released. All of the videos were shot on location in India and feature Pam Dixon, with videographer Blake Hamilton. These videos offer a rare and early glimpse into privacy interactions and issues in India
