The government's new guidelines for cybercafes will deepen the digital divide while doing nothing to curb terrorism. Following last month's tragic bomb blast at the Delhi High Court, in which over 13 people were killed, police traced an email from the ‘Harkat-ul-Jihad' claiming responsibility for the attack to a cybercafe in Kishtwar, Jammu and Kashmir, and arrested three people, including the owner. In fact, many recent terrorist attacks have been linked to...

The finance ministry has put its seal of approval on a proposal to directly transfer subsidies to the bank account of a beneficiary that is linked to her Aadhaar, or unique identification (UID) number. The government has previously articulated its desire to experiment with direct transfers to make its management of subsidies more efficient and ensure benefits actually reach the targeted people. In a notification issued on Tuesday, the finance ministry extended...

Ankaji Bhai Gangar, a 49-year-old subsistence farmer, stood in line in this remote village until, for the first time in his life, he squinted into the soft glow of a computer screen. His name, year of birth and address were recorded. A worker guided Mr. Gangar’s rough fingers to the glowing green surface of a scanner to record his fingerprints. He peered into an iris scanner shaped like binoculars that...

Beware of what you put in your Facebook messages or your tweets. Your friends and followers may not be the only ones reading them. Chances are government sleuths would be vetting these private messages. This follows a home ministry directive to the department of telecom, asking it to "ensure effective monitoring of Twitter and Facebook". While "effective monitoring" has not been defined, sources said the MHA's intention is complete surveillance of...

The proposed Privacy Bill seems skewed towards the state rather than the citizen Sometimes the best of intentions can camouflage the worst of motives. On the face of it, the government’s bid to bring in a privacy bill is a welcome move, a long-overdue measure. But after an initial approach paper prepared by lawyers and bureaucrats in November last year, the government went into a secretive huddle. Now a leaked...