-The Times of India   As consumers open up to digital products, their personal data is being valued more and more as an asset. Facebook's looming $100 billion valuation is based on a presumption of having personal information on millions of users, which can be used to target advertising and content towards them. And Google is moving to collect similar information. Globally, the power of data aggregators is raising serious concerns around...

-The Hindu   The ambitious and controversial Unique ID scheme — Aadhaar — received a double boost in this year's budget: not only did Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee sanction Rs. 1,758 crore to enrol 40 crore more residents, but Prime Minister Manmohan Singh also emphasised that the scheme would soon become the main channel through which people could access a wide variety of budget benefits. “I propose to allocate adequate funds to complete...

A goof-up created by the law officer representing the Ministry of Home Affairs today ended up revealing a significant shift in the government’s view on homosexuality. A day-long hearing in the Supreme Court saw Additional Solicitor General P P Malhotra, representing the home ministry, argue that homosexuality is an “unnatural offence” — the exact line the government took in the Delhi High Court. In fact, a reference to the records filed by...

-The Times of India Congress chief Sonia Gandhi has declined to disclose details of her income tax returns under the RTI Act, citing personal freedom and security risk. In her reply to the I-T department, she also said there was no public interest involved in disclosing such information. Chennai-based RTI activist V Gopalakrishnan had sought details of her I-T returns from the year 2000-2001 to 2010-2011. The assistant commissioner of income tax,...

-The Times of India   The Supreme Court on Wednesday said its final decision on the correctness of the Delhi High Court judgment -- which decriminalized Section 377 of Indian Penal Code covering a sexual act in private between consenting adults -- could have far reaching impact on several sexual offences listed in the penal laws. A bench of Justices G S Singhvi and S J Mukhopadhaya requested the counsel for parties to...