The Wire “When the internet is shut down, I have no work, do not get paid, cannot withdraw any money from my account and cannot even get food rations.” This statement by a Dalit woman daily wage worker from Rajasthan begins a joint report by the Human Rights Watch (HRW) and Internet Freedom Foundation (IFF) scrutinising India’s record as the world’s internet shutdown capital. In No Internet Means No Work, No Pay,...

The Status of Policing Report in India 2023 (SPIR) was released on 31 March in New Delhi by Common Cause and Lokniti-Centre for the Study of Developing Societies. SPIR 2023 study explores public opinions and experiences regarding digital surveillance in India. Recent developments, such as the Supreme Court's recognition of the right to privacy and discussions surrounding data protection, have intensified debates around privacy and surveillance. The study also considers...

-TheWire.in Though the police superintendent claims his officers were 'sensitised' before arriving at the refugee camps on July 26, residents tell a different tale. Nuh (Haryana): Before the break of dawn on July 26, 10 police jeeps and six police buses encircled the 10 Rohingya refugee camps in the Nuh district of Haryana. More than 600 policemen walked into the camps and allegedly barged into each jhuggi, pushing people out of their...

-The Hindu Dehumanisation is the likely outcome when humane aspects of governance get outsourced to technologies The right to live with dignity is a constitutional imperative. However, it rarely manifests in discussions surrounding digital initiatives in governance. Centralised data dashboards — valuable as they are — have become the go-to mode for assessing policies, relegating principles such as human dignity and hardships in accessing rights to its blind spots. Often when technological...

-ThePrint.in Arvind Kejriwal's Delhi govt needs to conduct a privacy assessment and find out what value does live streaming of classrooms add to children’s security. The Delhi government’s decision to give parents access to live video footage of classrooms is worrisome. Although use of CCTV and biometric based technologies is increasing across schools in various states, the decision to livestream classroom proceedings takes the use of these technologies a step further. In...