Submissions
Bhavani Seetharaman

Bhavani Seetharaman

@Bhavani_21

Love research on technology and society, focussing on privacy rights in Hasgeek.

India's Personal Data Protection (PDP) Bill

Glossary

CDO: Chief Data Officer DF: Data Fiduciary DPA: Data Protection Authority DPO: Data Protection Officer GDP: Gross Domestic Product GDPR: General Data Protection Regulation (European Union Regulation, 2016) JPC: Joint Parliamentary Committee on the Data Protection Bill 2019 MSME: Ministry of Small and Medium Enterprises NPD: Non Personal Data (framework) PDP: The Personal Data Protection Bill (201… more
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  • Submitted
  • 12 Sep 2021

Information Technology - Guidelines For Intermediaries and Digital Media Ethics Code - Rules, 2021

Detailed findings: Overall awareness

The IT Rules, Intermediary Guidelines 2021, have a far-ranging impact on social media apps, digital news and content, and cloud hosting providers in the country. The Rules could potentially affect a far wider section of the startup and SME sector in India given that many of these organizations produce content in one form or another which can be regulated. While the legality and ethicality of the … more
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  • Submitted
  • 22 Sep 2021

Information Technology - Guidelines For Intermediaries and Digital Media Ethics Code - Rules, 2021

Detailed findings: Legal concerns

IT Rules are Ultra Vires of IT Act 2000 The IT Rules are notified under the IT Act1, 2000, which provides ‘Safe Harbour’ status to digital intermediaries. That is, the intermediary will not be held liable for content that is merely hosted by, or transmitted by them, provided they are not the creators or owners of the content. By nature, subordinate legislation, such as the IT Rules 2021, cannot r… more
  • 4 comments
  • Submitted
  • 22 Sep 2021

Kotlin will displace Java in the Android ecosystem.

Brief history of Kotlin for Android

Kotlin was first created as a statically typed programming language for Java Virtual Machine (JVM) by Czech tool Manufacturers, JetBrains in 20111. In the decade that has passed, Manufacturers’ estimate that the language has grown from a Java alternative to almost exclusively being used for the development of apps in tablets to mobile phones. JetBrains estimates that about 80 percent of the apps … more
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  • Submitted
  • 09 Sep 2021

Kotlin will displace Java in the Android ecosystem.

Key findings of the survey

Based on the historical context of Kotlin’s growth in the Android ecosystem, the survey’s findings reinforce that many users of Kotlin also have a Java background. more
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  • Submitted
  • 09 Sep 2021

India's Personal Data Protection (PDP) Bill

Review of Definitions under the PDP

Ambiguous definitions for compliance (Clauses 14, 24) more
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  • Submitted
  • 12 Sep 2021

India's Personal Data Protection (PDP) Bill

Data localization and international policy

Competitive Disadvantage - Clause 34 Clause 34 highlights governance over data transfers between different countries, giving exceptions to only certain allowances such as emergencies. By doing so, the ease of doing business with multiple entities1 situated in different countries becomes more complex, resulting in loss of opportunities for Indian businesses to compete on the global stage. United N… more
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  • Submitted
  • 12 Sep 2021

India's Personal Data Protection (PDP) Bill

Costs of compliance

Expensive Hiring Requirements (Clause 30) Clause 30 in the draft PDP 2019 Bill requires hiring a Data Protection Officer (DPO) for implementing grievance redressal mechanisms and for accountability during inquiries in case of non-compliance. There is no clarity about whether such a role can be outsourced to third parties who specialize in such compliance requirements. The European General Data Pr… more
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  • Submitted
  • 12 Sep 2021

India's Personal Data Protection (PDP) Bill

Power of the Data Protection Authority (DPA) over Personal Data Governance

Clauses 93 and 94 allow the DPA to hire members of the Appellate Tribunal to finalize PDP regulations. more
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  • Submitted
  • 12 Sep 2021

India's Personal Data Protection (PDP) Bill

Governance of Non Personal Data and Intersection with Other Legislation

Jurisdiction Clause 91 allows for the collection of Non Personal Data (NPD). Members and representatives from the startup and investor community in India have shared strong opinions that India needs a PDP Bill first before NPD regulation can be considered 1. more
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  • Submitted
  • 12 Sep 2021

India's Personal Data Protection (PDP) Bill

Conclusion and recommendations

Broad recommendations for smaller organizations: For smaller organizations to comply with PDP, two suggestions have been made: more
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  • Submitted
  • 12 Sep 2021

Information Technology - Guidelines For Intermediaries and Digital Media Ethics Code - Rules, 2021

Respondents profile

Qualitative research was conducted with 33 respondents. These included representatives from SSMI organizations, digital news publications and cloud service providers. One FGD was conducted with independent software developers who are vocal about privacy, digital rights, data security and responsibility in technology on social media and community forums. We classified this set of respondents as “p… more
  • 2 comments
  • Submitted
  • 18 Sep 2021

Information Technology - Guidelines For Intermediaries and Digital Media Ethics Code - Rules, 2021

Detailed findings: Ethical concerns

Broad definitions of unlawful content: The government claims the IT Rules are framed as a response to illegal or unlawful content, including hate speech, pornography and Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM), among others. Under the Rules, unlawful content will also include content that is deemed against national interest or national security, including those that tarnish the image of the nation. more
  • 2 comments
  • Submitted
  • 19 Sep 2021

Information Technology - Guidelines For Intermediaries and Digital Media Ethics Code - Rules, 2021

Detailed findings: Implementation concerns

What we observe in this section can be seen as the continuation of the previous section with issues arising from the lack of ethical considerations playing out in terms of implementation. Vague definitions of organizations, and the broad scope that has been created for the Rules, organizations must now undertake more tasks and activities to comply, irrespective of size or resources. Some of the l… more
  • 1 comment
  • Submitted
  • 21 Sep 2021

Information Technology - Guidelines For Intermediaries and Digital Media Ethics Code - Rules, 2021

Conclusion and Recommendations

In the final analysis, the IT Rules are seen as having a deep, detrimental impact on the social media and digital news sectors, and result in increased work loads for employees, increased cost of operations and compliance for organizations. Along with existing concerns over the potential impact of the Personal Data Protection Bill (PDP) that is currently under advisement by a parliamentary body a… more
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  • Submitted
  • 30 Sep 2021

Information Technology - Guidelines For Intermediaries and Digital Media Ethics Code - Rules, 2021

Research methods, design, sampling and execution

This is a mixed-method research study, comprising both qualitative and quantitative methods. more
  • 1 comment
  • Submitted
  • 22 Sep 2021

Information Technology - Guidelines For Intermediaries and Digital Media Ethics Code - Rules, 2021

Impact of IT Rules on tech workers’ ecosystem - professional concerns

Introduction As discussed in the chapter on respondent profiles, a quantitative survey was conducted with tech workers to assess awareness, understanding and impact of the IT Rules. more
  • 2 comments
  • Submitted
  • 19 Sep 2021

Information Technology - Guidelines For Intermediaries and Digital Media Ethics Code - Rules, 2021

Impact of IT Rules on tech workers’ ecosystem - personal concerns; impact on participation and advocacy

This chapter is divided into two sections: Impact of IT Rules on personal lives, mainly freedom of speech and expression, and privacy. more
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  • Submitted
  • 02 Oct 2021

Mozilla Open Innovation Project

Understanding Innovation in the Indian Tech Ecosystem: Introduction to the research

The Open Innovation Project aims to broaden the understanding of how open source beliefs and principles can be implemented in the Global South, specifically looking at the Indian Tech Ecosystem. In doing so we seek to understand how multiple players in India are currently availing or hope to avail resources in the country that can enable certain aspects of the open source software movement. Speci… more
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  • Submitted
  • 24 Feb 2022

Mozilla Open Innovation Project

Innovation and the Global South

The concept of innovation, specifically the notion of technology as a tool for the further propagation of innovation in society has been promoted extensively since the rise of the IT sector around the world (Johannessen, 1994). Firms that were seen as technology based or technology focussed often were seen as creating and enabling an innovation value chain, by virtue of their sector alone (Ganota… more
  • 0 comments
  • Submitted
  • 24 Feb 2022

Mozilla Open Innovation Project

Defining Open Innovation

In this section we review the concepts of commons based peer production by Benkler, and Kelty’s recursive public definitions to understand how it could be reformatted and updated to provide more of a contextual understanding in the global south. In Benkler and Nissenbaum’s work, they articulate that a commons based peer is a socio economic system of production based in the digital environment (Be… more
  • 0 comments
  • Submitted
  • 24 Feb 2022

Mozilla Open Innovation Project

Sampling and methodology

We aimed to interrogate how organisations attempted to implement beliefs and practices of open source software movements and compared it with the new model we have defined as open innovation, taking into account infrastructure, platforms, policies and market standards that provided a context on which local innovators can build. more
  • 0 comments
  • Submitted
  • 03 Mar 2022

Mozilla Open Innovation Project

Understanding the role of large-scale digital platforms in India

India Stack Since 2009, the government of India has been building the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), which was headed by Nandan Nilekani, the co-founder of Infosys (DiBiasio, 2020, DigFingroup.com). It was under UIDAI that Aadhaar was created, which is seen by some as a revolutionary attempt to usher in a new era of digital productivity in the country, specifically in the finan… more
  • 0 comments
  • Submitted
  • 03 Mar 2022

Mozilla Open Innovation Project

Findings: Digital divide

Clarity is required, when looking at the role of open innovation in the tech ecosystem in India, on how the ecosystem affects different stakeholders in different contexts and what innovation means in such situations. As highlighted in our sampling and methodology section we viewed three large demographics: undigitized, semi-digitized and completely digitised stakeholders in the tech sector in Ind… more
  • 0 comments
  • Submitted
  • 03 Mar 2022

Mozilla Open Innovation Project

Findings: Role of smaller players and semi-digitised organisations

Beyond the digital divide and the enablers of such division there exists further stratification in tech based organisations in the country. As highlighted in the previous sections, funding plays a large role in the creation of tech organisations and their products. Often leading to the mushrooming of organisations that propose solutions mimicking or aiding a well funded tech company. more
  • 0 comments
  • Submitted
  • 03 Mar 2022

Mozilla Open Innovation Project

Findings: Large-scale digital public infrastructure

From the other two sections we see two large forks in the road of the tech ecosystem in India, with VC funded startups whose focus is on growth and profits and semi-digitized entities that work with final stakeholders to create tech enabled solutions. However, according to our participants funding alone does not guarantee success and the absorption of a larger stake in the ecosystem. more
  • 0 comments
  • Submitted
  • 03 Mar 2022

Mozilla Open Innovation Project: Understanding Innovation in the Indian Tech Ecosystem

Understanding Innovation in the Indian Tech Ecosystem: Introduction to the research

The Open Innovation Project aims to broaden the understanding of how open source beliefs and principles can be implemented in the Global South, specifically looking at the Indian Tech Ecosystem. In doing so we seek to understand how multiple players in India are currently availing or hope to avail resources in the country that can enable certain aspects of the open source software movement. Speci… more
  • 0 comments
  • Submitted
  • 10 Mar 2022

Mozilla Open Innovation Project: Understanding Innovation in the Indian Tech Ecosystem

Innovation and the Global South

The concept of innovation, specifically the notion of technology as a tool for the further propagation of innovation in society has been promoted extensively since the rise of the IT sector around the world1 (Johannessen, 1994). Firms that were seen as technology based or technology focussed often were seen as creating and enabling an innovation value chain, by virtue of their sector alone[^Ganot… more
  • 0 comments
  • Submitted
  • 10 Mar 2022

Mozilla Open Innovation Project: Understanding Innovation in the Indian Tech Ecosystem

Defining Open Innovation

In this section we review the concepts of commons based peer production by Benkler, and Kelty’s recursive public definitions to understand how it could be reformatted and updated to provide more of a contextual understanding in the global south. In Benkler and Nissenbaum’s work, they articulate that a commons based peer is a socio economic system of production based in the digital environment1 (B… more
  • 0 comments
  • Submitted
  • 10 Mar 2022

Mozilla Open Innovation Project: Understanding Innovation in the Indian Tech Ecosystem

Sampling and Methodology

We aimed to interrogate how organisations attempted to implement beliefs and practices of open source software movements and compared it with the new model we have defined as open innovation, taking into account infrastructure, platforms, policies and market standards that provided a context on which local innovators can build. more
  • 0 comments
  • Submitted
  • 10 Mar 2022

Mozilla Open Innovation Project: Understanding Innovation in the Indian Tech Ecosystem

Understanding the role of large-scale digital platforms in India

India Stack Since 2009, the government of India has been building the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), which was headed by Nandan Nilekani, the co-founder of Infosys (DiBiasio, 2020, DigFingroup.com). It was under UIDAI that Aadhaar was created, which is seen by some as a revolutionary attempt to usher in a new era of digital productivity in the country, specifically in the finan… more
  • 0 comments
  • Submitted
  • 10 Mar 2022

Mozilla Open Innovation Project: Understanding Innovation in the Indian Tech Ecosystem

Findings: Digital divide

Clarity is required, when looking at the role of open innovation in the tech ecosystem in India, on how the ecosystem affects different stakeholders in different contexts and what innovation means in such situations. As highlighted in our sampling and methodology section we viewed three large demographics: undigitized, semi-digitized and completely digitised stakeholders in the tech sector in Ind… more
  • 0 comments
  • Submitted
  • 10 Mar 2022

Mozilla Open Innovation Project: Understanding Innovation in the Indian Tech Ecosystem

Findings: Role of smaller players and semi-digitised organisations

Beyond the digital divide and the enablers of such division there exists further stratification in tech based organisations in the country. As highlighted in the previous sections, funding plays a large role in the creation of tech organisations and their products. Often leading to the mushrooming of organisations that propose solutions mimicking or aiding a well funded tech company. more
  • 0 comments
  • Submitted
  • 10 Mar 2022

Mozilla Open Innovation Project: Understanding Innovation in the Indian Tech Ecosystem

Findings: Large-scale digital public infrastructure

From the other two sections we see two large forks in the road of the tech ecosystem in India, with VC funded startups whose focus is on growth and profits and semi-digitized entities that work with final stakeholders to create tech enabled solutions. However, according to our participants funding alone does not guarantee success and the absorption of a larger stake in the ecosystem. more
  • 0 comments
  • Submitted
  • 10 Mar 2022

Mozilla Open Innovation Project: Understanding Innovation in the Indian Tech Ecosystem

Findings: Policy ecosystem in the country

Another point raised by the respondents was the lack of policy enabled systems in place for the protection of smaller players in the market. In fact participants had highlighted that their own personal experience showed the creation of obstacles under the policy requirements to avail access to projects in the country. more
  • 0 comments
  • Submitted
  • 10 Mar 2022

Mozilla Open Innovation Project: Understanding Innovation in the Indian Tech Ecosystem

Possible solutions according to stakeholders

There is much that needs to be reformed for the promotion of local and open innovation in the tech sector in India, as per our respondents. Taking into account the larger definitions of access, opportunities and empowerment we have collated suggestions that for possible changes that can be implemented. more
  • 0 comments
  • Submitted
  • 10 Mar 2022

Mozilla Open Innovation Project: Understanding Innovation in the Indian Tech Ecosystem

Conclusion and Recommendations

We see that there exists three main obstacles in the creation of open innovation in the country with regards to access, opportunities and empowerment. The first being a hierarchical approach to tech enabled solutions in the country focussed on regional and urban centric views of functioning. The second large issue faced in the industry is the funding opportunities for organisations in the country… more
  • 0 comments
  • Submitted
  • 10 Mar 2022