Privacy practices in the Indian technology ecosystem

This form was shared with participants in interviews and focus group discussions, and is reproduced here for reference.

This informed consent form is for practitioners in the IT and startup industry in India who we are inviting to participate in research titled “The Tech Industry’s Attitude To Privacy in India”, conducted by Hasgeek Learning Pvt Ltd., hereafter referred to as Hasgeek.

This Informed Consent Form has two parts:

• Information Sheet
• Consent Form

You will be given a copy of the full Informed Consent Form.

Pertinent Information at a glance:

Title: Tech Industry’s Attitude to Privacy, in India

• Principal Qualitative Researcher: Nadika Nadja
• Lead Organization Representative: Zainab Bawa
• Organization: Hasgeek Learning
• Sponsor: Omidyar Network India

Purpose of study

This survey, conducted by Hasgeek, and funded by the Omidyar Network India, is aimed at broadly understanding privacy concerns and practices among engineers and middle management inside tech organizations, and how factors such as regulated nature of certain businesses, compliance requirements, etc impact the development of privacy enhancing technologies.

Further, the survey is designed to look at what internal dynamics operate when it comes to privacy aspects of software tools and products that organizations are building and what agency individual employees have, when it comes to implementing or dissenting such decisions.

Hasgeek invites you to participate in this survey, as an expert in your domain within the tech industry. We want to hear your views about:

1. Your perceptions regarding privacy and technology – as an individual
2. Your perceptions regarding privacy and technology – as a tech practitioner
3. The impact of compliance on your organization
4. Mandatory reporting requirements from regulatory bodies
5. Your involvement with communities and networks related to tech, but not directly involved with your organization
6. International, national and regional laws, and data protection policies

Your participation

Your participation will be in the form of a Qualitative Interview conducted either over the Internet via VOIP or Video Call or in person. The researchers expect the discussion to last approximately 1.5 hours, which you may choose to give in one full block, or break it up into two or three blocks as per your convenience. Hasgeek may contact you after the discussion for further clarification or questions, at your convenience.

Hasgeek will make audio recordings of your focus group discussion, and will transcribe the same for analysis and understanding.

Risks, benefits, confidentiality statement

Hasgeek expects that any risks, discomforts, or inconveniences will be minor and further believe that they are not likely to happen. If discomforts become a problem, you may discontinue your participation.

There will be no direct or indirect benefit or monetary compensation for participating in this survey. There is also no monetary cost for you in participating in the survey. It is not likely that you will benefit directly from participation, but the research should help Hasgeek learn overall needs and attitudes to privacy in the industry, and as such may trickle back to the industry at some point in the future.

Any information that is obtained in connection with this study and that can be identified with you will remain confidential, and will be disclosed only with your explicit permission. Hasgeek will not use your name in any of the information or analysis obtained from this study or in any of the research reports without your written authorisation to do so.

Information that can identify you individually will not be released to anyone outside the study. Quotes or statements made by you will be anonymised before publication, unless explicitly authorised by you to identify you as the speaker. Hasgeek may use any information that we get from this study in any way we think is best for the purposes of the survey, but will share the final copy with you before publication or dissemination.

The recordings and photographs/slides that Hasgeek makes or that you share with us will not be viewed by anyone outside the study unless you explicitly authorise Hasgeek to do so, in writing. The recordings will be destroyed three years after the publication of the study.