Karnataka’s Open Data Policy opens up a Pandora’s box of concerns for public interest and citizen rights
Last week, the Government of Karnataka (GoK) notified its Open Data Policy (ODP) to open up government-held personal and non-personal datasets for “innovation, co-creation and research”. The government’s logic fits very much into the…Media articles
2021
An essay authored by IT for Change's Deepti Bharthur and Ankita Aggarwal, titled 'Reclaiming a Feminist Digital Public Sphere from the Margins', has been published in the third quarterly issue of WACC's Media Development. This issue of Media Development focuses on the theme of 'Democratizing the Public Sphere'.
The 'public sphere' is…
2021
School closures since March 2020 have allowed students limited opportunities for structured learning, causing learning loss, and aggravating malnutrition, child abuse, child labour, school dropout and early marriage.
Online education is seen as a solution to the education emergency. A survey conducted by Karnataka Education Department…
2021
The new Intermediary Guidelines (IL Guidelines), require messaging platforms that have over 50 lakh registered users (such as WhatsApp) “enable the identification of the first originator of the information”.
The challenge from WhatsApp is that this impinges on an individual’s constitutional right to privacy and is therefore…
2021
The government is fiddling, as children are losing foundational literacy and numeracy. The Karnataka government has opened schools fully for grades 9-12 and partly for 6-8. However, lower primary schools (LPS) consisting of grades 1-5 remain closed and may have a zero year (a year of no school). Most states seem to favor keeping LPS closed.…
2020
A steady stream of public commentary is flowing in about the implications of the draft Rules on Social Security Code, 2020, and the Motor Vehicle Aggregators Guidelines, 2020, for the rights of platform workers. We interrogate these developments from a data rights standpoint. The draft Rules on Social Security Code, 2020, propose the creation…
2020
Technology is often heralded as the ultimate answer to all developmental issues, although it is a mere tool. Through its flagship programs like Digital India, Smart Cities, and Startup India, India is gearing up for a technological revolution, but it holds as many threats as promises for our political and social system. From education to health…
2020
With the pandemic forcing the teaching and learning process to migrate to the online mode, the education system has faced an upheaval like never before. This has posed several challenges to teachers and students in India. V. Madhurima and Gurumurthy Kasinathan discuss the challenges and possible solutions in a conversation moderated by…
2020
The Political Economy of Data
Data and data governance are hotly contested issues in the 21st century. Typically, they have been perceived as questions of policy and political economy. Data is attributed multiple characterizations, one of which is that of a resource. There are…
2020
The digital gender divide has become “a matter of life and death,” in the words of the UN Secretary General in June 2020. Health care information (particularly about COVID-19), education, and economic activity moved online to prevent the spread of the virus. Internet services witnessed a surge in usage between 40 and 100…