Replies to the government’s concerns with our criticism of the DNA Profiling Bill

In response to the piece ‘Modi Wants the DNA Profiling Bill Passed Right Away. Here’s Why It Shouldn’t Be‘, published July 24, 2015, Dr. J. Gowrishankar, Director of the Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics, wrote a spirited response describing the benign intentions behind the Bill and why there is a real need for it …

Here’s why the Human DNA Profiling Bill shouldn’t be passed in its current form

The Human DNA Profiling Bill which the Narendra Modi government wants to pass in the current session of Parliament is one of the most intrusive enactments of its kind anywhere in the world, a measure that will render obsolete the national debate on privacy before it has even begun. Drafted by the Department of Biotechnology …

Petition asks why Aadhar is a must to unlock Modi’s DigiLocker

The Wire July 4, 2015 New Delhi: Of all the schemes of the previous Manmohan Singh government, the Aadhar UID program is one that Narendra Modi is the most committed to. On July 1, he flagged off a ‘digital locker’ service for the country as part of his Digital India initiative. According to its website, DigiLocker …

From Orwell to Kafka, Markov to Doctorow: Understanding Big Data through metaphors

On March 20, I attended a short talk by Malavika Jayaram, a fellow at the Berkman Center for Internet & Society, titled ‘What we talk about when we talk about Big Data’ at the T.A.J. Residency in Bengaluru. It was something of an initiation into the social and political contexts of Big Data and its usage, and …

Alibaba IPO – A vindication of China’s Internet?

If China wants Alibaba to go international, it will find it tough to take refuge behind its current Internet governance policies. Anuj Srivas explains.