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Worldwide attention on National ID cards in India

June 29th, 2009 1 comment

India’s plan to create National ID cards has received worlwide attention from sites like Slashdot. It’s interesting to see what the world thinks of it since the comments are by people who live in countries where National ID cards have failed as an Idea.

The most shocking comment however, came from an Indian who claimed that “the need for privacy is stronger in the West and lesser in the East.” I hope he was only speaking for himself. The responses to his comment are most interesting and also demonstrate that there are Indians for whom Privacy is an extremely important issue.

Even worse was his statement that “The risk of misuse, however, is not a sufficient argument against the very real need for introduction of such an identity system in our country.” Let him say that after the next Godhra riots take place by searching through the central database for a list of Muslims instead of just taking their “Muslim sounding names” from the Telephone Directory like the last time.

National ID cards will make it easier to perpetuate violence based on Religion

National ID cards will make it easier to perpetuate violence based on Religion

I don’t want my personal information being consolidated in one place where some wacko can find out all about me. And if anyone thinks that it’s impossible to prevent abuse think again. No country in world has succeeded in making a 100% secure National ID card.

In India, it’s a tragedy waiting to happen.

Is a National Identity Card a threat to Privacy and Freedom of movement?

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National ID cards – A threat to privacy

June 22nd, 2009 5 comments

If this topic interests you, take the poll below!

The Indian Government has long been interested in issuing all citizens a Multipurpose National ID Card (MNIC). While I am certain that this scheme has been introduced with the very best intentions, I am afraid that it will lead to a serious invasion of the privacy of Indian citizens as well as encroach upon other constitutional rights such as the right to freedom of movement.

The government’s official press release of the scheme shows how the card can be used to facilitate many aspects of governance. However, it is the word “Multipurpose” that scares me. What are the restrictions that can be placed on it’s use? The concept of Privacy in India is still in it’s nascence and a card of this sort can come to be a de facto Identity document to “prove” yourself. Especially if it is compulsory to carry it at all times.

National ID cards threat to privacy

National ID cards threat to privacy

The government’s plan to tie all databases together using one card will make it hard to resist the temptation to use the ID card to ask citizens to “prove” who they are. How do you feel about being asked to show your card when you enter a theater, or even when you walk on the road?

Is it possible for a point to come when I will be required to carry my card with me on the streets to “prove myself” to any passing Policeman who chooses to check? We saw earlier how the Supreme Court defined privacy in India and one such definition was “the right to be left alone. This right will inevitably be violated by such actions. In addition, in the Preamble of the Constitution, citizens have the right to a life of dignity. How can dignity possibly be maintained without a right to privacy? Without the right to be “let alone?”

In time, the card will almost certainly come to be more important than the individual. A sort of “stamp” where you are no one without it (almost like the Social Security Number in the

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Animal Rights – Refuting Roger Scruton

June 18th, 2009 2 comments

Reading an article on Animal rights the other day, I was introduced to some of the arguments that have been put forward by those who claim that animals have no inherent rights. Some of them dwell on the theory that animals are meant for humans to use for their pleasure or that cruelty to animals is bad because it makes humans cruel – not because animals have rights of their own independent from humans.

Image Credit: meganpru

Animal Rights

Animal Rights

Needless to say I disagree with these views. However, one particular argument was rather interesting. It was put forward by Roger Scruton – a philosopher who enjoys discussing this issue. His point is that Animals don’t have rights of their own since rights and duties go together, and since only humans have duties, he says that “the corollary is inescapable: we alone have rights.”

While this is an interesting angle, I don’t believe it’s a valid objection. While it is true that humans need duties to balance their rights, I’m not sure that the concept of duties needs to be applied to animals for the following reason:

Humans need the concept of “duties” and “responsibilities” because without them, there is no check on human behavior. Humans can use their rights to behave irresponsibly. However, there is no such thing as an irresponsible animal inasmuch as they are incapable of overstepping the limits that nature has placed on them. There is no such thing as an irresponsible tiger for example.

While the concept of “duties” applies to humans due to the nature of humans, there is no requirement for the concept of rights to be limited to animals alone. While it is true that the concept of rights only applies in the context of humanity, we are not talking about any creature other than humans allowing the animals to have their rights. We’re not asking tigers to respect the rights of deer since tigers aren’t going to abuse their power. Only humans can do that.

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iPod Touch now has Walking Directions and Public Transport with OS 3.0!

June 17th, 2009 2 comments

As an iPod Touch user, I really felt left out when during the last update, Apple didn’t think we were worthy of getting Public Transport and walking directions on Google Maps. Since my wife and I frequently rely solely on the iPod Touch for our travels, this was a bummer. But with the latest OS 3.0, we’re thrilled to see that it has both Walking as well as public Transport as you can see in the Picture below:

iPod Touch Walking and Public Transport OS 30

iPod Touch Walking and Public Transport OS 30

Beautiful aint it? Now if they could only include the ability to save Public Transport Routes and Walking directions so we don’t have to hunt for Wifi all the time, that would be perfect. Who knows? With the OS 3.0 update, it’s easier for developers to use the Google Maps API. Maybe another developer can come along and implement this feature!

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How do you define Privacy?

June 16th, 2009 No comments

The concept of Privacy in India has been notoriously difficult to pin down into words, though we all have an understanding of what it means in one way or the other. We saw some Supreme Court cases which try and define privacy as the “right to be left alone”, but is this enough?

Apparently not says the Central Information Commission (CIC) of India. In a ruling, the Chief Information Commissioner said that any intrusion physical or otherwise (italics mine) into the private affairs of another which would be offensive to a reasonable person is an offense. Based on this definition, the commission refused to divulge details of a private person in one particular affair.

This definition is interesting. It was formulated based on the US Restatement of the Law on Torts and is meant to allow lawmakers to enact provisions based on it. Will parliament do so? Two implications come to mind:

First, if a National ID card is implemented, does it prevent a policeman from stopping me on the road arbitrarily and asking me to show it to him or her? Does it prevent an establishment (such as a theater) from demanding to examine it when I enter? Is that an intrusion? Second, does it allow the government to track my movements and activities financial or otherwise (if it could) in the name of security?

These are questions that I look forward to the lawmakers clarifying sooner or later.

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Is Privacy a legal right in India?

June 16th, 2009 1 comment

Privacy is an important concept in a Democratic society. The Indian Constitution does not expressly have a clause guaranteeing privacy. However, in 1963 in Kharak Singh v State of UP, the Supreme court held that Article 21 dealing with Personal Freedom (Protection of life and personal liberty) was broad enough to cover privacy as well. The two justices said that “Nothing is more deleterious to a man’s physical happiness and health, than a calculated interference with his privacy.

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Is Privacy a legal right in India
Is Privacy a legal right in India?

In Govind vs State of MP, the Indian Supreme Court once more held that there was no doubt that the framers of the constitution wanted to “enforce” conditions favorable to the happiness of it’s citizens and that privacy was undeniably one precondition for happiness. The court ruled that the Right to Privacy in India is a fundamental right though it is not expressly named in the Constitution.

The most forceful ruling from the Supreme Court came in 1993 in R. Rajagopal vs State of Tamil Nadu. To quote the Justices: “The right to privacy is implicit in the right to life and personal liberty guaranteed to the citizens of this country by Article 21. It is a “right to be let alone.”

The legal basis for Privacy in India has evolved over a period of time and there is no doubt that the right to Privacy is heavily embedded in the Indian Constitution and in the legal subconscious environment of this country. It is every Indian’s birthright.

As mentioned earlier in the article on Privacy Laws in India, the Indian’s don’t take their privacy very seriously. But as more and more people improve their economic situation, they will start to demand the right to privacy that is guaranteed to them and the right to be free of surveillance without just cause.

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Privacy Laws in India

June 15th, 2009 2 comments

The understanding of Privacy is still in it’s infancy in India. We’re still at the stage where we feel that better security and information about everything is always a good thing.

Privacy Laws in India

Privacy Laws in India

The danger is that by the time we realize that our hard earned freedoms have been lost, it can be too late. Several Government initiatives such as the IT Amendment 2006 and the National ID card threaten our privacy and lead to a totalitarian state. We are (as Slashdot put it) sleepwalking into a surveillance society.

This is not malicious of the Government. They genuinely believe that they’re doing the right thing because the people of this country haven’t realized what the real loss of privacy means. In a series of posts, I try to provide a one stop shop for all privacy related information in India as well as try to make the Indian reader understand why privacy is so important for us as a democratic and open society.

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Book Review: “The Age of Innocence” by Edith Wharton

June 11th, 2009 2 comments

Finished reading “The Age of Innocence” last night and it’s left a kind of bittersweet impression in my mind. Several components struck me – aspects of the book that give you a unique perspective of what the author was trying to convey.

Interestingly, this was one of the few books by a woman that I’ve really enjoyed, though I could make out instantly even if I didn’t know it, that the author is a woman. It’s not corny like “Pride and Prejudice”, but I feel it does over romanticize some aspects of a relationship between a man and a woman – something that most women are guilty of.

Old New York Society

The heart of the book is the fabulous depiction of old New York Society. It’s mannerisms, the way things were always implied and the “decorum” that must be maintained. I was astonished first and foremost by how much was left unsaid those days, which was still perfectly well known to all. Superficial conversation hid reams of dialogue. A totally new experience for us in this time who say what we mean and mean what we say.

The Age of Innocence

The Age of Innocence

But it also showcases their narrow mindedness and how “society” was supposed to be made up of unblemished individuals and how anything unusual was not only avoided, but shunned with a kind of horror. Curtsies must be paid and everything was “done” in a certain way and in a certain order. I don’t know why this sort of society still has the power to surprise me especially after being exposed to it numerous times in the writings of Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Dumas, and many others. It just feels so different from today.

However, at the end of the book, which also shows the world as we know it more or less today, I was caught off guard by a sort of nostalgia for how things were. Surprising, because there is no way on earth that I would want to be present in that kind of society. But still, it presented a sort of safety, where old values had tangible meaning. Despite the title of the book though, there was nothing “innocent” about it – except on the surface. And maybe the author is trying to draw our minds to the irony.

Allegory/Metaphor

I also noticed something that perhaps had always been present in writing, but never forced it’s attention onto me. The use of symbolism. I suddenly noticed that maybe the author was trying to say something by describing something else. I’ve never analyzed literature too closely, mostly taking everything at face value, and it’s possible I’m imagining things here. But for example, when an old wedding dress tears and gets a bit dirty in the mud, perhaps the author is using that as a symbol of the state of the marriage itself. Like I said, maybe it’s my imagination, but I don’t think so.

I’ve never before paused to ask the question “Why did the author write this?”, always assuming that everything is part of the story. It’s an interesting tactic to describe something leaving a vague impression in the reader’s mind that the writer is trying to tell us something that would be best left unsaid.

Virtuous Romance

The novel paints situations where a man and a woman obviously love each other, but refuse to even touch – saying that it would be a betrayal of those who place their faith in them. All the words are spoken, but the man quietly accepts the non-physical component of it, going as far as to say that he wasn’t interested in any physical consummation. This is where my disbelief enters leads to my claim that only a woman could have written this!

No man I know is capable of loving purely ethereally (and I’m certain no knowledgeable woman is capable of it for long either) and though later on the subject of sex is touched upon ever so slightly, I still feel that this highly romantic view of love is unrealistic. I’ve noticed this sort of thing in women’s novels before – romance is sacred and sex is to be far removed from the scene! Ouch…It just doesn’t happen that way.

Basically, a great read, and strongly recommended to all who would like to see how things “were.”

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