The Cambridge Analytica scandal led to Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg tendering an apology and being subjected to hours of grilling because of the misuse and potential misuse of private individuals’ data. In the post-Cambride-Alalytica era, individuals and organisations have serious concerns about data being misused for economic gain and political manipulation. The creation of new privacy and data protection regulations in the European Union seeks to address these and other concerns. Two years in the pipeline, the regulations are now in effect. Indian Facebook users faced much the same level of privacy violations that their European counterparts did; however in India, things seem to be moving in a direction opposite to the protection and safeguarding of individual rights and privacy .
In Europe, the way that personal data is collected and used has come in for big changes thanks to the GDPR. Internet users will now have more information and more control over how their data is collected and used. A long user agreement with loads of fine print where users give vast blanket permission is no longer enough. It is no longer enough to force users to check the Yes box to sign up for a service.
Companies and app makers will have to be very clear about what information they are collecting and for what purpose. Users will also be able to have some say in the use of decisions that algorithms make. If a user chooses to delete material this material should also no longer be made available to search engines or other websites – companies will have to take steps to ensure this. People in the 28 EU countries receive protection of these regulations even if the data is processed at a different geographical location.
The regulations have attracted their fair share of criticism. Some have labeled the legislation ‘overly strict’ and there is the apprehension that this may cause loss of business to the tune of 550 billion Euros in lost annual revenue. There is also the apprehension expressed that the GDPR will dis-incentivise innovation make processes time consuming and laborious. There is the view that the regulations are misguided; based on paranoia rather than realistic apprehensions of misuse.
Many have expressed the view that in spite of its limitations, the GDPR as a tool to protect user privacy and enhance transparency of online operations is welcome and can be emulated in India. However the government appears to be interested in actually reducing the privacy of individuals and in developing tools that give it the power of surveillance over individual data.
The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has invited tenders for development of a “social media communication hub”. This essentially would be a tool for monitoring social media posts that will track our tweets, Facebook posts and any other content that we choose to share anywhere in India. This essentially would be the government being able to snoop into everything we do online; potentially including emails that we privately exchange.
It is couched in innocuous terminology – this is to be an “analytical tool”. This tool is to perform 'search engine like functions' to monitor public sentiment on various issues, trending hashtags and so on. This itself is quite ominous, but it goes further. The government also wants functionalities that will help to ‘mould public perception’ in a ‘positive manner’ for the country.
Though the stated purpose – inculcate nationalistic feelings in the masses – sounds lofty and desirable it is quite obvious how this can be used for propaganda and to sway political opinion. We are all well aware of how the notion of nationalism has become a narrow and restricted concept in recent times. How would those labeled as antinational be treated? The government also wants to be able to predict headlines that may appear on various media and to find out how those headlines impact global public perception.
This is scary at so many levels. Where other liberal countries are concerned with giving power back to the citizens, this would serve to disenfranchise Indians. This would put enormous power in the hands of the government; similar to China's highly restrictive censorship platform. We don’t know what the government is privy to and how it will use the information it gathers. The Aadhaar issue has already raised serious concerns about the privacy of citizens’ data. The apprehension that data will be used to influence political and ideological leanings is not unreasonable. Further, by using ambiguous or misleading terminology, people will remain unaware of the extent of surveillance they are being subjected to.
Remember how the government nearly managed to scuttle net neutrality by trying to get us to sign up for something called ‘Free Basics’ that was supposed to bring digital equality for India but which in fact would have massively benefited some players while undercutting the smaller online entities? We are already subjected to scary amounts of online surveillance – that apparently is not enough… not with the Loksabha elections next year.
Do you have something interesting you would like to share? Write to us at [email protected]
