IFF’s May 2024 Newsletter!
IFF’s May Newsletter
Your Digital Rights
– our command.
The 2024 General Elections to the Lok Sabha were chock full of violations of democratic principles. As digital nagriks, it is our inalienable right to fight them and fight we did with #FreeAndFair – our campaign to document and analyse all the significant effects on our electoral process brought on by the unchecked use of technology. Regular recaps and analyses of party manifestos, we were hard at work to ensure that you, dear voter, had access to critical information regarding your digital rights every week.
Digital Rights Are Going Great – Elections Edition and #VoterPrivacyWatch were more initiatives under our #FreeAndFair campaign to inform and protect against abuses of the democratic process. From deepfakes to surveillance, the election season was a rollercoaster we’re glad to have gotten off from.
We’ve been fighting since day 0 for your digital rights, and we’re not stopping anytime soon. With winds of change ushering in, what will remain unchanged is our purpose and vision. You can read more about our commitment to the cause here.
🔦 Shedding light on ‘Blackbox Governance’
In January 2024, a report by Tapasya, Kumar Sambhav, and Divij Joshi documented how people lost access to crucial social protection schemes in Telangana after the introduction of Samagra Vedika, a digitised system for welfare delivery. A recent report by Amnesty Tech further highlighted such concerns as part of Amnesty International’s broader research on the human rights implications of using AI tools in the public sector.
This follows a larger trend in Governments - both at the state and central level implementing bleeding edge technologies, with the usage of Artificial Intelligence being unchecked, unaccountable, and non-transparent.
It is in this context that we hosted a Twitter space on Blackbox Governance. We were joined by Tapasya (The Reporter’s Collective), Divij Joshi (UCL), and David Nolan (Amnesty Tech) who helped us unpack the ground realities of automated welfare delivery systems, and understand the necessary checkpoints and limitations India must draw up before deploying AI in the public sector.
🛑 It’s time to
#BanTheScan
The Tamil Nadu police’s Facial Recognition Portal is used to identify and verify the identities of suspects and a recent massive leak in the system revealed 8 lakh data points of 50,000 accused persons. The leak in the FRT portal revealed many scary truths.
It showed that facial data is not securely stored nor are there adequate checks and balances on its use by law enforcement. The accuracy of this technology has also been the subject of scrutiny. Ultimately, it could lead to discrimination, targeted policing, and disenfranchisement of historically marginalised groups.
We’re always in your corner, from censorship to surveillance.
Join the fight for digital rights and donate to IFF!
Flagged privacy concerns regarding “100% implementation” of the Aadhaar-linked APAAR student ID which centrally stores a large volume of student personal and academic data. rt.
Submitted comments on WHO’s Draft Principles for Human Genome Data Access, Use and Sharing, 2024
Summarised our submissions to the Ministry of Corporate Affairs surrounding four broad areas of concern with the draft Digital Competition Bill
Highlighted the potential gaps in the EU AI Act - the world’s first attempt to regulate AI-enabled facial recognition
Wrote to political parties about the growing concern over the rampant circulation of manipulated/misleading media during election time
Wrote to the ECI voicing our concerns about its inadequate action against constant MCC violations by political parties.
Listed some mobile apps used by political parties to identify & profile voters, potentially compromising their data privacy for political gains.
Explained why you should be worried about the use of real-time AI-powered video surveillance at Taylor Swift concerts and more.
Broke down the legality of CCTV cameras in jails following CM Kejriwal’s claim that he was under 24-hour CCTV surveillance during his time in Tihar Jail
No matter the government - IFF has been fighting for you through it all. Our vision to preserve digital rights by upholding constitutional values has resulted in the indelible support of our community without whom we could not have made it this far.
In May 2024, IFF received Rs.5,01,783 from one-time donors and members. Our expenses totalled at Rs.11,40,195. We received no organisational donations this month.
With a gap of Rs. 6,38,412 between our income and expenses for the month of May - we face an uphill battle to continue our advocacy. Help us bridge the gap between our income and expenses by making a one-time donation or becoming an IFF member.
Make your tax-deductible donation today!
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