Pretty Good Podcast Live at DRAPAC23 is a special episode series of Pretty Good Podcast, recorded live at the Digital Rights Asia Pacific Assembly in Chiang Mai, Thailand, last May 22 to 26, 2023.
Together with hundreds of changemakers from a broad range of sectors who have come together to build knowledge, collaboration, and momentum on Digital Rights and the Asia-Pacific, this series features a number of DRAPAC23 participants working across pressing digital rights issues in the region.
In this episode of PGP Live at DRAPAC23, Shruti Trikanad, a researcher at the Centre for Internet & Society, delves into the Greater Internet Freedom project that explores the implications of global digital rights policies and malicious entities’ potential misuse of data. Shruti provides insights into the use of digital IDs, highlighting the privacy risks and exclusionary impact on access to essential services. In sharing her encounters with digital rights advocates from countries in the early stages of digital ID implementation, she highlights the lessons and strategies that can be adopted to ensure rights-respecting policies and implementation.
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About Centre for Internet & Society (CIS): A non-profit organisation that undertakes interdisciplinary research on internet and digital technologies from policy and academic perspectives. The areas of focus include digital accessibility for persons with disabilities, access to knowledge, intellectual property rights, openness (including open data, free and open source software, open standards, open access, open educational resources, and open video), internet governance, telecommunication reform, digital privacy, and cyber-security. The research at CIS seeks to understand the reconfiguration of social processes and structures through the internet and digital media technologies, and vice versa. Through its diverse initiatives, CIS explores, intervenes in, and advances contemporary discourse and regulatory practices around internet, technology, and society in India, and globally.
Relevant Links
- The Centre for Internet & Society has produced numerous articles and case studies covering various aspects of Digital IDs:
- Amidst global adoption of digital identification systems, concerns about privacy and governance have surged. The article Governing ID: A Framework for Evaluation of Digital Identity proposes an evaluation framework, encompassing rule of law, rights-based, and risks-based tests, to assess Digital ID governance across jurisdictions and legitimise its specific uses.
- The case study titled Governing ID: Use of Digital IDs in the Healthcare Sector addresses the heightened risks of profiling and surveillance associated with the use of digital IDs, particularly concerning sensitive health data. It emphasises the necessity of regulations on access and control, data and purpose specifications, and the establishment of effective redressal mechanisms.
- Learn more about the Centre for Internet and Society’s work through their website, social media pages on Instagram and Twitter, and by signing up for their newsletter.
- Shruti was the lead writer for “Digital Identification Systems in South and Southeast Asia”, a report produced by EngageMedia with Internews and supported by the US Agency for International Development (USAID) under the Greater Internet Freedom project. The report looked into the digital ID systems in seven South and Southeast Asian countries to understand the implications on digital rights and provide recommendations to address critical gaps. Findings from this report highlighted the vulnerability of marginalised groups who do not have legal forms of identification, considerable threats to people’s privacy and data security, and current gaps in safeguarding measures.
- The Greater Internet Freedom project, a consortium comprising over 70 organisations from more than 40 countries, strives to foster an open, interoperable, reliable, and secure internet. Implemented by Internews with support from USAID, the initiative is dedicated to “enhancing digital security for civil society and media organizations, involving citizens in internet governance debates, and advancing human rights online.”
- EngageMedia is the South and Southeast Asia regional partner of the Global Internet Freedom Consortium. Learn more here.
