8th July 2019
Dear Reader,
Welcome to this week’s edition of the Digital Republic. The past few days have been dominated by one thing- the Union Budget, 2019. Not surprisingly, given the present government’s focus on tech, there was a lot to unpack for the tech community in India. We’re living in times wherein the government is actively pushing for a tech inclusive society that should, ideally, accelerate our economic output. Yet, the main question still remains, will this growth be restricted only to a few individuals or will we see an equitable distribution of benefits that are in line with our constitutional values? To explore this question and more, we’ve collated an eclectic bunch of articles on the role of tech as seen by the Budget and the Economic Survey of India.
On the Budget, we begin with a detailed and comprehensive list of tech takeaways, written by Trisha, Aditi, Soumyarendra and Shrey, followed by an article by Yogima Seth Sharma, on India’s plans to enhance the skills of its workforce to cope with the inevitable entry of emerging technologies. Bhumika Khatri brings to light the government’s attempts to eradicate corruption within Income Tax assessments using facial recognition. She also investigates the issues with Aadhar and PAN being used interchangeably.
S Venkataraghavan gives us an insight as to why the government has placed ‘data’ on such a high pedestal in the Economic Survey, while Soumyarendra Barik dissects the government’s plan to build a Central Welfare Database of citizens for the “public good”. Finally, we have three thought-provoking articles that bring to light the role of bhais and brotherhood in the food-network gig economy in Bombay, how a credit rating app got hold of sensitive data through a snooping software in Saibaba and music apps, and how privacy has, unfortunately, been seen as expendable in Indian policy.
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Decoding the Budget 2019
From Digital Payments to Intellectual Property Rights protection, technology played a conspicuous part in FM Sitharaman’s Budget address. Lucky for us, Trisha Jalan, Aditi Agarwal, Soumyarendra Barak and Shreya Ganguly have identified and laid down the key tech policy takeaways from this year’s Budget.
No P(AI)N, No Gain
The Fourth Revolution is coming, and India’s Finance Minister is not shying away from addressing its demands. In her budget speech, FM Sitharaman unveiled the government’s plans to up-skill the Indian workforce with emerging technologies like AI, IoT and Cryptocurrency. With significant questions being raised over the efficacy of the Skill India program however, the method of such upskilling remains to be seen.
Face-ing Corruption? Do Away with Personal Interactions
In a bid to omit ‘undesirable practices’ from income tax assessments, the FM has outlined a new scheme which harnesses facial recognition tech. Its primary purpose is to prevent any personal interaction between the taxpayer and the IT official and which might *hopefully* reduce the chances of corruption. There is also an element of schadenfreude for us here. Facial recognition is very controversial and has a whole host of problems. It therefore only seems appropriate that the first mass-roll out of this tech will happen within the government.
Mirror Mirror on the Wall, Is Our Data Safe at All?
In this interesting read, Bhumika Khatri explores the implications of subsuming PAN within the Aadhaar number (especially considering Aadhaar’s controversial past and the passing of the Aadhaar Amendment Bill 2019 without a concrete set of privacy laws). She asks, “Is our data at higher risk”?
Data: The Hero in India’s Development Story
The 2018–19 Economic Survey not only acknowledges data as a catalyst for India’s future economic growth but also envisions “data as a public good for the poor in the society”. S Venkataraghavan sheds light on why the government views data as a new instrument of change and questions whether private players are better suited to handle data equitably.
Friends, Indians, Countrymen! Lend Me Your Data
Highlighting the need to use data for the “public good”, the Economic Survey envisions a central repository that consists of merged datasets from different ministries and departments in the country. Consequently, the government will also sell select datasets to private institutions for commercial use. To help us understand the nitty-gritties, Soumyarendra Barik breaks down the entire process and its implications.
Jaanta Hai Mera Bhai Kaun Hai?
As part of a series on gig-work in India, this highly thought-provoking blog post explores the central role of kinship within the informal food delivery network in Bombay. It depicts the ways in which bhais recruit, advice and protect new joinees from their neighbourhood or communities, similar to older brothers. On the other hand, female gig-workers are alienated from this community network (the idea of a ‘brother’hood being taken literally), and consequently, find it harder to do their job and maintain their source of income. This is a fascinating piece on how traditional social norms and new economic realities in the digital age intersect.
How Sai Baba was Made to Spy on your Phone for Credit Ratings
In this unnerving piece, Gopal Sathe reveals how Creditvidya — a popular fintech company — collected personal and sensitive data by embedding tracking software within third party applications that streamed Saibaba stories. This data — obtained without a care for informed consent — was then used to rate people based on their creditworthiness. Our mothers said that when you pray, someone is listening. Turns out mothers are always right.
Fitting In: Privacy’s Place in Indian Policy
CIS’s Amber Sinha, ORF’s Bedavyasa Mohanty and Dvara Research Institute’s Malavika Raghavan discuss the barriers in understanding and implementing privacy within the Indian policy framework. The dialogue investigates how privacy is always pitted against another entity — be it innovation or development — and has often been made to take the back seat.
