Centre for Internet and Society

The Centre for Internet and Society (CIS) is a non-profit organisation based in India that undertakes interdisciplinary research on internet and digital technologies. Its areas of focus include digital accessibility for persons with disabilities, access to knowledge, intellectual property rights, openness, internet governance, telecommunication reform, digital privacy, and cyber-security.

Long Read

New research from our partners at the Centre for Internet & Society (CIS) reveals Indian health websites and apps are sharing intimate health-related data with third parties such as Facebook and Google. 

22 Jul 2021
In January 2021, the Indian Health Ministry officially allowed Aadhaar-based authentication when creating a UHID for identification and authentication of beneficiaries for various health IT applications promoted by the Ministry. This enabled the Co-Win portal, which is used to book COVID-19
Long Read

Millions of people rely on India’s Public Distribution System (PDS) to receive subsidised food rations, which have become an essential ingredient of survival for many families during the Covid-19 pandemic. However, access to food rations is not guaranteed for all beneficiaries, with many women being left without access to food at a time of crisis.

21 Apr 2020
Our partners from the Centre for Internet & Society in India wonder themselves whether the use of an official chatbot to advance ‘right information’ is the most efficient way to handle misinformation?. In a recent example, a ministry released advisories on how homeopathy can prevent the coronavirus
Long Read

CIS, PI's partner in India, posits health monitoring as surveillance and not merely as a “data problem.”

News & Analysis
Photo by Ray Witlin / World Bank CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 This article has been written by Ambika Tandon, Policy Officer at the Centre for Internet and Society, in collaboration with Privacy International. On October 17th 2019 , the UN Special Rapporteur (UNSR) on Extreme Poverty and Human Rights, Philip
State of Privacy

A study of privacy and surveillance issues in India. The State of Privacy project was last updated on January 2019, unless otherwise provided on specific pages.

News & Analysis
Creative Commons Photo Credit: Source In September 2018, a month after Argentina lawmakers voted against the legalisation of abortion, we spoke to Eduardo Ferreyra from the Buenos Aires-based Asociacion por los Derechos Civiles about the role of privacy in the abortion debate. Also joining us in
Long Read
To celebrate the hard work of privacy advocates around the world, we highlight 17 #PrivacyWins from 2017!
Long Read
To celebrate International Data Privacy Day (28 January), PI and its International Network have shared a full week of stories and research, exploring how countries are addressing data governance in light of innovations in technology and policy, and implications for the security and privacy of
News & Analysis
This guest piece was written by Elonnai Hickok, Amber Sinha and Vanya Rakesh of the Centre for Internet and Society. It does not necessarily reflect the views or position of Privacy International. In 2009, the Government of India set up the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) as an
News & Analysis
This guest piece was written by Elonnai Hickok and Vipul Kharbanda of the Centre for Internet and Society. It does not necessarily reflect the views or position of Privacy International. In light of the complex challenges and threats posed to, and by, the field of information telecommunications in
Advocacy
This stakeholder report is a submission by Centre for Internet and Society India (CIS India) and Privacy International (PI). CIS is a non-profit organisation that undertakes interdisciplinary research on internet and digital technologies from policy and academic perspectives. Through its diverse
Long Read
Written by: Centre for Internet and Society This guest piece was written by representatives of the Centre for Internet and Society (CIS). It does not necessarily reflect the views or position of Privacy International. Introduction As part of the State of the Surveillance project, CIS conducted a
News & Analysis
PI spent the first half of February in Asia, visiting our regional partners and speaking at events. Our trip began in Delhi, where the Centre for Internet and Society (in collaboration with the Society in Action Group) had organized two consecutive privacy conferences – an invite-only conclave on