‘R’ for RIGHTS

“Being Human in the digital world is about building a digital world for humans” - Andrew Keen

Today a lot of focus is on human rights, liberty, freedom of choice & access and rightly so, but digital rights also need equal attention. In an increasingly digital age, it is but logical that the digital rights be considered as part of basic human rights.

What are digital rights?

"Digital Rights” is a vast superset of basic and sophisticated rights related to the digital world. To put it simply, they are closely linked to access to information, freedom of expression and privacy and are those that allow people to access, use, create and publish digital media, as well as access and use computers, smart phones & other electronic devices, and communications networks. It encompasses many issues within it, such as but not limited to equal access to the internet, freedom of online expression, protection from online abuse/trolling/harassment, privacy rights, data protection rights, and many more.

Although each country is developing its own Digital Rights Charter, there are some general guidelines that all countries follow. Most common of these are -

• Universal and equal access to the Internet for all regardless of their income, their geographical location or their disabilities.

• Freedom of expression, information, and communication

• Privacy and data protection for Citizens to prevent misappropriation of personal data and their use for financial gain, etc.

• Right to anonymity and encryption of communications which is necessary for reliable and secure transactions on the Internet.

• Right to be forgotten or a right to delete to enable a person to have their private information removed from Internet searches, databases and directories.

• Protection of minors as in the case of child pornography and to guarantee safe access without infringing the rights of children.

• Intellectual property so that Authors be guaranteed recognition of their artistic or literary work and the right to be remunerated for its use, while guaranteeing free access to works that are already in the public domain.

Digital rights in India

In India, the Government is working to bring in regulations and codification of the digital rights as currently they are not as clearly laid out or structured as in some other parts of the world. For instance, the government is working on getting the Personal Data Protection Bill (PDP), a strong step towards digital rights movement, to be passed as a law in the Parliament. Once it has been accepted as law, it will provide an overarching advisory on the collection, storage, and use of personal data of Indian residents. According to the government, the country needs a ‘comprehensive legal framework’ to regulate the online space. This would include separate laws on data privacy and the overall internet ecosystem.

Apart from that, various High Courts as well as the Supreme Court of India has stipulated the inherent existence of a few digital rights within the current Fundamental Rights present in the Constitution of India. For example, the “Right to access the Internet” is a fundamental right available to Indian citizens.

The way forward

While we are rapidly progressing to a Digital India, there exists a divide between Urban and Rural amplified by varying literacy levels. Instead of being the equalizer by removing inherent biases as is common with physical systems & providing wider access to products & services, the digital infrastructure is creating a different set of barriers. So there is a deep need to make the access to information very simplified and easy so that the required awareness is created amongst all Citizens who can then actively partake in all the services & products they are eligible for. The civil society needs to step forward for this awareness creation and bridging the divide with greater emphasis on intersectionality. In today’s world, we cannot address issues of poverty, sanitation, gender, health, and education without providing equitable access to internet & technology with adequate safeguards for people’s data.

Information is also changing its form rapidly and everything is now under the purview of Artificial intelligence & Machine learning. R&D laboratories across the private and public sectors are heavily relying on data mining, trends, and associations among multiple tickers to bet on human behavior. If we see then deep advocacy and awareness among the citizens are required with regards to digital rights for these four areas - social media, e-commerce, digital payments, and data.