We were alarmed by a recent report that the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) is citing fiscal constraints in establishing a Multi Stakeholder Body (MSB). We wrote to the DoT, pressing for transparency and enforcement of net neutrality.
This week, the Union cabinet saw a major reshuffle. This included new ministers for MEITY, MOC, and MIB. We wrote to the new ministers, welcoming them to their new role and highlighting key areas that need to be addressed.
We analysed the privacy of policies of the 4 large telecom service providers to check not only whether they were Puttaswamy-compliant, but also whether they would need updating in the face of the Personal Data Protection Bill, 2019. We found certain alarming issues in these policies.
We asked them to ensure that the BharatNet Project, which aims to provide fast internet connectivity to the whole country, is operationalised according to pre-existing timelines so that these issues can be resolved.
In this post, we, through our statement, indicate areas of concerns around the legality of the process and also indicate how, by filing Right to Information requests, we are hoping for greater public disclosure.