Railwire seems to be arbitrarily blocking access to Reddit and DuckDuckGo. After Railwire subscribers sent us repeated reports on SaveTheInternet.in and also tagged us on social media we wrote to them today asking them to remove these blocks and follow the license conditions for ISPs.
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.
In our comments, we highlighted the need to revamp the policy and regulatory initiatives surrounding the broadband infrastructure in the country to ensure that every citizen has access to the internet irrespective of their geographical location or social and economic status.
On June 29, 2020 IFF has shared a supplementary submission with TRAI on net neutrality monitoring and enforcement. The purpose behind this is to emphasise the importance of focusing on strong implementation and enforcement; and the centrality of public/user participation.
IFF has written to the DoT and TRAI suggesting that government interventions must look toward overcoming the digital divide, appreciating the importance of the internet and mobile services as an essential utility, and protect net neutrality.