ZDNet India has this insight on Privacy.

In the non-fictional world we live in, unfortunately, there are numerous examples of privacy erosion.

Soon after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, Northwest Airlines submitted millions of passenger records--including credit card numbers, addresses and telephone numbers--to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Ames Research Center after company officials publicly stated that it "never provided this type of information to anyone".

The carrier told The Washington Post that the data was for a secret US government project to improve aviation security. Although passengers were not informed, Northwest officials insist privacy policies were not violated. Not so, says information-privacy group The Electronic Privacy Information Center. The organization plans to file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Transportation on Wednesday.

This is the second such case in the United States. Last year, JetBlue Airways admitted to violating customer privacy when it handed over 1.1 million passenger records to the US Defense Department. Passengers have since taken class-action lawsuits against the airline.

Read on for more...
- posted by sankarshan @ 1/25/2004 06:40:00 AM 0 comments

 
I am conducting a study under the fellowship scheme from Sarai for the year 2004. Further details can be found here. Below is the abstract posted to the PRC list.

Preamble
---------

Localisation (hereinafter abbreviated as L10n) have as the core objective the desire to take computing to the masses. L10n initiatives work with the entire GNU/Linux toolchain and existing distributions conforming to recent LSB specifications. Information and Communication Technologies (hereinafter abbreviated as ICT) are being gradually adapted to ensure that the 'digital divide' is successfully bridged. Using ICT for development has been the objective of ICT4D. L10n and ICT4D are possess a dynamic synergy so far as the broad aims and objectives are concerned.

Title of Study
---------------

"GNU/Linux L10n initiatives and their impact on ICT4D efforts with special relevance to management of such projects, integration and collaboration protocols, tools and methodologies".

Short term objectives of the Study
-----------------------------------

Analysing L10n initiatives in the perspective of ICT4D implementations has the immediate result in producing models of process(es) and protocol(s) that can be replicated and redeployed with customisation(s). Such a repository of models are useful in testing out L10n efforts and incorporating user feedback through a Participatory Model.

Aim of the Study
----------------

In India, the major L10n initiatives include those for Hindi, Bengali, Tamil, Malayalam and Marathi. These projects are being taken up for discussion as they show a considerable level of project maturity as well as proven releases of ISO images (or the project roadmap is public and in place). The aim of this Study is:

 > to understand the publicly available roadmaps for the formal conclusion of the first phase deliverables, to analyse the project and release management protocols in place
 > to propose a framework for collaboration with other L10n initiatives in order to ensure effective and optimised sharing of technological know-how
 > to analyse ICT4D efforts based on these localised GNU/Linux implementations and releases
  > to study the technological limitations of working with limited releases of localised applications
 > to enumerate and quantify the various economic aspects of ICT4D implementations
 > to propose optimisation of existing management practices and evaluate various independent paths
 > to locate and identify possible 'index cases' and test bench areas leading to a self-sustaining and viable ICT4D implementation
 > to create a model for successful replication of feasible implementations
 > to analyse regions of overlap between successful ICT4D installations and regional GNU/Linux L10n efforts
 > to propose a model repository for various generic applications as 'inclusive ICT4D'

Layout and methodology of Study
----------------------------------

The Study is research-oriented and will thus include both primary and secondary research.

The aim and scope of the proposal includes interaction with various members of Indic Consortium to understand the aims and objectives as mandated by the charter of the Consortium.

It also includes first hand research of the currently running (pilot, test case and phase-in) ICT4D implementations, analysing media reports on the same and the financial projections of such implementations.

The Study will include investigation of implementations of ICT4D programs on a global scale to rationalise the objectives and strategic goals. Evaluating such short-term strategic goals and long-term tactical initiatives on the basis of a ranking scale will lead to creation of a framework leading to a proposal for guidelines of ICT4D implementations.

L10n efforts and initiatives are the delivery platform towards ICT4D. Thus the project involves detail study of various L10n initiatives and the relevant spinoff projects that are potential candidates for incorporation in an ICT4D effort. As part of the effort, it will also include investigation into 'Low Cost Computing' methods that focus on integrating Free/Libre Open Source Software development models towards dissemination of information.

The Study shall be modelled on the method of iterative and regular releases of whitepapers and case studies. Such releases will address either one particular domain (or aspect) of the Study title or evaluate and propose methods and tools for rapid scalability of ICT4D projects.

Regular releases of such project documents on mailing lists (such as BytesForAll, PRC) will ensure peer review and feedback on the methods employed to collate and collect data and analyse the same. The objective of the research is to produce a document that will serve as a guideline to various implementations by providing case studies and templates. The final project document release will provide a conceptual understanding of the various L10n initiatives and propose areas of collaboration and tie-up/tie-in together with methods of doing the same.

A temporary content platform is created at www.geocities.com/sankarshan76/csds-study/index.htm to make content available in human readable format. This will be taken up in right earnest after a proper domain has been purchased and a Content Management System put in place.

A related aspect of the Study is conducting talks and presentations at various academic institutions which are involved in F/L OSS initiatives with the aim of creating a technologically aware volunteer/enthusiast base. Thus, it also includes constant interaction with persons interested in education to explore new avenues towards promotion and implementation of F/L OSS based ICT4D efforts using both bottom-up and top-down approach.

The project approach is two-fold:

[i] investigate existing domains of ICT4D by interaction with the existing networks in order to understand processes

[ii] participate in creation of new niche systems where ICT4D experiments can be carried out

As part of point [ii] above, a list to address the issue of 'Low Cost Computing' (and the various contributory factors) has been initiated at Freelists.org. The project also requires closer interaction with members of WSF and FSF-India involved in the technology research. Initiation of participatory discussions with technology transfer organisations like
Forum of Scientists, Engineers and Technologists (FOSET) will lead to a greater appreciation of the ground-level realities of technological challenges. The project will also include discussions with senior officials of the Government in order to provide a balanced perspective of the scenario.

The Study will also take into account the roadmaps and strategic aims of the various stakeholders in the domain of L10n and ICT4D. Such an inclusive approach encourages a convergence to emerge.


- posted by sankarshan @ 1/25/2004 06:17:00 AM 0 comments