[Katyayani Shukla is a PhD Scholar at South Asian University. In this piece the author examines India’s Digiyatra app and argues that its self-sovereign identity framework provides only “pseudo-self-empowerment” to users due to inadequate mechanisms for accountability, explanation, and transparency in how their data is transferred and processed. The author argues that while SSI principles…
Search Results for: data protection
Digital Sovereignty or Digital Surveillance? Examining Sanchar Saathi Under India’s DPDP Act
[Akshat Pal and Samya Rahul are second-year B.A. LL.B. (Hons.) students at National Law University, Jodhpur. This article examines the Sanchar Saathi app’s mandatory pre-installation directive and argues that its technical design, when combined with broad state exemptions under India’s Digital Personal Data Protection Act, enables mass surveillance that undermines constitutional privacy protections established in Puttaswamy. The author contends that…
Securing Digital Evidence In India: A Case For Integrating Blockchain-Based Smart Contracts
[Sarah Unhelkar is a B.A. LL.B. (Hons.) student at NLU Jodhpur. She is interested in Tech Law and Gender Studies. In this piece she argues that blockchain-based smart contracts are time and cost-efficient than the statutorily (BSA and IT Act) mandated Certificates, to verify the Chain of Custody. This is especially because smart contracts can…
India’s Soft Law Approach: Strategic Choice or Potential Oversight?
[Vrinda is a Third-Year Law student at the National Forensic Sciences University Gandhinagar. Thier areas of interest include Technology and Cyber Policy along with AI Governance.] INTRODUCTION The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) constituted a drafting committee in July 2025 to develop an AI governance framework for India. The framework is guided by two objectives: first, to…
Rights Without Courts: India’s Troubling DPDPA Model
[Adarsh Philip Roy is a PG student at West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences (WBNUJS), Kolkata.] The Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 (DPDPA) establishes a framework for the collection, storage, processing, and ultimately the protection of personal data. On closer examination, however, this seemingly progressive law carries a controversial twist. Unlike other global data protection laws,…
Zero Days and Zero Rights? Legal Vacuum In India’s Cyber Incident Reporting Regime
[This article has been co-authored by Aayushman Verma and Amal Singh Patel, who hold an MS in Cyber Law & Information Security from the National Law Institute University, Bhopal. It examines India’s cyber incident reporting regime under CERT-In’s 2022 Directions, arguing that while it imposes strict six-hour reporting deadlines on companies, it fails to create…
The Cookie Consent Conundrum: Understanding EU’s Digital Privacy Law
[This article has been authored by Netraa Rathee, a 3rd-year student at NLIU, Bhopal. It traces the evolution of EU cookie regulation from the 2002 ePrivacy Directive’s opt-out model to today’s strict opt-in system, examining how consent requirements have tightened amid growing privacy concerns. The author explores enforcement challenges, consent fatigue, and the tension between…
Pixelated Perjury: Addressing India’s Regulatory Gaps in Tackling Deepfakes
[This article has been authored by Isha Katiyar, a fourth-year B.Com. LL.B. (Hons.) student at Gujarat National Law University, Gandhinagar. It examines India’s legal framework for addressing deepfakes, highlighting gaps in the IT Act, BNS, and DPDP Act that fail to define or effectively regulate AI-generated media. The author proposes a comprehensive policy roadmap including…
Gaps in Timeline and Consent Management in India’s Draft DPDP Rules 2025: A Critical Analysis
[This article has been authored by Mihir Singh and Tia Sikka, fourth-year B.A. LL.B. students at Christ University, Bangalore. It examines critical gaps in India’s Draft Digital Personal Data Protection Rules 2025, particularly the absence of clear timelines for notice, data deletion, and grievance redressal, as well as vague procedures for consent withdrawal. The authors argue…
U.S. Visa Surveillance: The New Panopticon and its Privacy Implications
[This article has been authored by Anvesha Singh and Preeshita Singh, fourth-year B.A. LL.B. students at Symbiosis Law School, Hyderabad. It examines the United States’ June 2025 policy requiring international student visa applicants to undergo social media vetting, arguing that it violates privacy rights and suppresses free speech. The authors highlight how India’s Digital Personal…