Disease Surveillance in India: Data Protection and Privacy Concerns
One of the focal points of the government health response to COVID-19 in India has been the extensive use of mobile phone applications such as the Aarogya Setu for contact tracing and quarantine. The applications have already been subject to widespread criticism for insufficient protection of user data. Notwithstanding the role of mobile phone applications, [...]
The Personal Data Protection Bill, 2019, which is a data privacy code, similar to the GDPR in the EU, has recently been passed by the Union Cabinet, and has been presented before the Lok Sabha for determination of enactment. In light of this, I seek to specifically analyze the important provision pertaining to data localization [...]
Global Court Functioning and the Impact of COVID-19 on Arbitration
Health and safety are the highest concern today for all as the ongoing impact of COVID-19 continues to expand every day. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic also has the unavoidable and related effect of delaying existing contested settlement processes in both the national courts and in arbitration. The trials were postponed or moved as [...]
The novel coronavirus pandemic is not only causing tens of thousands of deaths worldwide, damaging economies and disrupting normal lifestyles of people, but it is also posing several legal challenges. One such challenge is the right to privacy vs. the right to public health. Aggressive and intrusive contact-tracing mechanisms of governments worldwide during this acute [...]
The ‘shelter in place’ orders during COVID-19 have resulted in a surge in domestic violence in both the U.S. and globally. Isolation is a feature of coercive control, and the quarantine has been used by abusers to further isolate and terrorize women and children. Additionally, COVID-19 is also being used by abusers as a reason [...]
Research and advocacy group Freedom House found in a report published Monday that global internet freedom has declined for the ninth consecutive year. Freedom House found that political leaders employed individuals to shape online opinions in 38 out of the 65 countries covered in the report. Cross-border influence, in which authorities in a growing number [...]
China is exerting an enormous amount of power and influence over American companies even to the point of potentially enforcing its own laws. This has been a slow and largely secretive expansion over a period of years. It is a circumstance modern law has not foreseen and seems largely ill-equipped to deal with. Let’s start [...]
UN rights chief delivers global update focusing on role of climate change
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet on Monday opened the 42nd session of the Human Rights Council with an update on various human rights situations and the role of climate change. Bachelet stated that climate change affects every region of the world with catastrophic implications. She stated, “storms are rising and tides could [...]
Report: no evidence of foreign influence in 2018 US elections
Acting US Attorney General Matthew Whitaker and Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen on Tuesday released a joint statement claiming that foreign interference had no influence on the 2018 elections. The full report was submitted to President Donald Trump on Monday and remains classified. During the election cycle the Department of Justice and Homeland Security [...]
Rights groups call on Google to stop censored search engine in China
Several human rights groups signed a letter on Tuesday calling on Google to end its efforts to develop a censored search engine for China, code named Project Dragonfly. The letter accuses Google of “accommodating the Chinese authorities’ repression of dissent,” which would cause Google to participate in China’s violations of freedom of expression and privacy of [...]
