Privacy in India

It´s true that is not a lot of information about privacy in India. I have found 3 interesting links.

1. N Vitall writes an article at Mumbai Mirror: "Privacy in the cyber age"

2. And there is this presentation by Ponnurangam Kumaraguru and Lorrie Cranor. Privacy in India: Attitudes and Awareness. In Proceedings of the 2005 Workshop on Privacy Enhancing Technologies (PET2005), 30 May - 1 June 2005, Dubrovnik, Croatia.

“Very little information has been published about privacy attitudes in India. As India is becoming a leader in business process outsourcing, increasing amounts of personal information from other countries is flowing into India” (Kumaraguru & Cranor)

3. Privacy International 2003 Report. Republic of India

Identity and Identification in a Networked World

On September 29-30, 2006 will take place in New York this symposium: Identity and Identification in a Networked World at New York University.

The symposium will examine critical and controversial issues surrounding the socio- technical systems of identity, identifiability and identification. The goal is to showcase emerging scholarship of graduate students at the cutting edge of humanities, social sciences, artists, systems design & engineering, philosophy, law, and policy to work towards a clearer understanding of these complex problems, and build foundations for future collaborative work.

The symposium will feature a keynote talk by Ian Kerr, Canada Research Chair in Ethics, Law & Technology at the University of Ottawa.


Program chairs:

- Tim Schneider, JD Student, NYU School of Law
- Michael Zimmer, PhD Candidate, Dept. of Culture & Communication, NYU (I recommend you his blog)

Faculty advisor:

- Helen Nissenbaum, Dept. of Culture & Communication, NYU

Sponsors:

- Coordinating Council for Culture and Communications, Journalism, and Media Studies, New York University
- Department of Culture and Communication, New York University
- Information Law Institute, New York University School of Law

Pharmacy & Privacy

Eyewitness News publishs a special report about pharmacies with secure dumpsters

" Do you trust your local pharmacy with your sensitive personal information? If you do, you might have second thoughts based on an Eyewitness News investigation.

The nation's largest pharmacy chains are apologizing because of what we found in their trash."

More at: Eyewitness News

Part One: Trashing your privacy

Part Two: Trashing your privacy

HP: The Memory Spot chip

Image Source: HP Labs website

Text HP Press Release

HP Labs researchers have developed a wireless data chip that could revolutionize the way you think about information stored on paper and other physical objects.

The tiny Memory Spot chip – less than half the size of a grain of rice -- makes it possible to attach digital information to any surface, object or document. So a seaside postcard could be accompanied by photos of your family at the beach. A wedding photo could contain excerpts of the wedding video or an audio recording of the ceremony.

Image Source: HP Labs website

Memory Spot chips have numerous possible consumer and business-based applications. Some examples are:

Medical records: Embed a Memory Spot chip into a hospital patient’s wrist band and full medical and drug records can be kept securely available.

Audio photo: Attach a chip to the prints of photographs and add music, commentary or ambient sound to enhance the enjoyment of viewing photos.

Digital postcards: Send a traditional holiday postcard to family and friends with a chip containing digital pictures of a vacation, plus sounds and even video clips.

Document notes: A Memory Spot chip attached to a paper document can include a history of all the corrections and additions made to the text, as well as voice notes and graphical images.

Perfect photocopies: A Memory Spot chip attached to a cover sheet eliminates the need to copy the original document. Just read the perfect digital version into the photocopier and the result will be sharp output every time, no matter how many copies are needed, and avoiding any possibility of the originals jamming in the feeder.

Security passes: Add a chip to an identity card or security pass for the best of both worlds --- a handy card with secure, relevant digital information included.

Anti-counterfeit tags: Counterfeit drugs are a significant problem globally. Memory Spot chips can contain secure information about the manufacture and quality of pharmaceuticals. When added to a drug container, this can prove their authenticity. A similar process could be used to verify high-value engineering and aviation components.

More info:

HP Labs

BBC Online: Tiny wireless memory chip debuts

New Scientist: Tiny radio chip can stores video clips

Wikipedia: Memory Spot

El Mundo: Su historial, en un chip de menos de un milímetro cuadrado

What's the Future of Desktop Sotware?

Knowledge Wharton (KW) is the Wharton School's online business journal, and my favorite one. There are available podcasts, special sections, and there are two versions: Spanish/Portuguese and Chinese.

KW published yesterday an article What's the Future of Desktop Software -- and How Will It Affect Your Privacy?

This article is base on questions that were posed during two panels at the recent Supernova 2006 conference, co-hosted by Wharton in San Francisco.

Read more about Supernova 2006

Full article at Knowledge Wharton