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Thursday, March 28, 2024
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Everyone you give your data to needs to be accountable for it: lawyer Manasa Venkatraman

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The lawyer and researcher said that even if data is given for the purpose of national security, agencies need to be held accountable for it. 

Bengaluru: Given the vulnerability of private data, there is a need to build a more accountable data sharing system even if it is shared for the purpose of national security, lawyer and research associate Manasa Venkatraman said.

“Everyone you give your data to has to be accountable to you… they can’t hide behind consent or some vague security purposes,” Venkatraman said in a conversation with ThePrint’s Digital Director Diksha Madhok at Democracy Wall.

Democracy Wall is a monthly free speech campus initiative organised by ThePrint in collaboration with Facebook. The second edition of the event at Jain University in Bengaluru featured Venkatraman, Congress MP Sachin Pilot, actor Huma Qureshi, political commentator Meghnad, IPS officer D. Roopa and comedian Aravind S.A.

The lawyer spoke about how the country urgently needs privacy laws to ensure the safety of every citizen when they interact online and the need for an accountability-based data sharing model.

The importance of reading terms and conditions in apps

Venkatraman also spoke of the dangers of neglecting the many compulsory terms and conditions imposed by popular apps, which users usually avoid reading.

“This is the problem, it is a take it or leave it system right now. And obviously, since people (app providers) know I don’t read their terms and conditions, they will make it as one-sided as they can,” she said.

She also pointed out the presence of a ‘limitation clause’ in the terms and conditions that limited the liability of app developers.

As a solution, Venkatraman suggested that along with accepting these terms and conditions, one should know if they are being harmed or discriminated against, and hold the app developer responsible.

She also said users should move court if there is a breach of trust.

The risks with information-sharing apps

Venkatraman spoke about the risks involved in using apps like WeChat and WhatsApp.

“The app knows who you talk to, what banks you use to make your payments, how much money you have in your account, who you send and receive money from. The threat is that all information is integrated on one platform so that if I’m not standing here, a mirror image of me can be made just by using my data,” she said.

This makes information likely to be misused, Venkatraman said.

She also talked about data sharing among different apps, which while providing users with refined services, also are vulnerable to exploitation.

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