Name: Smitha Krishna Prasad

Organisation: Centre for Communication Governance, National Law University, Delhi

Country: India

Stakeholder Group: Academia

Thematic Area: Privacy / Digital Literacy and Empowerment

Session Title: Discussions on right to Privacy and data protection – How do we reach larger audiences and make conversations more accessible

Session Format: ROUNDTABLE (60/90 MINS)

Co-organizers Name (if any):

Speakers Name: Representatives from various civil society groups working on issues of privacy, access and digital literacy. We hope to have a mixed group of representatives who conduct academic research on privacy and data protection, as well as individuals who work in diverse geographical areas. Names to be confirmed.

Speaker Status: Waiting for confirmation

Relevance of the issue with specified session theme: With increasing amounts of personal data being collected and used by the private sector as well as the public sector, it is important for citizens to understand their rights (in relation to privacy and data protection), as well as the need for better regulation of these activities. At this roundtable, we hope to touch upon two of the themes of the summit ie. privacy and digital literacy and empowerment to discuss ways in which those of us who have already been engaged in work on the right to privacy can ensure that this conversation reaches a larger, and more diverse audience.

Content of the session (Objective of the session): The session is intended to be a moderated roundtable discussion where participants will focus on methods that can be adopted by members of civil society and academia, to (a) increase awareness about the rights that citizens are already entitled to; (b) understand better the issues that citizens in diverse social / geographical groups face; and (c) identify the gaps between the work already being undertaken by civil society / academic institutions, and the manner in which these issues need to be addressed.

What is USP of the session: Researchers have been discussing the right to privacy for many years, and it has been seen that often simply changing the language used to describe these rights ensures that individuals have a better understanding of them. This session will aim to identify and find methods to address these gaps between the work of researchers and the understanding of individual citizens in this regard.

Please describe how you will use your speakers and how their views/ perspectives /expertise will be included in the session: The roundtable will have a diverse range of participants – researchers, academics, and civil society members who work in the field on the right to privacy as well as issues such as Aadhaar, digital rights issues specific to women or other marginalised communities. Each of these participants will be able to bring their unique perspective to the issues being discussed to ensure that the objective of the session is met successfully.

How are you bringing diversity in your proposed session whether it is relevant to the specified theme? Diversity among the participants in the roundtable is essential to the success of the discussions proposed. The participants in the roundtable will include researchers, academics, and civil society members who work in the field on the right to privacy as well as issues such as Aadhaar, digital rights issues specific to women or other marginalised communities.

Relevant Tags (Minimum 3 tags) Privacy, data protection, access, digital literacy