3 Year On, Echo from Elon

 

 

 

Context :

Self Verification : Musk Echoes Govt of India’s Position  /  Eco Times  /  11  April  2022

Extract :

Billionaire Elon Musk, the newest member on Twitter board, has suggested that users of the microblogging platform’s subscription service Twitter Blue be given an authentication mark — a suggestion that echoes the Indian government’s view of giving social media users an option to verify themselves.

“Everyone who signs up for Twitter Blue should get an authentication checkmark,” Musk tweeted on Sunday. He followed it up by saying that it should be different from “public figure” or “official account “ checkmarks

Musk’s call for authentication is in line with India’s push for greater accountability on the internet wherein it mandated all significant social media firms including Twitter to provide users with the option to self-verify  their identities on these platforms.

“ I’d see his (Musk’s) intent as giving people the verified option quicker, while giving Twitter some revenue to cover the cost of the capacity they need to ‘verify’ so many in the queue, but not necessarily to cut down the number of anonymous accounts,” cyber and tech policy expert Prasanto K Roy told ET.

“I’d imagine a ‘free speech absolutist’ would not want to force users away from anonymous accounts — a key requirement for free speech in less liberal regimes,” he added.

As per the government’s intermediary guidelines notified in February last year – Rule 4(7) of the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 :

— users who wish to verify their accounts voluntarily are expected to be provided with an appropriate mechanism  to verify their accounts and provided with a demonstrable and visible mark of verification by social media platforms (including Twitter).

Last week, Twitter rival Koo claimed it became the first social media platform to launch a voluntary self-verification feature wherein users could link their Aadhaar number to their profiles and get a green tick.

 

The company said the move would empower users to prove the authenticity of their accounts, which would then lend credibility to the thoughts and opinions that they share. Voluntary self-verification promotes visibility of genuine voices, it said.


“Twitter has been very selective with who they provide a blue tick to and there are many people in India who would want that mark of authentication, even if it were to come at a price,” Pavan Duggal, a Supreme Court advocate and cyber expert, told ET.

 

“And this is a win-win for the platform because they will be following the mandate of the government and getting users to pay for the service that they were to provide for free.”

Such a move, if implemented, would also add credibility, and make the platform more robust by removing the cloak of anonymity from several users, Duggal said.

Musk suggested a raft of changes to Twitter Blue in a series of tweets.

“The power of corporations to dictate policy is greatly enhanced if Twitter depends on advertising money to survive,” he said in a tweet.

MY  TAKE  :

 

Dear Shri Ashwini Vaishnaji – Shri Rajeev Chandrasekharji :

 

Elon Musk is committing to “ Self Verification “ checkmark  in the narrow

 context of his own website Twitter .

Obviously he has no authority to speak on behalf of thousands of other websites

What I have been advocating to our Policy Makers ( through a number of e-mails

 sent over the past 3 YEARS ) is an UNIVERSAL MECHANISM of Self Verification,

 as explained at :

SARAL-Single  Authentic  Registration (for)  Anywhere  Login[ 10 Feb 2019 ]

 

Extract :

 

Advantage ?

 

         #  No filling up / editing, your personal data, again and again, on hundreds of

             web sites. Just ONE site !

 

    #  Preventing web sites to demand – and use – your personal data which they

        don’t need

 

 

How will this work ?

       #   At birth of a child , parents will submit child’s data ( Name / Birthdate /

           Address etc ) on,

      www.IndiaDataCustodian.gov.in  

          Up to the age of 12 , parents will submit / edit,  all data about the child

          From 12 to 18 , data submission / editing will be done jointly with the child

          From 18 onwards, child ( who has turned adult ) will maintain data

 

What DATA will be submitted on IndiaDataCustodian ?

     Data will be submitted at 10 DATA LEVELS – described in detail at :

Only Answer :  a  Statutory  Warning   [  10  Nov  2018  ]

 

How will other web sites “Access “ these data of a user ?

        #   All web sites / mobile apps will enable a user to login by clicking ,

       “ Log me with ww.IndiaDataCustodian.gov.in “

       #   No user will need to submit any personal data directly on ANY web site /

            mobile app

       #   Each user would need to select / specify ( on IndiaDataCustodian ), which

            web site ( or type of web site ) can be granted   “ access “ to which DATA

            LEVEL , for free

           

      #   User will also select / specify which DATA LEVEL can be “ sold “ to what kind

           of web sites

      #   The “sale Price “ for each DATA LEVEL will be fixed by IndiaDataCustodian

      #   The “ for sale “ DATA will NOT reveal the identity of any user. It will be

           always anonymized / aggregated  for a few hundred / few thousands

           users, based on “demographic profile “ configured by the buyer

           web  site online ( on IndiaDataCustodian ) and the purchase price paid online

          ( DBT to each User’s Bank account )

          

          

What about the web sites which do not agree to this arrangement ?

      #   They will be STOPPED from operating in India  !  It will be “ Quit  India “ from

           Google downwards and will include Indian web sites as well

           

      #   Of course they may come on board at any time – in which case

           IndiaDataCustodian will inform all the Indian Citizens who have registered

           with IndiaDataCustodian

           

     #    IndiaDataCustodian will also publish on its web site , the “ Sale Prices “ for

           each DATA LEVEL

 

What concerns will SARAL address ?

 

 SARAL will satisfy the following concerns :

  

      #   It will facilitate early introduction of E-Commerce Policy , which is hanging

           fire due to a potential conflict with the proposed Data Protection Bill in

           respect of nature of sensitive data that must be stored  locally

 

  

      #   It will store on the local server of IndiaDataCustodian , entire “ life history

           “ of WHO visited WHICH webSite , WHEN and for HOW LONG , and

           did WHAT

 

      #   It will satisfy the National Encryption Policy

  

     #   It will ensure smooth functioning of the Centralized E-Commerce

          Regulator / Data Protection Regulator

 

      #   It will enable TWO FACTOR AUTHENTICATION

  

     #   It will enable India’s Intelligence Agencies to carry out surveillance in most

          transparent manner

  

     #   It will enable the Central and the State Governments to formulate policies /

          schemes in respect of subsidies / unemployment allowances / other DBT

          schemes

 

           

     #  It will enable users ( registered on IndiaDataCustodian ) to “ monetize “

         their personal / private data by  authorizing IndiaDataCustodian to sell the

        same ( could be as high as Rs 30,000 per month per user )

 

      

    #  It will enable Indian and Foreign Corporate to bypass the Social Media web

        sites and , instead use the platform of IndiaDataCustodian , to target their

        “ Marketing Campaign “ to millions of Indians.

 

         This will  enable IndiaDataCustodian to earn billions of dollars , which it can

         share with its registered users 

 

 

RELATED READINGS :

 

Ø  New rules in the works to curb seller bias in etail search results   /    ET    /   11 April 2022

Extract :

Ø  The rules will also restrict ecommerce companies from sharing

 consumers’ buying behaviour with anyone, said Rohit Kumar Singh,

 secretary at the Department of Consumer Affairs. Showing some chosen sellers

 limits the choices for consumers also and is discriminatory towards them, he

 added.

The objective is to make the algorithm democratic for the consumer, he said.

 

Ø  These rules will be a part of the framework for Open Network for Digital

 Commerce (ONDC) and will apply to all companies engaged in digital

 commerce including Amazon, Flipkart, Google Playstore, Apple Store, cab

 aggregators and hotel aggregators

Ø  The proposed framework seeks to control digital monopolies and create

 more inclusiveness within the digital commerce ecosystem

Ø  Only Answer : a Statutory Warning …………………………………….[ 10 Nov 2018 ]

 

    Extract :

 

          ALL websites wanting to operate in India must carry on its home page,

         following STATUTORY WARNING :

          #  This web site has entered into a CONTRACT with India’s Data Protection

              Regulator and has been allotted

 

              “ Contractor No :  061139 “

 

       #   A visitor who has registered on www.IndiaDataCustodian.gov.in , can

              get the services of this web site by just entering on this web site :

              

Ø  Name  and  User ID  /  Password [ selected ]

Ø  His REGISTRATION NUMBER at www.IndiaDataCustodian.gov.in 

Ø  Then clicking on… “ Log me in with  www.IndiaDataCustodian.gov.in  

        He / She does not need to provide any other personal data

 

[ For other clauses of this STATUTORY WARNING, please click link above ]

 

Ø   New Legal Structure ? ……………………..[ 06 April 2022 ]

 

With Regards,

Hemen Parekh  /  hcp@RecruitGuru.com  /  11 April 2022