Smriti Parsheera
About me
I am a lawyer and public policy researcher from India working on issues at the intersection of technology and society. My areas of interest include digital inclusion, privacy, data governance, and digital public infrastructure.
I am currently a Research Ambassador with the Interledger Foundation, a global nonprofit foundation and steward of the Interledger Protocol and a Non-resident Fellow with the CyberBRICS Project at the Fundação Getulio Vargas (FGV) Law School, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Before this, I was involved in setting up and led the technology policy work at the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy (NIPFP), one of India's leading research institutions in the field of public economics and policy, from 2016-20.
My other policy engagements have included working as a researcher with the investigation unit of the Competition Commission of India, as a project officer in the Government of India -- UNDP Access to Justice Project, and a member of the research secretariat for the Financial Sector Legislative Reforms Commission set up by India's Ministry of Finance between 2011-13.
I studied law at the National Law School of India University, Bangalore and the University of Pennsylvania School of Law with a Certificate in Law and Business from the Wharton School. I am currently pursuing a PhD at the School of Public Policy, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi.
smriti[dot]parsheera@gmail[dot]com
Twitter: @SmritiParsheera
Linkedin: https://in.linkedin.com/in/smrpar
My work
Private and Controversial: When Public Health and Privacy Meet in India (HarperCollins, 2023)
The COVID-19 pandemic illustrated how actions taken for the management of a public health emergency can significantly affect individual liberty, dignity and privacy. Set against the backdrop of the pandemic, India’s rampant health digitalization initiatives and the ongoing debate on data protection, the essays in Private and Controversial highlight the interconnections and tensions between the fields of public health and privacy. This includes issues of health data governance, reproductive rights, confidentiality rights of HIV-AIDS patients, and the role of community health workers.
This book project was supported by a research grant from the Thakur Family Foundation.
To learn more, please visit the book's official page or click here for international orders.
Also see: Interview with ThePrint for their #SoftCover series to discuss Private and Controversial.