Research
My research interests lie in the study of digital technologies and their interaction with law and society, including the governance and policy processes that are shaping these fields. The links below refer to my work in areas like privacy and surveillance reform, digital competition, Internet access and telecommunication policies.
Recent work
Interview with ThePrint's Assistant Editor Mohana Basu, in #SoftCover series to discuss the launch of Private and Controversial on 10 January 2023.
Indian Express Explained.Live session on "What does Privacy Mean on Social Media" held on 26 June, 2021. The discussions revolved around India's new intermediary guidelines and broader issues of regulation in the online space.
India’s Policy Responses to Big Tech: And an Eye on the Rise of ‘Alt Big Tech’ (December 2022)
The paper studies India's responses to the dominance of big tech, including in the form of technical archtectures like the Unified Payments Interface, the Data Empowerment and Protection Architecture, and the Open Network for Digital Commerce. It classifies these systems as ‘alt big tech’ – systems that create new opportunities for dominance and power play with significant consequences for competition, innovation, and public interest in the long run.
An Analysis of India's New Data Empowerment and Protection Architecture (January, 2023)
The paper offers an analysis of DEPA’s effectiveness as a solution to the consent problem and explores of its positive and negative aspects, both in terms of its design features and broader questions of process and governance.
Understanding State Level Variations in India's Digital Transformation (December, 2022)
This article highlights some of the state-level differences in digital access, skills, and infrastructure across India—as a basis for dispelling assumptions about the homogeneity and universality of India’s digital transformation.
Contributed to the report on Technology Governance in a Time of Crisis that was prepared by a multi-disciplinary team of 45 technicians, lawyers, and ethicists and published by the Human Technology Foundation. The report offers a guide for the responsible governance of COVID-19 related technological solutions.
The work included the development of a multi-factor risk impact assessment toolkit and its application to various tech interventions that have been adopted during the pandemic, including the Indian government's Aarogya Setu app.
Online dispute resolution in India: Looking beyond the window of opportunity (14 April, 2021)
In this article co-authored with Rashika Narain for the LEAP blog, we describe the meaning, evolution and state of adoption of online dispute resolution (ODR) in India. We also introduce the Handbook on Online Dispute Resolution designed to encourage the adoption of ODR solutions by businesses. While sharing the optimism generated by recent advancements in this space, we also highlight the country's persisting digital divide and concerns of excessive central planning in the design of ODR systems.
COVID-19: Access to devices a must for bridging the digital divide (28 July, 2020).
Wrote for Down to Earth Magazine about how the COVID-19 pandemic becoming a harsh reminder of the persistent digital divide in India. The absence of an Internet-enabled device presents the most immediate barrier in this divide.
Analysis of India's Aarogya Setu App (28 Aug, 2020)
Co-authored this analysis of Aarogya Setu that looks into issues of transparency in the app’s code and development process, its mandatory application, in certain contexts, and the implications for user privacy.
Street-level officials in India's COVID-19 response (6 April, 2020).
Wrote for the LEAP Blog about the critical role of street-level bureaucrats, like district-level officials, police officers, social workers and other members of the local administration, in the implementation of COVID-19 related policies.