Privacy—Is there a White Mirror Somewhere?

Like a wrong knot, the issue of privacy unravels into many directions and exposes other knots—just like what we have kept witnessing with privacy-related mishaps every now and then. Are we pulling at the wrong cord by any chance? Can NPD and data-contextualisation help with a middle path?

He has done a lot more than steering the direction of the talent-pool and innovation-ecosystem as the Director of IIITB. Professor S Sadagopan has so many milestones in a stint that is noteworthy on many emerging areas—and for both the industry-side and innovation-side—like BelYo, a Covid-19 tracking blockchain platform; an Aadhaar-like unique-identity digital platform for Morocco; and MOSIP—The Modular Open Source Identity Platform. Pratima H listens to his perspectives and advice on some issues that keep haunting the industry again and again. And what can entrepreneurs—whether in their bean-bags or as billionaires—do about it?

What are we doing wrong or right about privacy—specially, in light of the can of worms that we keep opening and closing the lid on. How can we solve the privacy issue in a thorough way?

On one hand, technology allows us to have more friends and connect directly to the opportunities and avenues we want. But the flipside is that we are opening up to a lot of people across the globe and across different time zones—so the risk is also there. The dangerous part is that this is a unique risk—the extent of which is still unknown to most of us. That’s bothersome. You do not when know what to protect and why. It is like another Covid situation. When we used to have a cold or flu, we knew that some tablets would be enough to cure it. With Covid, we did not know the extent of the danger. We had no idea about the cure. Uncertainty adds to the risk. The common person should be made more aware of the risks and ripples of the choices in technology. That said, as responsible people who have more knowledge in our hands, we should also use our influence in the conversations that matter so that we do not end up creating unwanted monsters. We have to keep our eyes on the monster. We slipped when we did not do so in Wuhan—and look how it got out of control.

But how do we rectify or improve the corresponding business-side of data? How do apps make revenues without data? Can we start rethinking of first- and third-party data in some way?

We have to be clear of one thing first—Non-Personal Data (NPD). We need to strike the right balance there. If a company wants to determine whether a detergent is doing well or not, that’s possible without hurting privacy. But should it be allowed or be able to use that information to be used against the very people who agreed to share data for feedback, now that’s something to be wary of. Can the company use a person’s data against that person? For instance- A doctor can share patient data with a clinic to enable better care but not to make money in the wrong way. There should be mechanisms of explicit permissions which allow and disallow these areas. I know these scenarios of information-usage are complex. But even nuclear power complex is complex. Have we not tamed it and used in a positive way?

Also, we can start working on better contextualisation of data. Data is just bits and bytes today. But it should be sliced into personal data, health data, financial data and marketing data. For one user sharing financial data may not be an issue, but health data might be a concern. For someone else, location data could be something that is private—but health data may not be that big a deal. So this will help us to find the balance between what users are comfortable with and what businesses can leverage in a responsible and fair way.

Is it right to put the entire burden on the businessmen and technology-makers? Are users not frivolous or negligent about their own data?

Yes. And even the most intelligent ones among us are, often, callous on that front. We can be the most well-read person in the room but the moment we download a new app, we behave like a five-year old kid. We get impatient. We want to go to the next thing—what pops next. The problem of instant gratification stays—with all kinds of customers. Applications should inject some friction to allow users to pause and consider their decisions—like a pop-up after the first two quick messages that they send on a new app. Users, too, should use this time to step back and understand their privacy and data-usage parts before rushing to the next part. Also, terms and conditions really need to be legible and understandable. If we need convenience of a chat-app, we should also know how it uses our data.

You guide so many start-ups in their journeys. Do you think entrepreneurs lose sight of their path once they start growing into billions?

All I can say is that we really need to rethink about ‘fast growth paths’. What is wrong in growing a little slowly but in the right direction? We are in an eternal hurry to grow fast—that’s the case with tech ventures do. That is now always needed. Even the current billionaires were good kids and I am sure they did not want to create problems but solutions. It is just the sudden spike of growth that disorients the goals.

Can you share your observations on the current state of technology education and the innovation ecosystem?

Technology education at Institutes like IIITB is creating an Innovation ecosystem fuelled through start-ups. That makes a big difference. Start-ups are integral to IIITB from Day 1. Way back in 2003 we hosted Tutor Vista that is one of the earliest to reach Rs 1,000 crore valuation; our alumni have created start-ups that are impacting the planet—Udaya Hegde and USEReady in Analytics space, Ishwar Sridharan and Exotel in Telecom space, and Khadim Batti of WhatFix in Customer Support.

What are some of the highlights and key achievements during your tenure at IIIT-B?

Here are some that I can pick out—Recruiting & retaining 50+ very high quality faculty who had education from some of the finest Institutes including MIT & UC Berkeley; Attracting students from the top 1 per cent (JEE Rank of less than 10,000 of the 1.6 Million); Non-departmental structure that ensures faculty, space and financial resources are used optimally and a unique Graduate School (with Master’s and Doctoral programs only). I am also proud that it is a Government-owned, but not Government-run model—that is unique.

What are some of the key alliances, projects and ventures that are helping the ecosystem, the talent-pool, and the industry?

A non-departmental structure allows inter-disciplinary work of the highest level; for example, a course on privacy taught by a computer science professor and a social science professor. Our partnership with NIMHANS, for example, leads to a neuro-surgeon doing PhD in computer science. Also worth mentioning is the four-year long partnership with upGrad allowed our Analytics/Data Science/AI/ML Programs helped us to scale from dozens to hundreds! In fact, thousands in the year 2020!
Tell us something about the idea and progress of Modular Open Source Identity Platform (MOSIP) and MIIIT.

MOSIP is an attempt to create a high-impact “Public Good” thru an Open Source Identity Software Solution that many countries can use as the base platform and build an ecosystem around it. In the “digitized” world today most Governments would need an accessible, easy to use, efficient and low-cost digital identity system. MOSIP precisely addresses this space. Morocco and Philippines are the first two countries that are likely to go live in the year 2021. India’s experience in building Aadhaar for 1.3 billion people and the expertise in building it from the scratch, give us confidence in building MOSIP.

From a future perspective, what industry issues excite you (or worry you)?

Computer science (in many shades that includes Data Science, AI/ML, Robotics) will impact all aspects on human endeavor—all industry segments to Government to Education to Health to Leisure to Entertainment, in a very fundamental way—not merely supportive way. For example, banking and financial institutions are seeing sweeping changes across India even with third World infrastructure only in many parts. That is what excites me.