JOIN USe-Sahamathi, a state consent management system
In an attempt to ensure that consent is central to data sharing, the e-Sahamathi initiative was incepted by the Karnataka government. One of the first state consent management systems in the country, the scheme aims to facilitate data sharing between citizens and market entities, by allowing users to register and consent to their data being shared. This is especially aimed towards farmers and students who, the government claims, will be able to access academic, employment and business opportunities.
While the platform has been created, and nearly 200 citizens and five third party service providers have been approved, e-Sahamathi will start operating only after the national legislation is put into place.
Rajeev Chawla, Chief Knowledge Officer and Advisor, Agri-Stack, a digital agriculture project by the Union Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers' Welfare, explains how it works. "For example, a buyer who wants to know who is cultivating tomatoes in Kolar and wants to buy from them, makes a request on the platform," he says.
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The system takes this request, finds users who match the criteria and sends them a message, notifying them about the data seeker's interest, with a request for consent. First, farmers have the option to share their names and phone numbers. Next, they are asked if they are willing to share their survey numbers and thirdly, information on their land and location. Users can decide what data to share.
Officials say it has a seven-layer privacy system to ensure ethical data sharing. “Much before the data protection policy of the Government of India was notified and later withdrawn, we already had these principles in our plan, based on international standards for privacy,” says V Ponnuraj, Secretary, Department of Personnel and Administrative Reforms (e-Governance).
However, the effort could fall short, without user awareness about the potential consequences of data sharing. In a country where digital awareness is only just rising, the permanence of a digital footprint remains unknown to many. Most government data collection projects are based on the premise that every citizen knows enough to make an informed judgement on what data to share, and with which service providers.
“Consent is collected and personal data is voluntarily shared by citizens. The information is stored by the government, and respective departments. e-Sahamathi is the middle-man that connects the data seekers with the data principals, the people whose data is being sought," Chawla says.
Given the risk of data breaches, security of stored data poses a concern. Data protection also involves encryption and strong digital security systems, which many government websites may not have.