this is dw news from berlin, this more on our website, dw, taco blue. wherever we go, whatever we do, we leave behind data. when we talk on the phone, when we go shopping, when we commute to work, many governments want to use our data to boost efficiency. but where do we draw the line? when does data collection go too far? and we risk living under a full blown surveillance date, big data analytics, a blessing or curse. that's our topic on shift. i honestly, i can't imagine my life without the internet and my smartphone digitalization is all around us and makes our lives easier. and so many ways, but it's a double edged sword. our data can also be used to monitor us to a degree never seen before. the result is a world where anyone can be a target. this example out of high. what about india shows just how fast that can

happen. this is indian activist as q masoud. he lives in one of the most highly surveilled cities in the world. in 2021. he was stopped in the streets of hyderabad by the police. and they asked me to burn in with this one. so i asked, why did they have not given any explanation and they said, just remove your mouth. the police took a photo with his face, but they wouldn't tell him what it would be used for this. it was triggering did, they will use me photograph with home didn't share this photographs. this is a class issue. the conduit does exercise in the wash videos that you get didn't need to begin pushing them. but the book people knew to fear because mrs. masoud wrote to the police but was met with

a wall of silence since then he's been raising awareness of the potential dangers posed by facial recognition technology. i believe that building it up is of people taking photographs. this is about the missing of phyllis of the state. masoud filed a petition in court. he wants to know how his data is being used. masoud fears the state is systematically collecting data without the proper safeguards and data privacy experts confirm his suspicions. or police have digitized every aspect of policing. they are building databases and making profiles of everyone in the city. this exit super nursing is ready. dogs that are specific places where my slice come in. if you slip people come for our people from low cost backgrounds are muslims when authorities abuse their power, it's often poor. people who suffer activists worldwide are fighting for

institutions to respect the fundamental rights of old people, including in digital spaces in india, the internet. freedom foundation is one group at the forefront. dot ting with all of these departments is that that is lack of transparency as to the actions. so we don't really know what they're doing. we know for the fact that it's stopping people and dickens portals you know for the fact that they have a lot of cctv cameras. it's an obvious next step to teen that it is been use. it's a known fact that india's government is building a centralized facial recognition database. there are also databases and specific sectors including education and health care, one of the biggest concerns off in so a society right now is that a lot of these databases, levine, and interconnected, and that route result in 260 degrees. so valence. that means that wouldn't be

problematic because they would conflate purposes for me to the city data was collected and used initially. wise personal data is being collected. it has to be collected with a purpose in mind, and it has to be minimized in such a way that only the, the not necessary to achieve that purpose is collect data protection measures are crucial to safeguarding our privacy. but protecting our private life is becoming a more daunting task. after all, the more data can be interlinked, the more valuable it is. that's the principle behind big data. to understand the power of big data, it helps to visualize the data you create day in and day out as a satellite image. each individual data point represents a single pixel, essentially useless on its own. only together do they reveal a bigger picture, just like satellite images show that storms are forming. your online search history

will reveal who your friends are or which political views you hold. technology also allows us to comb through data and spot things that would otherwise have remained secret. for example, companies can know women are pregnant before they even tell their families by seeing that they buy products like pregnancy, vitamins, or calcium supplements. on a larger scale, big data can help governments anticipate and meet our needs as a society, for instance, by predicting birth rates. they can plan for how many teachers will be needed in the future. that's why more and more governments are tapping into the pools of data that they have about their citizens in sectors, from health care to education. and that's why they're eager to collect more and more that india has greatly invested in his digital future in to 1000 just 5500000 people in india had internet access. that number is now more than

800000000 to govern the evolving digital space. lawmakers are proposing the digital india act 2023, the amos to regulate artificial intelligence, machine learning, and other technologies like 5, g and crypt currencies. a look into the smart city of hyderabad shows just how crucial it is to have such rules in place. hydro bond is considered one of the most surveilled cities in the world. as a smart city, we're probably will be, i would say comfortable to believe better than most other cities on a scale of se, pin. i would say volume 3 or 4, and i thought, well, this it is there heard of many of us it is, we still have long mr. blue marks. it is, is a big focus area for us as a company, a technology solutions that can help cds with improve the quality of life. researchers here analyze data, for example, to predict mosquito infestation. or to better understand how rooftop coatings can

help cool down buildings. or to forecast when the air is cleanest, so that people with respiratory diseases can plan when they go outside. we work on water environment, pollution, or transport, her health and safety. and when it comes to safety surveillance cameras play a key role exist, he has, i won't benefit those in cameras on the roads. today. that system is being used, the monitor remotely ought to investigate a crime. and something happened to go back and see whatever the researcher says. those same cameras can also be used to automatically detect suspicious behavior and alert police that some things wrong. this mutual powerful because the resource is not being used to payment current, it can be used. i know they're talking about it,

but how can we trust that governments are striking the right balance between harnessing the power of this data and ensuring people's privacy is protected. so it's a little bit of a challenge. it is little bit of a challenge, but then like data belongs to the government, it's been the police. i don't believe so much about this data. the data can't trust the government to keep it if it was, can you craft government actually pose a great risk to the right? that was even they do not apply. save words in principle is digitalization and data protection should go hand in hand. this small european country is setting an example. estonia, we are trying to become what people call a ditch to live up. think the model that we are following is something that has been implemented. and mr. now estonia, the small nation on the north eastern edge of the european union, experienced several difficult years after regaining independence in the early 19

ninety's. but then it embraced a digital transformation like few others since the beginning of 2 thousands. ah, that has been a steady progress sandlon approach to build and digitalized saw not just a government book, it holds a socket to day citizens can do almost everything online from renewing their passports to voting and elections. and now you can also apply for getting married online. well, you have to show up to actually say the commitments ah, the application itself can be done now. so digitally, but data protection rules in estonia are very different from those in india, in case of a so now because european units already hasn't eaten, we're addiction law in place. are bay, they're following the idea to it and did a little to say gods in india, we don't pump them. but there are only a few regions shown in black on this map where data is protected by regulations as rigid as those in the you. we have data protection laws adopted or updated

in virtually all of the jurisdictions of the world, but then the situation on the ground is very different. that's why the digital personal data protection bill is crucial for india. these topics have long been discussed like how to prevent data breaches or how to ensure only authorized parties or accessing people's data. experts are concerned about exemption supposedly meant to serve national security purposes. but there is wide consensus better law is necessary. if have been good, said that i to privacy follows from the fundamental right to life in the indian constitution. however, since then that as we know law, which would actually affect to waive the light. so there's gonna be no data protection line in. yeah, there is no seeing how the government is collecting and processing and the data that the collecting from the citizens. that's why eskew must suit has decided to

fight back. he's demanding his data be deleted. i'm trying to particularly privacy and a lot of people who can't come on inclusion. so i want to take their devices. felicity masoud wants to set the precedent for better data protection. and india my suitcase is important to push back. 20 important to tell the police that not everything is going to be treated. okay. whatever bad going activists say the authorities are building a massive surveillance apparatus that building is the new commandment control center for hives about police. this is read. you david, have access to all the ccb diamond us in the city. any data that people are collecting, the police are collecting on the street are stored. it makes me ready. i mean, it makes them pass, you know, to the store big for me. it's as if to me,

i live in all science fiction will re read. the state has got too much power and it's gone simply after you. ah, digitalization can mean both progress and surveillance. what's your take? are we living in some sy, fi, dystopian, or is all private data secure? let us know what you think the next time. ah ah, you live alone to get a month when i'm a last i didn't want to play it is someone is currently more people than ever on the news world wide in

search of a better life. but a case of in pod went back a little somebody that sort of led with a lender method did a little that out. i find out about bailey's story. info, migraines, reliable news for migrant. wherever they may be. ah, devastating. how was the are we can william us whose cars carried off by flooding? the fact of climate change, i mean, felt worldwide before a station in the rain forest continued, carbon dioxide emissions have risen again. young people over the world are committed to climate protection. what impact will is because change doesn't happen on its own make up your own mind.