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<DIV dir=ltr align=left><FONT face="Book Antiqua" color=#0000ff><SPAN
class=421045612-09102007>Thanks Rui for a significant distinction between the
prefered processes within the different sectors - Business has functioned on a
professed 'need to know' principle, by which only the bare minimum required info
is shared both within the organization as well as with the outside world, while
many times, Govts have preferred lack of transparency which supports a lack
of accountability to the citizen/community.</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><FONT face="Book Antiqua" color=#0000ff><SPAN
class=421045612-09102007></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><FONT face="Book Antiqua" color=#0000ff><SPAN
class=421045612-09102007>Just wanted to share that in India, one of the landmark
legislations in its 57 years of independance was the 'Right to Information' act,
that was passed in both the central (federal) and state (provincial)
legislatures couple of years ago. (see <A
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Right_to_Information_Act">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Right_to_Information_Act</A>
<A
href="http://righttoinformation.gov.in/">http://righttoinformation.gov.in/</A> ,
<A href="http://rti.gov.in/">http://rti.gov.in/</A>)</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><FONT face="Book Antiqua" color=#0000ff><SPAN
class=421045612-09102007></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><FONT face="Book Antiqua" color=#0000ff><SPAN
class=421045612-09102007>As per this act, any citizen/institution has a right to
seek information with the Govt/public institutions and the concerned office has
to necessarily part with the information sought. For e.g. Govt projects which
involve large spending on procurement of materials and on wages often involve
siphoning of funds through malpractices in such procurements. A citizen can
write and get the details of the 'payments' made to workers on a project and in
many many cases, it was found that payments were made to people who did not
exist or that people were paid lesser than what was recorded. This act is seen a
BIG blow for transparency and accountability in public services/systems. Slowly
more and more people and organizations are taking recourse to its provisions for
enforcing transparency.</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><FONT face="Book Antiqua" color=#0000ff><SPAN
class=421045612-09102007></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><FONT face="Book Antiqua" color=#0000ff><SPAN
class=421045612-09102007>Govt systems are also called 'public systems' since
their dealings as well as their information and other resources are for the
public/community at large. Businesses are not on the same plane in this matter
of need for disclosure and transparency (which is perhaps one of the key causes
of the Enron saga and its consequences in Sarbanes-Oxley etc)
</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><FONT face="Book Antiqua" color=#0000ff><SPAN
class=421045612-09102007></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><FONT face="Book Antiqua" color=#0000ff><SPAN
class=421045612-09102007><SPAN class=421045612-09102007>Of course, CS tends to
be more on the extreme of openness and transparency than otherwise.... (beyond
the issue of the right of privacy of an individual)</SPAN></SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><FONT face="Book Antiqua" color=#0000ff><SPAN
class=421045612-09102007><SPAN
class=421045612-09102007></SPAN></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><FONT face="Book Antiqua" color=#0000ff><SPAN
class=421045612-09102007>Guru</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><FONT face="Book Antiqua" color=#0000ff><SPAN
class=421045612-09102007></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><FONT face="Book Antiqua" color=#0000ff><SPAN
class=421045612-09102007>ps - of course this 'right to information' was not
simply bestowed on Indian citizens by the Govt. It was result of a hard fought
struggle by a mass community based organiztion - "Mazdoor Kisan Shakti
Sanghathan" (<A
href="http://www.humanrightsinitiative.org/programs/ai/rti/india/states/rajasthan.htm">http://www.humanrightsinitiative.org/programs/ai/rti/india/states/rajasthan.htm</A>.
Also pls read this inspiring story of MKSS work in fighting for transparency in
use of public funds <A
href="http://www.indiatogether.org/stories/ncpri.htm">http://www.indiatogether.org/stories/ncpri.htm</A>)
</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Book Antiqua" color=#0000ff></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Book Antiqua" color=#0000ff></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Book Antiqua" color=#0000ff></FONT><FONT face="Book Antiqua"
color=#0000ff></FONT><FONT face="Book Antiqua" color=#0000ff></FONT><FONT
face="Book Antiqua" color=#0000ff></FONT><FONT face="Book Antiqua"
color=#0000ff></FONT><BR></DIV>
<DIV class=OutlookMessageHeader lang=en-us dir=ltr align=left>
<HR tabIndex=-1>
<FONT face=Tahoma size=2><B>From:</B> Rui Correia [mailto:correia.rui@gmail.com]
<BR><B>Sent:</B> Tuesday, October 09, 2007 5:07 PM<BR><B>To:</B>
governance@lists.cpsr.org; KovenRonald@aol.com<BR><B>Subject:</B> Re: Privacy
was Re: [governance] Who will be in Rio?<BR></FONT><BR></DIV>
<DIV></DIV>Perhaps good to remember that there are a few elements that set
us apart from the other two sectors (business and government). One such is that
we are ALWAYS in favour of transparency/ openness/ access to information/
accountability, whereas the other two are demonstrably only so when convenient
(i.e. not in conflict with any other vested interest).<BR><BR>That being the
case, to now want to participate incognito, would make us loose a bit of our
soul.<BR><BR>Having said that - and unless I missed it, has not been mentioned
so far - perhaps there is a need for privacy in some cases: we do know of
members of this caucus and other caucuses that are not as free to come and go
and say with impunity where they have been as the rest of us. Then again, not
having your name on a public list might be little comfort, when agents of the
regimes that they seek to outmanoeuvre are most likely to be present in Rio and
any other future event.<BR><BR>So, to be or not to be ... on a public
list<BR><BR>[]s<BR><BR>Rui <BR><BR>
<DIV><SPAN class=gmail_quote>On 09/10/2007, <B class=gmail_sendername><A
href="mailto:KovenRonald@aol.com">KovenRonald@aol.com</A></B> <<A
href="mailto:KovenRonald@aol.com">KovenRonald@aol.com</A>> wrote: </SPAN>
<BLOCKQUOTE class=gmail_quote
style="PADDING-LEFT: 1ex; MARGIN: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; BORDER-LEFT: rgb(204,204,204) 1px solid"><FONT
face=arial,helvetica><FONT face=Geneva color=#000000 size=2>Dear All --
<BR><BR>I wholeheartedly agree with Norbert's take on the privacy issue and
hope that will be the last word in what has been perhaps the most amusing (a
euphemism to avoid offense to anyone) discussions in the leadup to IGF
II.<BR><BR>Bests, Rony Koven</FONT><FONT face=Geneva color=#000000
size=2></FONT><BR><BR><BR>**************************************<BR>See what's
new at <A onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)"
href="http://www.aol.com" target=_blank>http://www.aol.com</A>
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<BR>________________________________________________<BR><BR><BR>Rui
Correia<BR>Advocacy, Human Rights, Media and Language Consultant<BR>2 Cutten
St<BR>Horison <BR>Roodepoort-Johannesburg, <BR>South Africa<BR>Tel/ Fax (+27-11)
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