The Failure of Human Rights

I am born in an age in which most of the major human rights treaties (there are nine “core” treaties) have been ratified by the vast majority of countries. Yet it seems that the human rights agenda has fallen on hard times. Women lack equality, political freedom is getting curtailed, child labour and forced slavery is rampant in much of the world. Socio economic inclusion of persons with disabilities in society is still a distant dream. Further, the heavy weight champions of human rights i.e. United States and Europe have floundered from blunder to blunder authorizing torture, mass surveillances, targeting civilians using drone strikes, funding and fueling religious extremism, protecting authoritarian regimes, and failing to control the xenophobia towards its Muslim communities. Yet still lingers on to the moral authroity of launching military interventions based on the premise of human rights violations by states that are unfriendly towards western interests. Governments continue to violate human rights with impunity and silence those who speak against the attrocities. Almost 150 of 193 countries that belong to UN engage in torture and extrajudicial killings. An alarming number indeed. Any kind military intervention as seen recently in cases of Iraq and Syria have backed fire as well.

The sad reality is the western ideology of human rights have failed and there is very little evidence to support that human right treaties have done much to improve the miserable state of human wellbeing.  The failure of states in improving wellbeing of people are slowly pushing them towards the Chinese model of development, which combines political repression and economic liberalism.  The threat to human rights framework from such models and practises adopted by US such as recourse to torture and targetted killing of civilians is a big threat to international human rights regime.

Many experts argue that the world is a freer place than it was 60 years ago, but an important question to this argument is it freer because of the human rights treaties or because of development evolution, such as economic growth? My answer is more inclined towards the economic growth and happenings in free markets. Any person can formally have up to 400 international human rights including important rights to freedom of expression, privacy, identity, work, leisure and religious freedom among many others but the dilemna for governments is they have no guidance on them. Lack of skills, budgets and understanding of human rights framework at all levels results in preventing the government from protecting them. For example everyone has the right to be protected from torture. Now imagine our police being barred from using torture to solve criminal cases or eradicate polio. This will require to overhaul an entire dysfunctional system from setting up investigation units having high paid police officers, towards making changes in judiciary and even the political system. With limited resources it makes it extremely difficult for government to achieve the objectives. Most NGOs working on developing human rights pick and choose the rights they want to be prioritised in discussions with the government. A NGO working on the right for privacy or freedom of expression will be focusing on prioritising these two rights only as a requirments from its donors and will not push for rights of person with disabilities though equally important. The ambiguity in human rights makes it more difficult for government to take it seriously.

The international human rights champions have a lot in common with the arrogance of development economists which in previous decades tried and failed to alleviate poverty by imposing western solutions on developing countries like ours. But  development economists were clever to have reformed their approach, the human rights movement has yet to acknowledge its failures. It is time for a reckoning.

Written on route to Hub from Quetta on RCD Highway.

The Failure of Human Rights

I am born in an age in which most of the major human rights treaties (there are nine “core” treaties) have been ratified by the vast majority of countries. Yet it seems that the human rights agenda has fallen on hard times. Women lack equality, political freedom is getting curtailed, child labour and forced slavery is rampant in much of the world. Socio economic inclusion of persons with disabilities in society is still a distant dream. Further, the heavy weight champions of human rights i.e. United States and Europe have floundered from blunder to blunder authorizing torture, mass surveillances, targeting civilians using drone strikes, funding and fueling religious extremism, protecting authoritarian regimes, and failing to control the xenophobia towards its Muslim communities. Yet still lingers on to the moral authroity of launching military interventions based on the premise of human rights violations by states that are unfriendly towards western interests. Governments continue to violate human rights with impunity and silence those who speak against the attrocities. Almost 150 of 193 countries that belong to UN engage in torture and extrajudicial killings. An alarming number indeed. Any kind military intervention as seen recently in cases of Iraq and Syria have backed fire as well.

The sad reality is the western ideology of human rights have failed and there is very little evidence to support that human right treaties have done much to improve the miserable state of human wellbeing.  The failure of states in improving wellbeing of people are slowly pushing them towards the Chinese model of development, which combines political repression and economic liberalism.  The threat to human rights framework from such models and practises adopted by US such as recourse to torture and targetted killing of civilians is a big threat to international human rights regime.

Many experts argue that the world is a freer place than it was 60 years ago, but an important question to this argument is it freer because of the human rights treaties or because of development evolution, such as economic growth? My answer is more inclined towards the economic growth and happenings in free markets. Any person can formally have up to 400 international human rights including important rights to freedom of expression, privacy, identity, work, leisure and religious freedom among many others but the dilemna for governments is they have no guidance on them. Lack of skills, budgets and understanding of human rights framework at all levels results in preventing the government from protecting them. For example everyone has the right to be protected from torture. Now imagine our police being barred from using torture to solve criminal cases or eradicate polio. This will require to overhaul an entire dysfunctional system from setting up investigation units having high paid police officers, towards making changes in judiciary and even the political system. With limited resources it makes it extremely difficult for government to achieve the objectives. Most NGOs working on developing human rights pick and choose the rights they want to be prioritised in discussions with the government. A NGO working on the right for privacy or freedom of expression will be focusing on prioritising these two rights only as a requirments from its donors and will not push for rights of person with disabilities though equally important. The ambiguity in human rights makes it more difficult for government to take it seriously.

The international human rights champions have a lot in common with the arrogance of development economists which in previous decades tried and failed to alleviate poverty by imposing western solutions on developing countries like ours. But  development economists were clever to have reformed their approach, the human rights movement has yet to acknowledge its failures. It is time for a reckoning.

Written on route to Hub from Quetta on RCD Highway.

Paying Higher Wages is Not a Drain on Profits

Most organizations providing customer services to the populace whether in private or public capacity have a major challenge that is "satisfying the end customer". But are we really doing the right things and have the correct directions and processes in place to achieve the goal of providing great customer care remains to be seen. One such organization that I happen to be a part of in Pakistan is going through a phase we saw the US superstore chain Walmart went through couple of years back also knows as the "Walmart Effect". US retail giant Walmart found that its stores were a mess with empty shelves and unhappy customers similar to what we are seeing with NADRA where long queues, poor customer care, corruption and front line employees lacking the impulse of doing the right thing have become a major headache for the public. 

In this era of digital innovation and growth NADRA as a leading public sector organization has become stagnant in its growth. The major reason behind it's decline is low morale, corruption and unsatisfied work force. To overcome challenges of similar nature Walmart took shocking steps in raising wages of front line work force, invested in their training's and opened paths for employees to advance. It was a major shift in their strategy one that understood that "paying high wages is not just a drain on profits but an engine of collective growth". 

NADRA as a leading public sector organization in Pakistan needs to follow the similar footsteps one that allows to pay some dividends to work force from the profits its making, invest in employees training and give them opportunities to advance otherwise the goals of achieving great customer care and become a catalyst of change will not materialize. In the 21st century we need a generation of leaders who understand why change is important to the business and their accountability to implementing it.

In the 21st century, organizations like NADRA and many others need 21st century leaders who are willing to change and move away from antiquated management practices. As a futurist, I hope this post helps you start thinking about what we need to be doing and the shifts we need to make. 

Digital Switchover in Pakistan

My latest report is the first in a series that will examine the challenges of digital switch-over in Pakistan by providing an in depth assessment of the prevailing market trends on the adoption of digital TV, its policy making and regulation in the country.

The analog to digital transition ranks as one of the most complex technological transitions of the present era. Successful transition will depend on widespread consumer awareness of how digital television differs from conventional television and why it is worth investing in a new technology from a household’s perspective. Preliminary research on the subject of adoption and diffusion; policy making and regulation of digital TV carried out by Internet Policy Observatory Pakistan indicates a severe lack of user awareness about digital TV, its attributes and adoption.

The transition from analog to digital is not a simple trajectory in which households merely turn off a set of established technologies one day and turn on another system the next. The effects of switchover to digital go well beyond the technical aspects by bringing with it complex economic disincentives and cultural resistance.

This report is an attempt to begin thinking about the challenges developing countries like Pakistan face and recommends clear strategies to be adopted for a successful digital switchover and its regulation.

Download Report 

Securing Sensitive Files and Documents from Leakages

It comes as no surprise to me that organization’s most sensitive and critical documents are still stored in unstructured files and documents that are commonly subject to data loss and leakages. The focus of IT security professional in most modern day organizations has been towards securing networks and databases while neglecting the most important aspects of information that resides in files and documents. Given the proliferation of smart phones and devices that are connected to the internet securing the information stored on such files are becoming of pivotal importance and any lapse can be detrimental for organizations information security policy. 

Lately, many organizations knowingly or unknowingly have allowed their employees to be more productive by embracing apps, software’s and storage devices without giving a thought to the security of critical documents. Some common scenarios that I have come across recently are:

• Sending of official documents/files without encrypting or password protecting them using personal email accounts such as Gmail, Hotmail and Yahoo. 
• Transfer of confidential data using USB, memory cards and external hard disks and in plain text format. 
• Uploading of sensitive data on public storage services as Dropbox, one drive and Google for accessing on other internet connected devices. 
• Sharing of folders on public networks with access permission set to “everyone”.
• Sending of confidential files and letters using communications apps such as Whatsapp, Viber, Tango and Skype. 
• System administrators failing to understand the number of file sharing software’s being used on the system in workspace environment. 
• Installing unverified software’s as protector against malware, spyware, Trojans and viruses. 

In any organization controlling everyday sensitive files and documents is becoming more complex and difficult than securing databases. The primary reasons are firstly employers fail to deliver a safe working environment where productivity is not compromised and secondly employee’s fatalistic attitude towards data security. Given the recent rise in hacks and leakages of sensitive data like Panama papers and previous to that Snowden leakages that is still making news despite passing of almost three years since its revelations reminds the need of the hour for organizations to invest in information security control mechanisms. Organizations that want to stay in business and flourish in the information economy need to make critical considerations on:

• Controlling and limiting access to all important documents on any connected device and ensure files are encrypted.
• Adopting measures that prevents documents to be forwarded or shared maliciously.
• Removing access to documents once it’s no longer required. 
• Control and handling of files and folders by limiting access on the foundation of need to know basis. 
• Encrypting everything on any storage devices.

Parlimentarians fail to understand the Cyber Crime Phenomena

The securitization of cyberspace is a transformation of the domain into a matter of national security and perhaps one of the most important forces shaping today’s global communications. Using war on terrorism and national action plan as a pretext the ruling party in Pakistan has passed the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Bill 2015 in the National Assembly during presence of handful of parliamentarians. The bill if also passed in Senate will be detrimental for the growth and development of the internet in the country. Given the important role internet is set to play for economic development in Pakistan it is horrific to see the mannerism in which the despotic bill was passed. The Nazis destroyed the independence of the press by passing series of draconian laws and it seems Parliamentarians are exactly imitating the same with the freedom of the internet by passing of this bill.

As cyberspace infiltrates all aspects of our society, economics and politics it was hoped that the government will be more responsible with the drafting of the bill as it not only affects millions of internet users in the country but also put in risks the digital rights of next generation tech users with inadequate protections for privacy and basic human rights. The bill has been engineered with the pretext of protecting national security but it seems to be conscripted to benefit the aristocracy much more than the general populace. 

The bill on which I have spoken and written a lot before as well is still extremely vague in its definitions despite claims of the Minister and fails to understand the cybercrime phenomena that requires a multistakeholder approach to tackle complex technical and legal issues transcending our national territorial jurisdictions. Furthermore, most sections of the bill aims to criminalize innovation and development a critical part responsible for the success of the very internet we know today. Pakistan requires talent that can engineer a next Google, Facebook or create applications for encryption and security to protect our national assets and become less dependent on foreign technologies but this bill aims to criminalize all these efforts.

The globalization of internet is shifting economic developments in two important directions. First, given the aging population and near-saturated market penetration in the advanced economies, most of the expansion of the internet related market will take place in developing countries like Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh. Secondly, the spread of internet is expected to increase the share of developing countries in the internet economy presenting a historic opportunity for the young and poor in Pakistan to improve their economic condition but with the bill instead of aiming to promote the use of technologies is more inclined towards discouraging it’s use.

Overregulation of internet with the Cybercrime bill might deprive users of major benefits the information economy brings. To fully reap the benefits of a modern, rapidly changing economy, Pakistan need to better prepare their citizens for the demands of a changing information economy, and they need to adjust laws and social protection systems to ease the transition from labor market to information one.

It appears that parliamentarians have failed to understand the nature of cybercrime phenomena and seems to be determined to address it using the narrow hole of national security without considering its impact on innovation and long term economic development.

Short Measures and Broadband in Pakistan

The oldest known source for the expression "baker's dozen" dates to the 13th century in one of the earliest English statutes, instituted during the reign of Henry III (1216–1272), called the Assize of Bread and Ale. Bakers who were found to have shortchanged customers could be subject to severe punishment. To guard against the punishment of losing a hand to an axe, a baker would give 13 for the price of 12, to be certain of not being known as a cheat. Specifically, the practice of baking 13 items for an intended dozen was insurance against "short measure", on the basis that one of the 13 could be lost, eaten, burnt, or ruined in some way, leaving the baker with the original legal dozen.

A few centuries on from the initiation of the baker's dozen, and we have trading standards funded and operated by the government and off course regulators too. Their TOR extends far wider than preventing the short changing of customers, and also includes misrepresentation in advertising and supply.

But when we look at today's ridiculous practice of sellers including those magic words 'up to' in the fine print, they appear to be able to get away with just about anything.

Take broadband service. If two of us purchase a broadband service of 'up to' 8Mbps at Rs 6999 per month, and I get 3.1Mbps and you get 2.2Mbps, should we be content, and should regulatory officers let it slip through?

I rather think not!

Think of what this would mean when applied to other products:

Would you accept an unopened pack of Cornflakes sold by weight at 350g that only contains 290g? A new jar of apple jam marked up at 450g but has only 220g? A box of a dozen eggs with three missing? A liter of petrol that is only 330ml? Or a pair of trousers with legs which are supposed to be 85cm, yet turned out to be only 46cm? Actually those trousers are a pair of shorts!

It appears that, as long as 'up to' is in the small print, a dozen eggs is really 'up to a dozen eggs'. That seems reasonable, why didn't I get it first time around?

In short: The words 'up to' ought not to be a license for short changing in the supply or trading of anything or should it be Mr. Regulator?

Head in Hands anyone on the same block?

$10 switches and No Firewalls

Bangladesh Bank exposed to hackers by cheap switches, no firewall.

Bangladesh's central bank was vulnerable to hackers because it did not have a firewall and used second-hand, $10 switches to network computers connected to the SWIFT global payment network, an investigator into one of the world's biggest cyber hesit revealed.

The shortcomings made it easier for hackers to break into the Bangladesh Bank system earlier this year and attempt to siphon off nearly $1 billion using the bank's SWIFT credentials.

The lack of sophisticated switches, which can cost several hundred dollars or more, also means it is difficult for investigators to figure out what the hackers did and where they might have been based.

Experts in bank security described the findings as disturbing."You are talking about an organization that has access to billions of dollars and they are not taking even the most basic security precautions," said Jeff Wichman, a consultant with cyber firm Optiv. Most of the banks in developing countries fail to adequately protect their networks because they focus security budgets on physically defending their facilities.

Cyber criminals broke into Bangladesh Bank's system and in early February tried to make fraudulent transfers totaling $951 million from its account at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Most of the payments were blocked, but $81 million was routed to accounts in the Philippines and diverted to casinos there. Most of those funds remains missing. Forensic experts investigating the issue from SWIFT advised the bank to upgrade the switches only when they visited after the heist. There was a deficiency in the IT system said the spokesman, Subhankar Saha, confirming that the switch was old and needed to upgraded. The heist's masterminds have yet to be identified.

Bangladesh Bank has about 5,000 computers used by officials in different departments. The bank facility should have been walled off from the rest of the network. That could have been done if the bank had used the more expensive, "managed" switches, which allow engineers to create separate networks and install firewall at different levels to protect off the network from attackers. Moreover, considering the importance of the network services, the bank should have deployed staff to monitor activity round the clock, including weekends and holidays.

Many public sector organizations hosting critical national data suffers from similar issues, poorly designed infrastructure and lack of investments in upgrading IT security makes them extremely vulnerable to similar attacks on even larger scale.