Prashant Mali, expert in cyber and privacy law, talks about India’s evolving privacy culture and the need for additional security and privacy dialogue in the country’s government-led Smart Cities Mission. He shares his perspective on how technology can be used to solve real-world problems, and discusses India’s AePS (Aadhar-enabled Payment System) through a local privacy and security lens.

Prashant Mali is the founder of a Mumbai-based cyberlaw  consultancy, Cyberlaw Consulting (Advocates & Attorneys)and has chaired theCyber & Law Foundationfor21 years.In addition to his academic profile (which includes Masters degrees in both law and computer science), Prashant’s professional exposure is compelling: he is not only busy with cyber law litigation, he is also the author of a number of books relevant to the discipline, is a sought after speaker and makes regular appearances on Indian and international media to share his insight on data breach, cyber crime and matters of cyberlaw generally. In this episode, Prashant talks about India’s privacy culture as one of “openness”, which he believes must evolve to embrace the rigour imposed by data privacy laws. He also speaks to the security and privacy dialogue around India’s government-led Smart Cities Mission, and he references a technology being used in India that has atrue human interface–theAePS (Aadhar-enabled Payment System)–which uses a human biometric to authorize financial transactions, much like using one’s body as a bank card. Prashant shares his perspective on how the AePS reflects security and privacy controls (and expectations), and about how technology generally can be used to solve real-world problems.