There is little doubt that the internet helps large groups of people come together. But quite often social media is criticised as being of little social use. Cynics would classify online conversation within categories of chatter on celebrity and pop culture, posting the next hot meme, engaging in the cycles of online social outrage or even cheering for our favourite sports team. While this only makes us human, even overt attempts of online activism are discounted as lacking authenticity, diversity and impact. We have some limited evidence to the contrary.

A little over two weeks ago we put out a call on social media for people to volunteer their skills and time to create Indian language versions of the 7 privacy principles and a summary of the Indian Privacy Code, 2018. More than 27 people wrote in, which is a growing number as we continue to receive emails everyday. Strangers over the internet have put in time, collaborated and created versions of the 7 privacy principles in Bengali, Hindi, Khasi, Marathi, and Tamil. Many more have conducted peer reviews, and even volunteered to create versions in Kannada, Malayalam, Telugu and Urdu.

Anjani Pandey volunteered a week back and yesterday sent across a Hindi version of the summary of the Indian Privacy Code, 2018. Just have a look at the amount of time, energy and commitment it would have taken to create the translation. Even this original summary of the lengthy Indian Privacy Code, 2018 was created by the work and creativity volunteered by Antaraa Vasudev.

Anjani and Anatara like many others, have stepped up and supported the cause of privacy and data protection in India. They are no longer strangers but those who have volunteered just like the lawyers and policy experts who initially drafted the Indian Privacy Code, 2018. Due to the annotation tool more than 59 comments, many containing strong criticism will help us improve this model draft. We value this growing belief in our shared mission to #SaveOurPrivacy that is uniting people from diverse identities, backgrounds and regions in India.

We hope you consider endorsing the 7 privacy principles and advancing a public demand for a strong, effective privacy law in India. Please do write in to us, we try to respond to every email and comment. We will continue to learn and adapt. Reach across to us on email hidden; JavaScript is required