Bharti Airtel Limited 17%

OVERALL SCORE – 17%

Bharti Airtel placed sixth out of eight among telecommunications companies in the Index overall. Though there are no regulatory factors that prevent Bharti Airtel from making explicit and prominent policy commitments to freedom of expression and privacy, India also does not provide any legal mechanism to incentivize companies to prioritize freedom of expression and privacy. While Indian regulations do address corporate social responsibility, their lack of explicit references to freedom of expression and privacy could help explain Bharti Airtel’s failure to focus on such issues.

In 2014, the Companies Act 2013 and Corporate Social Responsibility Policy Rules 2014 were enacted. Section 135 of the Act requires companies to have CSR committees in place. Rule 6 requires companies to have CSR policies in place, and Rule 9 requires, where possible, for policies to be displayed on the website of the company. The Annex to the Act contains a list of activities that may be included in a company’s CSR policy for a company to fulfill its CSR responsibilities. The list includes eradication of hunger and poverty, promotion of education, and reduction of child mortality, among others. It does not include freedom of expression or privacy, nor does it include a requirement to assess and address specific human rights risks associated with the company’s business operations. Bharti Airtel could build on its existing CSR program and extend its company commitments, policies and practices to include freedom of expression and privacy.

COMMITMENT – 13%

Bharti Airtel has made no overarching public commitments to protect users’ freedom of expression or privacy in a manner that meets the Index’s criteria. It scored fifth out of eight telecommunications companies, at the lead of a group of companies in the 0-13 percent range, while the highest-scoring companies were above 70 percent. Bharti Airtel’s credit in this category was due to two factors: the presence of a whistleblower program (C3) and the highest score in the entire Index for grievance and remedy (C6).

Remedy: A number of legal provisions require the operating company, Airtel India, to offer different levels of redress mechanisms. Companies are required to have grievance officers in place to handle complaints pertaining to the processing of user information and the violation of laws pertaining to content prohibitions. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India also requires that all service providers have redress mechanisms.

As mentioned above, no legal impediment prevents Bharti Airtel from making top-level policy commitments to users’ freedom of expression and privacy (C1), establishing executive and management oversight over these issues (C2), creating a process for human rights impact assessment (C4), or establishing and disclosing other policies described in the Commitment category.

FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION – 16%

Bharti Airtel had the lowest score on Freedom of Expression not only among telecommunications companies but also in the entire Index. Terms of service for Airtel India’s mobile and fixed broadband services were difficult to find, are available only in English (F1), and do not commit to notify users about changes to the terms of service (F2). While the company discloses what content and activities it prohibits (F3), it provides no information about how the company enforces these prohibitions. The company also discloses the circumstances under which it may suspend service to individuals or areas (F4) although it provides no examples to help users understand such policies.

User notification about content restriction: Bharti Airtel does not make any commitment to inform users when content has been blocked or otherwise restricted (F5). Over the past several years, researchers and journalists have identified instances in which Airtel India has provided notice when it blocks websites or pages in accordance with a court or government order. For example, one screenshot that researchers captured in 2012 on an Airtel India fixed line connection states, “this page has been blocked as per instructions from the Department of Telecommunications” News items indicate that Airtel also blocked pages in 2014. In order to receive credit for this indicator on the Index, Airtel India would need to disclose clear information about its policies and methods for notifying users.

Transparency about requests for content restriction: Regarding transparency about content restriction requests, Indian law prevents Airtel India from disclosing government requests for content removal. However, Indian law does not prevent the company from publishing more information about private requests for content restriction and as much aggregate data about all types of content restriction requests that it is permitted by law to disclose.

Network management: One area in which Airtel India is transparent relates to network management (F10). The company discloses the limited circumstances (excessive bandwidth use) under which it may throttle user traffic, in accordance with legal requirements.

PRIVACY – 21%

On Privacy, Bharti Airtel places fifth out of eight telecommunications companies in the Index. While Airtel India is required by law to have a privacy policy available on its website, this policy is available in English, but not in other languages spoken in India (P1).

Handling of user information: Bharti Airtel scored lowest among telecommunications companies on disclosures about collection of user information (P3). Bharti Airtel received very little credit for disclosure about sharing of user information (P4) because its policies were excessively vague. The company offers no control to users about collection of their information (P5), nor does it offer users meaningful access to their information (P6). On disclosure about retention of user information (P7), Bharti Airtel ties with Vodafone at the head of the telecommunications cohort, albeit only with 20 percent. There should be no legal impediment for the company to improve its disclosures about what user information it collects, with whom it is shared, and how long it is retained.

Transparency about requests for user data: Several provisions in Indian law prevent disclosure of government requests to share user data or to assist with the interception of communications (P11). This appears to include aggregate data. However, no provisions prevent Airtel India from notifying users when a non-governmental entity requests their user data, nor are there any provisions that prevent Airtel from disclosing the types situations when it might not notify users, including a description of the types of government requests it is prohibited by law from disclosing to users (P10). The company received a zero score on Indicators P10 and P11.

Security: Airtel India’s disclosures about its security practices earned the company only 50 percent of total possible points (P12). Its efforts to educate users about security threats (P14), however, earned full marks.