Sabhanaz Rashid Diya
Read Bio
Published in The Daily Star | 28 January 2024 In Bangladesh, a common joke revolves around the absence of a Bangla equivalent for ‘privacy’. Goponiyota suggests confidentiality, and ekaante thaka, used as a verb, implies leaving someone alone. Some argue the lack of a specific term in our vocabulary might suggest a perceived absence of … Continue reading Do the poor have a right to privacy
Published in The Daily Star | September 21, 2018 Private university student Sumon (not his real name) had already gone to bed when the police came to his bachelor pad, last month. The cops were on a “block raid”—a security exercise that Dhaka Metropolitan Police executed over several areas in the city in the aftermath … Continue reading When Digital Rights Become Human Rights
This paper analyses the challenges of reconciling the need for strong data privacy technologies with the US Federal Government’s demand for access to encrypted data to combat national security threats — a concept known as ‘exceptional access’. Using the 2015 San Bernardino terrorist attack as a jumping-off point, this research combines public statements and arguments … Continue reading Civil Liberty vs. National Security in Encryption Debates: Exceptional Access and Trust Deficit
As someone who has gone through psychotherapy and counselling for the past 8 years, working through depression, anxiety and trauma, I can attest mental health is an urgent, yet difficult and highly nuanced conversation for our society today. I'm thrilled to see people are more willing to talk, unlearn and seek support now than they … Continue reading I Have Been in Psychotherapy for 8 Years. This Is What I Learnt.
Cover Photo: Reuters A few days ago, I read a report on The Telegraph that discusses how the coronavirus has exposed deep societal divides in Bangladesh. The interviewees in the report talked about non-compliance with lockdowns, community-led approach and the country's fragile health system. These are all genuine concerns and thoughts. I wanted to add … Continue reading Why Local Context Matters in “Solving” Pandemics
Published in Dhaka Tribune | May 13, 2020Photos by Mahmud Hossain Opu Dhaka’s streets are no longer empty. Shops are slowly reopening. There are rickshaws and cars. Traffic is beginning to pile on. Emerging out of a 43-day “lockdown”, some are calling the country’s guidelines in limiting public interactions a “new normal”. Most people, including … Continue reading How Pandemics Should Not End
New analysis shows countries like India, Bangladesh, Nigeria, Brazil and Indonesia are rapidly approaching high death tolls. Click for details.
Published in Berkeley Public Policy Journal | April 22, 2020 Co-authored with Rifaiyat Mahbub Since the implementation of lockdowns in developing countries, debates have ensued on whether the poor will starve to death before the virus kills them. People are on the streets demanding the right to wages and food. In the US, a country with a much larger GDP … Continue reading Will Easing Social Distancing Save the Poor?
Rafia dreads going to her phone carrier’s customer service center. Her commute to work at the local clinic is roughly forty minutes, while she spends at least an hour and half, inclusive of traffic, in a public bus to reach the nearest center. In addition to standing in the bus in sweltering Dhaka summer, longer … Continue reading The Future of Digital is Human
In the fall of 1998, Niloufer Manzur sent a letter to her students in Sunbeams. Dhaka, along with the rest of the country, was completely flooded. Millions were homeless. Schools were cancelled. In her letter, Mrs. Manzur asked her students to be patient and give to charity. She was optimistic we will emerge out of … Continue reading Losing Our Guardian Angel to COVID-19
sabhanazrashiddiya.com 