How Strong Should Surveillance Laws be: We Are Not Offline, Even When We think We Are
4 years, 3 months ago

How Strong Should Surveillance Laws be: We Are Not Offline, Even When We think We Are

News 18  

You win some, you lose some. The recent ban against 59 Chinese apps by the Indian government must give you an idea of the need to protect personal data and enact a data protection law. If your personal data is being sold and being used, and all of it without your explicit permission, then is a breach and must be taken care of. And if as an individual, your data is so important, imagine army secrets and large scale national development plans being scoped out as well. We spoke to Former Chairman NTRO Mr. PV Kumar speaking on a number of tech issues that India is currently facing, including the need for encryption and surveillance law.

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History of this topic

The legal gaps in India’s unregulated AI surveillance
6 days, 6 hours ago

The legal gaps in India’s unregulated AI surveillance

The Hindu  

In 2019, the Indian government made headlines by announcing its intention to create the world’s largest facial recognition system for policing. The use of AI for surveillance has global parallels, often resulting in “dragnet surveillance”, a term that refers to indiscriminate data collection beyond just suspects or criminals. This article explores the legal frameworks, gaps, and concerns surrounding AI surveillance …

Privacy as priority: India can’t afford any further delay in notifying data protection rules
1 week ago

Privacy as priority: India can’t afford any further delay in notifying data protection rules

Live Mint  

A few days ago, Signzy, a popular Know Your Customer verification service used by India’s top banks and fintech firms, was affected by a cyber attack that may have exposed the sensitive personal information of millions. India’s Digital Personal Data Protection Act was passed six years after the Right to Privacy verdict in 2017. The Digital India Act, touted as …

Are your calls, texts monitored? Here's truth behind new Telecom Rules viral claim
3 months, 3 weeks ago

Are your calls, texts monitored? Here's truth behind new Telecom Rules viral claim

India TV News  

Media platforms are currently circulating a message that claims the government is monitoring all calls and messages and keeping track of social media activities. The court affirmed that mobile phones are considered private possessions and, therefore, the deletion of data, whether for privacy or technical reasons, does not equate to criminal activity. However, it's important to note that actions can …

Word choice in India’s data protection law and a dilution of rights
1 year, 4 months ago

Word choice in India’s data protection law and a dilution of rights

The Hindu  

After years of going back and forth on its contents, India finally has a data protection law, i.e., the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023. In the search for an answer to this question, we need to look at two basic features of any data protection law: the use of personal data with consent and without it. As decades of …

Explained: India's new Digital Personal Data Protection framework
1 year, 4 months ago

Explained: India's new Digital Personal Data Protection framework

Hindustan Times  

A new law that defines how companies should process users' data came into force with the President giving assent to the Digital Personal Data Protection Act passed by Parliament in the just-concluded monsoon session. Digital Personal Data Protection law has been notified by government. Entities must protect personal data in their possession by taking reasonable security safeguards to prevent a …

Legal framework for privacy as RS clears digital data bill
1 year, 4 months ago

Legal framework for privacy as RS clears digital data bill

Hindustan Times  

The Rajya Sabha passed the Digital Personal Data Protection Bill, 2023 on Wednesday, clearing the way for what will be the first legal framework for privacy, close to six years after it was held as a fundamental right for Indians by the Supreme Court. While it is unlikely to take long for the bill to receive presidential assent — at …

Data market’s future hinges on regulation
1 year, 4 months ago

Data market’s future hinges on regulation

Hindustan Times  

In 1776, when Adam Smith — arguably the most ardent champion of market economics — argued in favour of the invisible hand, there was no telephone, no broadband and no digital data coursing through cables or air waves. Several economists, including Hal Varian, the chief economist of Google, are swayed by the efficiency hypothesis while others liken data to oil …

India passes data protection legislation in Parliament. Critics fear privacy violation
1 year, 4 months ago

India passes data protection legislation in Parliament. Critics fear privacy violation

Associated Press  

NEW DELHI — Indian lawmakers Wednesday approved a data protection legislation that “seeks to better regulate big tech firms and penalize companies for data breaches” as several groups expressed concern over citizens’ privacy rights. The legislation will limit cross-border transfer of data and provide a framework for setting up a data protection authority to ensure compliance from tech companies, Information …

India passes data protection bill amid surveillance concerns
1 year, 4 months ago

India passes data protection bill amid surveillance concerns

Al Jazeera  

The new law has drawn criticism from opposition lawmakers and rights groups over the scope of exemptions, weakening gov’t accountability. Indian lawmakers have passed a data protection law that will dictate how tech companies process users’ data amid criticism that it will likely lead to increased surveillance by the government. The Digital Personal Data Protection Bill, 2023 gives the government …

Indranil Banerjie | A Law to Protect Citizens, Or To Help in State Snooping?
1 year, 4 months ago

Indranil Banerjie | A Law to Protect Citizens, Or To Help in State Snooping?

Deccan Chronicle  

In today’s digital age, privacy is a chimera -- the reality is that every intimate detail of our lives, from our eating and spending patterns to medical and financial details, are digitally recorded in some computer somewhere in the vast cloud and can therefore be potentially exposed. The idea of a digital data protection law had become imperative given the …

Manish Tewari | Build legal framework for intel to safeguard privacy
1 year, 4 months ago

Manish Tewari | Build legal framework for intel to safeguard privacy

Deccan Chronicle  

The perpetual clash between the idea of security and the idea of privacy is a battle that animates the soul of all democratic institutions. One of the biggest problems in India is that both law enforcement agencies and intelligence organisations have no sound legal basis. Thus, owing to its universal acceptability, and a belief carried out from a legal obligation …

New Data Protection Bill receives Cabinet's green light: Here's all you need to know
1 year, 5 months ago

New Data Protection Bill receives Cabinet's green light: Here's all you need to know

India TV News  

India's ongoing efforts to protect privacy and personal data have gained significance in light of the Supreme Court's recognition of privacy as a fundamental right under Article 21 of the Constitution. The need for a robust data protection law became apparent following incidents of data breaches and unauthorized use of personal information by entities before stricter regulations were imposed globally. …

India’s shield of privacy should reflect Article 21
1 year, 5 months ago

India’s shield of privacy should reflect Article 21

Live Mint  

The monsoon session of Indian Parliament will likely take up a bill framed in response to the Supreme Court ruling of 24 August 2017 that said privacy is a fundamental right. The Digital Personal Data Protection Bill, a draft of which was published last year to replace an unwieldy earlier proposal, got Cabinet approval this week as part of the …

Demand for digital data protection bill gathers steam
1 year, 8 months ago

Demand for digital data protection bill gathers steam

Deccan Chronicle  

HYDERABAD: After the Cyberabad police busted theft of sensitive and confidential data of 16.8 crore citizens, the Digital Data Protection Bill, which is pending in Parliament, has come to the fore again. While police bat for the Bill saying that it will bring in accountability on those holding data and also secure the information of individuals, cyber and legal experts …

Why the new draft data bill must be reconsidered
2 years ago

Why the new draft data bill must be reconsidered

Hindustan Times  

Earlier this month, the government released the Digital Data Protection Bill of 2022, and asked for public comments. The government said this iteration provides a progressive and adequate legal framework for data protection in India; and, in particular, having listened to industry critiques of the draft Personal Data Protection Bill of 2018, it has removed onerous provisions regarding the storage …

Why does India not have a data protection bill yet?
2 years, 4 months ago

Why does India not have a data protection bill yet?

Business Standard  

According to Dutch cybersecurity firm Surfshark VPN, India had the second highest number of data breaches in the first half of 2022. And on Friday, a Ukrainian cybersecurity researcher claimed that sensitive personal data of 280 million Indian citizens allegedly from the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation database surfaced online. After five years in the making, the bill that was designed …

India withdraws data protection and privacy bill
2 years, 4 months ago

India withdraws data protection and privacy bill

Al Jazeera  

The 2019 law had proposed stringent regulations on cross-border data flows, but had raised concerns among tech giants. India’s government has withdrawn a data protection and privacy bill which was first proposed in 2019 and had alarmed big technology companies such as Facebook and Google, announcing it was working on a new comprehensive law. A government notice on Wednesday said …

How will the new rules for VPN providers threaten user privacy?
2 years, 7 months ago

How will the new rules for VPN providers threaten user privacy?

Business Standard  

The Indian government has recently asked VPN service providers to register and record certain information about its users for a period of at least 5 years. However, experts say that these rules raise serious privacy concerns, especially the ones about VPN service providersBut before moving ahead, let’s understand what a VPN really is. VPN or a Virtual Private Network establishes …

A closer look at the draft Data Protection Bill
3 years ago

A closer look at the draft Data Protection Bill

The Hindu  

The story so far : The Joint Parliamentary Committee constituted to examine India’s proposed data protection law, the Personal Data Protection Bill, 2019, released its report on Monday. For instance, the JPC notes that the European GDPR, commonly seen as the pinnacle of data protection regulation worldwide, exempts from its ambit certain types of processing carried out in public interest. …

E- International Seminar: "Data Protection And Data Privacy" [Submit Abstract By 30th Nov, 2021]
3 years, 1 month ago

E- International Seminar: "Data Protection And Data Privacy" [Submit Abstract By 30th Nov, 2021]

Live Law  

The International Seminar on Data Protection and Data Privacy is taking place on 18th December, 2021Online. The International Seminar on Data Protection And Data Privacy is being organized by Law Mantra Trust, The Indian Law Institute New Delhi, Rajiv Gandhi National University of Law, Punjab, Maharashtra National Law University, Nagpur & Advanced Centre on Research, Development & Training in Cyber …

The Pegasus saga and the legality of surveillance in India | In Focus podcast
3 years, 5 months ago

The Pegasus saga and the legality of surveillance in India | In Focus podcast

The Hindu  

An international group of news publications are reporting that a spyware known as Pegasus has been used to spy on politicians, journalists, and activists in at least 10 countries. Reports from the group, which includes The Wire in India, The Guardian in the U.K., and Washington Post in the U.S. among others, suggest that in India, at least 40 journalists, …

Why the Personal Data Protection Bill matters
3 years, 8 months ago

Why the Personal Data Protection Bill matters

The Hindu  

The pandemic has forced more people to participate in the digital economy. However, the Personal Data Protection Bill, 2019, now under scrutiny by a Joint Parliamentary Committee, could play a big role in providing robust protections to users and their personal data. However, this data protection regime falls short of providing effective protection to users and their personal data. In …

IT Rules, Intermediaries & Data-Sharing: Comparing India & China
3 years, 9 months ago

IT Rules, Intermediaries & Data-Sharing: Comparing India & China

The Quint  

There are three critical parameters on which the two regimes make for an interesting comparison. These are: The purpose for which governmental agencies may demand information from intermediaries The burden of justification and transparency imposed on governmental agencies before demanding information The level of judicial oversight involved in the process Readers may note, as a preliminary point, that the proposed …

Privacy and surveillance: The Hindu Editorial on WhatsApp user policy change
3 years, 11 months ago

Privacy and surveillance: The Hindu Editorial on WhatsApp user policy change

The Hindu  

Following an exodus of its users from its messaging service, WhatsApp, to apps such as Signal and Telegram, which promise more privacy options, the Facebook-owned service might have been forced to postpone the date for users to accept its new privacy policy terms to May 15. In just days after the earlier announcement by WhatsApp, Signal has emerged as the …

India’s data protection law has potential to propel digital economy, says Facebook
4 years, 1 month ago

India’s data protection law has potential to propel digital economy, says Facebook

The Hindu  

Social media giant Facebook on Friday said that the data protection law in progress has potential to propel the country’s digital economy and global digital trade. The company’s comment came following a hearing by a Joint Committee of Parliament on Data Protection Bill, 2019, chaired by BJP MP Meenakshi Lekhi. “We deeply appreciate the opportunity to discuss data regulation issues …

Panel to probe ‘monitoring’ of Indians by Chinese firm: Jaishankar
4 years, 3 months ago

Panel to probe ‘monitoring’ of Indians by Chinese firm: Jaishankar

The Hindu  

In a letter to Congress leader K.C. Venugopal on Tuesday, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar said that the government had constituted an expert committee to look into allegations that a Chinese company ‘monitored’ online activity and data on thousands of Indians, including politicians, bureaucrats and journalists. Sources said that the letter included details of the committee under the National Cyber …

‘Data Protection Bill can reduce the state’s surveillance powers’
4 years, 4 months ago

‘Data Protection Bill can reduce the state’s surveillance powers’

Live Mint  

The Data Protection Bill, 2019 was introduced in the winter session of the Parliament last December. Considered the Indian equivalent of European Union’s landmark General Data Protection Regulation, the bill lists the rules for data storage and sharing, and defines the rights citizens have on their personal information. Some of the prominent features of the bill include the citizens’ ‘right …

Balancing Data Availability, Innovation and Privacy: A Crucial Discussion on India's Data Protection Law
6 years, 8 months ago

Balancing Data Availability, Innovation and Privacy: A Crucial Discussion on India's Data Protection Law

Hindustan Times  

Indian government is working on a data protection law to balance data availability, innovation and privacy issues. The country is setting the world agenda on sustainable development, climate justice, fighting terrorism, fight against black money and other important issues. The government is also taking steps to strengthen cyber laws and data protection framework.

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