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Social media is not only reducing social barriers by connecting people on strength of human values but also stopping governments from committing errors. Discuss the statement in light of controversial National Encryption Policy.
The union government has put up a draft National Encryption Policy document online seeking to prescribe the methods of encryption of data and communications used by the government, businesses, and even citizens.
The document has been formulated by an "expert group" set up under the Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DeitY) which comes under the union ministry of communications and information technology.
The draft policy has been introduced under Section 84 A of the Information Technology Act (2000). Once finalised, rules for encryption of electronic information and communication will be introduced under the policy. The draft document is open to public comment until October 16. The draft document says that the policy's mission is to "provide confidentiality of information in cyber space for individuals, protection of sensitive or proprietary information for individuals & businesses, ensuring continuing reliability and integrity of nationally critical information systems and networks."
At an institutional level, transactions on e-commerce websites, bank transactions, and online government services use encryption to protect personal data, as do several websites that store user data such as Facebook and Google. At an individual level, Virtual Private Networks (VPNs), or secure messaging apps are some examples of encryption technologies. Activists around the world are taking to encrypted emails to dodge spying by repressive regimes. "Sensitive departments" of the government are exempt from the policy
Highlights
Under the draft National Encryption Policy on Internet security, those using WhatsApp or Snapchat will have to save all messages for up to 90 days and produce these if asked by the authorities. This means, the onus to produce encrypted information will be on Indian citizens as well as on all online service providers
The draft National Encryption Policy on Internet security also seeks to control the level of security online apps can build into their products and proposes that digital business save all information in plain text format.
The policy says the encryption algorithms and key sizes will be prescribed by the government through notification from time to time. This means the government will determine the encryption standards for all and entities such as Google and WhatsApp will have to follow the encryption standards prescribed by the Indian government.
Govt Withdraws Draft
A major backlash from the internet users forced the government to withdraw a draft policy that sought to make it mandatory for everyone to store all mobile and social media messages, including on WhatsApp, for 90 days. The government did a U-turn on the National Encryption Policy, a draft of which was put on the Department of Electronics & Information Technology (DeitY) website, saying it “supported the social media and respected the freedom of expression and articulation”. The draft policy, on which the comments of the public were sought till October 16, required businesses, telcos and internet companies to store all encrypted data for 90 days in plain text so that the same could be shared with the law enforcement agencies whenever asked. Failing to do so would have attracted legal action. The DeitY issued an addendum to the original draft clarifying: "Mass use encryption products, which are currently being used in Web applications, social media sites, and social media applications will be exempted, along with SSL/TLS encryption products being used in Internet-banking and payment gateways as directed by the RBI."
The withdrawal of a draft of the national encryption policy by the Department of Electronics and Information Technology is a positive measure, even as it comes in the wake of a controversy that should have been best avoided. The shrill outrage that the draft policy generated from individuals and experts exposed it as a half-baked and misguided effort, full of holes. Basic governance dictates that policy proposals should be people-centric, but in this instance the jackboots of the security agencies were too evident. It may well be argued that the stated intention of the proposal was good, to enable an “information security environment and secure transactions in cyberspace for individuals.” There is need for better encryption standards, and adopting more secure measures, but this should not be at the cost of individual or corporate privacy.
By: Dr. Vivek Rana ProfileResourcesReport error
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