26/09/2022 - Government Policies

KEY POINTS

·        The draft telecommunication Bill, put out last week for public comments, hints at a disturbing governmental pursuit, for more control over a range of digital applications and over-the-top streaming services that millions of Indians use daily.

·        It seeks to do this by bringing them under the ambit of telecommunication services, the operation of which would require a licence that is if the draft provisions do go through.

·        It is all well to state, as the Government has done, that the country requires a new legal framework, and not the existing one that is based on the Indian Telegraph Act, 1885, to deal with the realities of the 21st century.

·        A similar clause under the IT rules brought in last year requiring messaging apps to enable the identification of the first originator of the information on its computer resource  has been challenged in the Court.

·        While this is not to underplay the mounting challenges for ensuring security, the repeated attempts by the Government to be able to tap into all kinds of communication.

·        It is done without making sure the common man has a legal armour in the form of a data protection law, is extremely problematic.

·        The Government needs to upgrade its thinking on users and privacy. This draft needs to go back to the drawing board.

Pls review

Kindly evaluate

Kindly review mam/ sir

Kindly review