Data Security, Cyber Security And Privacy In Indian Banking Industry

Banking industry of India is passing through a transformation age. From technological upgradations to enacting new regulatory norms, banking sector of India is all set for a big change. However, this change is also very demanding and challenging in terms of legal obligations and technological knowledge. Banks in India are finding it difficult to cope with both.

For instance, banks in India are required to not only ensure cyber due diligence in India but also cyber security due diligence in India. Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has very categorically told Indian banks to ensure effective cyber security in their day to day affairs and banking transactions. However, banks in India are not complying with RBI’s cyber security due diligence requirements due to lack of awareness and technical expertise.

Further, on the compliances front as well, banks in India are not doing the needful. For instance, as per RBI’s recommendations, all banks should create a position of chief information officers (CIOs) as well as steering committees on information security at the board level at the earliest. Till now banks in India have not fulfilled these requirements.

Similarly on the front of cyber security Indian banks have not performed well. Cyber security for banking and financial sectors of India is not up to the mark. Internet banking risks in India are in abundance and we have no cyber security of Internet banking in India. Even cyber due diligence for banks in India is not taken seriously by Indian banks. Cyber security of online banking systems in India is by and large below average and many cases of banking financial frauds and cyber crimes have been reported in India.

Even the mobile banking in India is risky as the present banking and other technology related legal frameworks are not conducive for mobile banking in India. We have no dedicated Internet banking laws in India or mobile banking laws in India. Mobile banking transactions in India are risky and untrusting in the absence of mobile cyber security in India. We are still not ready for mobile governance in India as m-governance in India is not going to be successful in the absence of a sound mobile governance policy of India.

Data security and privacy in Indian banking industry is another area that requires special attention of Indian banks. Banks in India must ensure privacy protection and data protection of its customers.

The corporate and banking laws in India are in the process of being streamlined. An Integrated modern banking law in India is also in pipeline. RBI has also prescribed an enhanced due diligence measures by banks of India for higher risks customers. Overall, the emphasis is upon ensuring data security, cyber security and privacy protection by banks operating in India.

Cyber Law Lawyers And Law Firms in India

Cyber law is a technical subject that requires thorough understanding of both technical and legal aspects. This is the reason why most of the lawyers and law firms find it difficult to deal with the same.

There are very few cyber law firms in India and cyber law lawyers in India. Even lesser are cyber security law firms in India. Similarly, e-commerce lawyers and law firms in India also limited in number.

When it comes to cyber forensics law firms in India, we have a single firm in India that provides techno legal cyber forensics litigation, consultancy, corporate advisory and skills development services. Perry4Law is the sole techno legal ICT and IP law firm of India and world wide.

Further, Perry4Law Techno Legal Base (PTLB) is the premier techno legal segment of Perry4Law that takes cares of various techno legal services of Perry4Law.

With the passage of information technology act 2000 (IT Act 2000), the foundation for cyber law of India was laid down. However, even after more than 10 years of passing of the same, very few lawyers, judges, police officers, etc are aware of the same. This ha also led to a limited growth of cyber law jurisprudence in India.

There is an urgent need develop techno legal skills of lawyers, police officers, judges, etc in India. Suitable trainings and skills development exercises must be undertaken by Indian government in this regard.

Corporate And Banking Laws In India Rejuvenated

Of late, parliament of India is working really hard in the direction of rejuvenating corporate and banking laws of India. Many important bills are pending in the lok sabha that if passed would strengthen the corporate and banking laws of India.

Corporate laws in India are old and outdated. The Companies Bill 2011 has been tabled in the Lok Sabha. Similarly, banking laws in India are also outdated and does not accommodate the modern technology.

A significant development in this regard is happening in the banking sector of India. An integrated modern banking law for India is in pipeline. The parliamentary standing committee on finance has suggested for such integrated law for the banking sector of India.

However, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) need to implement the technological aspects more stringently and effectively. While RBI has acknowledged risks of e-banking in India still the proposed bill has not addressed the issues of online banking risks in India and their redressal. Although RBI has recently directed that all banks would have to create a position of chief information officers (CIOs) as well as steering committees on information security at the board level at the earliest yet these recommendations have not been implemented by the banks. Indian banks are poor at cyber security implementation.

Further, crucial issues like encryption standards for banks of India have also been ignored. Further ATM frauds in India and their techno legal prevention has also been missed by the committee. Cyber law due diligence for banks in India and Internet intermediary liability for banks of India have also skipped the attention of the committee. It would be better if the parliament of India also considers the techno legal issues and add them to the proposed Banking Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2011 before passing the same.

Legal Education In India Rejuvenated

Legal education in India is passing through a transformation age. From mere academic nature of the education, Indian educational system is making a shift towards professionals, vocational and practical nature of education. This is a good sign as mere academic nature of education would not help us in the long run.

This is also evident from the fact that a majority of graduates are not fit for professional purposes. Naturally Indian companies are facing shortage of skilled workforce to manage skilled works. Thus, technical education and skill development in India need to be considered by Indian government on a top priority basis.

This is a mammoth task that Indian government cannot achieve on its own. Bar council of India has to play a pro active role in this regard. Similarly, a public private partnership between Indian government, BCI and private companies/individuals is also need of the hour.

However, there are very few private players who are good at providing qualitative legal education in India and abroad. Perry4Law Techno Legal Base (PTLB) of Perry4Law is one such techno legal institution that is providing world class techno legal education, courses, trainings and skills development. Perry4Law Techno Legal ICT Training Centre (PTLITC) provides highly specialised and domain specific techno legal education in India.

PTLB is also managing the exclusive techno legal institute for lifelong learning in India (TLILLI). The TLILLI manages many crucial techno legal lifelong learning courses and continuing legal education in India.

All these courses, education, training and skills development are provided by the PTLB e-learning platform in an online environment. Interested professionals can enroll for these courses from any part of the world without leaving their offices or homes.

Clearly legal education in India has been rejuvenated by the collective efforts of stakeholders like BCI, PTLB and Indian government. However, more and more private participation is needed for reforming the legal education sector of India that is presently plagued by widespread corruption.

Corruption And Higher Education In India

Education in India is passing through a bad phase. Surprisingly, foreign educational institutions have started showing some interest in Indian educational system despite various shortcomings and corrupt practices marring the Indian education system.

Naturally the question arises is corruption and irregularities undermining the higher education in India? This is more so regarding the higher legal education in India that is in real mess. If we rely upon the sources that have themselves witnessed this arbitrariness, irregularities and corruption, then it is clear that PhDs in India are dying.

It is not the case that our ministers are not aware of this situation. Recently, e-mails to both Kapil Sibal and Salman Khurshid were sent to bring to their attention the deteriorating conditions of higher legal education in India. Now it is upto these ministers to see what they can do to weed out the corruption widely prevalent in our educational system.

If the governmental will to eliminate corruption and irregularities of educational systems of India is missing the only option seems to be to establish more and more virtual campuses that can loosen the monopoly of few and reduce corruption in educational system of India.

Foreign educational institutions are already well versed with the virtual campus system and they may play a crucial role in establishing the same in India. It is also not the case that India is not capable of establishing such virtual campuses.

In fact, Perry4Law Techno Legal Base (PTLB) has already open the exclusive techno legal e-learning platform/virtual campus for courses like cyber law, cyber forensics, cyber security, etc for various stakeholders. Other similar initiatives may also be in pipeline.

However, there is an urgent need on the part of our ministers to analyse the current malpractices and vices that are plaguing Indian educational system and take corrective action so that India may be a hub for global education.

Privacy Laws Legal Firms In India

Privacy is a concept that is unknown to Indian culture. However, slowly and steadily it has started gaining importance. When i talk about privacy, it not only includes the traditional privacy requirements but the more demanding requirements of our present times as well.

In the age of Internet and social networking, privacy has assumed a totally different meaning. There are many privacy violations in cyberspace and the role of good techno legal lawyers and law firms is very apparent in punishing the offenders.

According to B.S.Dalal, partner at New Delhi based ICT and IP law firm Perry4Law and a techno legal expert, “Techno legal privacy protection, data protection and data security lawyers and law firms are limited in nature. As far as India is concerned, we have no dedicated privacy, data protection and data security law. This is a serious limitation that is resulting in poor privacy, data protection and data security legal practice in India”.

However, sooner or later regulatory framework for privacy and data protection in India would be required. Further, disputes regarding privacy and data protection would also increase in future. This would require techno legal expertise on the part of lawyers and law firms.

The outsourcing industry must pay a special attention to the techno legal requirements of privacy, data protection and data security issues. Perry4Law and Perry4Law Techno Legal Base (PTLB) have strongly recommended formulating and adopting best practices by stakeholders in this regard.

Google Is Loosing The Search Engine Quality

Have you noticed that the search results in Google search engine do not reflect the correct and true picture? If you are a blogger and using the blogspot platform, you must have also realised that your posts are appearing only after a period of 2/3 days.

Further, in the past there are clear cut examples of Google censoring and filtering news and search results, at least in India. Further, Google has also been messing up with search placements whether by default or otherwise.

Now consider the search engines like Yahoo, Bing and DuckDuckGo. They have acquired a good reputation and goodwill among the users due to their consistency and lack of censorship activities.

I analysed the four search engines with a common search query and was surprised to find how Google simply does not index the blog posts that were immediately picked up by other search engines.

I also checked the webmaster tool of Google but there were no indexing errors or errors of other type that could have resulted in non indexing or poor indexing of blog posts. Naturally, either Google’s algorithm has been deteriorated to a level that would ultimately affect it reputation and usage or it is deliberately censoring and manipulating the results.

Either way this is too much for users like me who prefer to shift to other search engines for getting legitimate, genuine and good results. My personal ranking for search engines, for the time being, is Yahoo, DuckDuckGo, Bing and Google.

Natgrid And NIA Have Become Obscure And Unconstitutional

Indian government is implementing various e-surveillance projects in clear violation of human rights and fundamental rights. Merely labeling a project as national security project does not make it one. The truth is that Natgrid project of India is still nebulous and unconstitutional. Exempting it from the applicability of RTI Act 2005 proves this point.

Accountability and transparency are two words that do not apply to Indian law enforcement and intelligence agencies. India has chosen to stick to the British legacy of non transparency. Whether it is laws like official secrets act, Indian telegraph act or the accountability of Indian law enforcement and intelligence agencies, Indian government has even surpassed the Britishers in this regard.

Instead of strengthening the transparency and Parliamentary scrutiny, India is further making these agencies more unaccountable and lawless. The right to information act 2005 (RTI Act 2005) is the sole transparency law of India that needs further amendments and strengthening. However, the proposed right to information rules 2010 instead of strengthening the RTI Act, 2005 took steps that are retrograde in nature.

Firstly, India amended the cyber law of India through the draconian information technology amendment act 2008 that empowered Indian government and its agencies with unconstitutional e-surveillance, internet censorship and website blocking powers. Subsequently, it made the RTI Act 2005 weaker and redundant.

Now Indian government has announced that Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), national investigation authority of India (NIA) and national intelligence grid (Natgrid) would be exempted from the applicability of RTI Act, 2005. The constitutional validity of national investigation agency act, 2008 (NIA 2008) is still doubtful and CBI and Natgrid are not governed by any law at all. Even the proposed central monitoring system of India is without any parliamentary oversight.

Whether it is CBI or Intelligence Agencies of India, none of them are presently Accountable to Parliament of India, informs Praveen Dalal, managing partner of New Delhi based ICT law firm Perry4Law and CEO of exclusive Human Rights Protection Centre for Cyberspace in India. This casts a doubt about the Impartiality and Transparency of these Agencies, suggests Dalal. Exempting these Agencies without any parallel “Parliamentary Oversight” is against the provisions of Indian Constitution, informs Dalal.

In these days the role of Indian Parliament has been reduced to almost nothing. Important laws are never passed and existing laws like the cyber law of India have been made e-surveillance instrumentality for Indian government and its agencies. The Parliament of India needs to take its legislative role seriously, at least now.

National Security Task Force Of India

National security issues are too important to be ignored. Indian government has also realised this truth and is planning to work properly in this regard. Till now we have no national security policy in India, cyber security policy in India, etc.

We need to formulate Indian national security policy that must cover crucial issues like cyber security, cyber forensics, critical infrastructure protection, etc. Further, reconciliation of the fundamental rights of India citizens and national security requirements of India is also missing.

The government has taken a step in these directions and it has constituted a task force to carry out a holistic review of national security and the country's preparedness to face the myriad challenges. The task force headed by former cabinet secretary Naresh Chandra comes a decade after the Kargil Review Committee carried out a similar assessment in the wake of the Indo-Pak conflict of 1999.

"The security challenges have changed. India has moved on, our security challenges have evolved. It is time to look at the national security situation in the light of challenges ranging from cyber security to energy security," official sources explained.

The task force headed by Chandra, who had been the Indian ambassador to the US and defence secretary, has several experts from various fields including the military, intelligence, nuclear and media. According to officials, the task force has been given six months to submit it report.

The task force comes almost a decade after Atal Behari Vajpayee government appointed the Kargil Review Committee headed by strategic affairs analyst, the late K Subrahmanyam. It recommended sweeping changes in several areas of security, from military to intelligence, border management to defence budgeting. Many of its recommendations were implemented, but some were left out. Some others were not implemented properly, such as the modernisation of infantry, border management etc. The government's decision to appoint a new task force comes at a time when there are widespread concerns about failures in defence integration, lack of a cohesive response to the rise of China, emergence of cyber threats, and the widening realities of India's national security. There are also concerns about protecting energy sources. The country's economic growth would significantly depend on protecting the cyber assets as much as the physical border.

Members of the task force include former Navy chief Admiral Arun Prakash, former Air chief Air Chief Marshal S Krishnaswamy, former chief of the Department of Atomic Energy Anil Kakodkar, former chief of RAW KC Verma, former Indian high commissioner to Pakistan G Parthasarathy and former home secretary VK Duggal. Sources said the task force would start work after Chandra, who is presently out of India, returns.

Of late, India is ignoring the human rights of Indian citizens in cyberspace. Many e-surveillance oriented projects have been launched by Indian government without any procedural safeguards and legal frameworks. The task force must also human rights protection in Indian cyberspace.

ICANN Approved Generic Top Level Domains Extension

Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) has approved the extension of generic top level domain names (gTLDs). Though other important issues have yet to be decided but at least the way for allotting new gTLDs has opened.

How this decision of ICANN would change the Internet is yet to be seen but ICANN must be prepared for unforeseen challenges. Further, domain name disputes and other intellectual property rights (IPRs) disputes would arise in future with this expansion of gTLDs.

The same would still be governed by the Uniform Domain-Name Dispute-Resolution Policy (UDRP) of ICANN till some modified rules or procedure is established by ICANN.

Applications for new gTLDs will be accepted from 12 January 2012 to 12 April 2012. The same should be made as per the procedure prescribed by ICANN’s Applicant Guidebook.

In future, ICANN’s Applicant Guidebook needs to consider and adopt many more crucial issues like upgradation of UDRP procedure, better and expeditious Dispute Resolution Mechanism, enhanced Cyber Security Initiatives for Domain Name and DNS, better National and International Cooperations with Governments, NGOs and Dispute Resolution Providers, considering interests of Developing Countries and NGOs, etc, suggests Praveen Dalal, managing partner of New Delhi based ICT and IP law Firm Perry4Law and CEO of the exclusive Techno Legal Online Dispute Resolution Centre of India (TLODRCI).

While additional gTLDs have been approved by ICANN yet it requires lots of efforts to successfully manage this ambitious expansion. ICANN would start spreading public awareness about it very soon. It would be beneficial for the applicants to seek help of good techno legal professionals in this regard.

Blogspot Blogs Are Inaccessible Again

Blogs hosted upon Blogspot platform are inaccessible in New Delhi, India once more. Surprisingly although I can log in yet I cannot see the Blogs.

As you can read this post, it is clear that even posting is allowed. Now it would be interesting to know whether you can view this post from India through an Indian internet service provider’s (ISP) connection.

If you can access the same through an Indian ISP, kindly leave a comment. Even if you cannot access the post, kindly leave a comment.

Many of you may not be aware that Wordpress has recently censored our platform named Techno Legal Journalist.

Further, Wordpress has also disabled the accounts of all our contributors at the Techno Legal News and Views platform as well.

Meanwhile, the indexing of our Blogs at Blogspot has been messed up to a great extent. Out posts used to be indexed almost instantaneously. Now they appear after a gap of 2-3 days.

Now we cannot see the Blogs of Blogspot at all. We are trying to ascertain what is happening. But one thing is for sure. Either it is a technical problem or a case of censorship by Indian government.

Only Google can answer this question as Wordpress’s behaviour has already cleared the air in this regard. If Google doe not explains this issue soon, it would be clear that it is a case of censorship.

Update 13-06-2011: Blogspot Blogs are once more not opening at 4.20 PM, Monday, June 2011.

Why Wordpress Is Censoring Blogs?

It seems our Blog Techno Legal Journalists has been censored by Wordpress for no reasons.

We have been providing critical analysis against authorities and this may be the reason for this censorship.

This episode happened toady and we have lodged a protest with Wordpress. We would come up with a more detailed post in this regard very soon.

However, the way Wordpress is censoring Blogs unilaterally and without any notice or intimation is strangulation of free speech and expression, to say the least.

We never received any e-mail from Wordpress till the posting of this article.

This is really frustrating as months of hard work and tons of posts are gone for no reason.

We hope Wordpress would restore the same as soon as possible as it should not be against exercise of civil liberties like right to speech and expression.

An Ideal Jan Lokpal Bill 2011 Of India

Now that it is clear that the proposed Jan Lokpal bill 2011 of India could not be drafted before the deadline we must proceed further to discuss what an ideal Jan Lokpal bill must have.

Fortunately, Praveen Dalal, managing partner of New Delhi based law firm Perry4Law and leading techno legal expert of India has explained what an ideal Jan Lokpal Bill must have.

He has suggested many far reaching and reformative provisions in the proposed Jan Lokpal Bill of India. He has also sent these suggestions to the government of India.

He has stressed upon pro active use of information and communication technology (ICT) for effective administration and implementation of the proposed Jan Lokpal Bill.

Let us hope these suggestions would be accepted by Indian government and would be incorporated in the final draft of the Jan Lokpal Bill of India.

Google Continues With Its Censorship Drive In India

Google has been in controversies from time to time. Whether it is illegal data gathering, censorship of Google news searches, manipulation of search results, etc, Google has been doing it all. In fact, it seems Google is actively helping Indian government and its agencies for messing up with Aadhar project, UIDAI, World Bank or any other similar post that questions the wrong practices of Indian government.

What is more astonishing is that India does not have a “Constitutionally Sound Law” for Lawful Interceptions, E-Surveillance, Websites Blocking, Internet Censorship, etc says Praveen Dalal, managing partner of New Delhi based ICT law firm Perry4Law and leading techno legal expert of India. Praveen Dalal has spearheaded the exclusive centre for protection of human rights in cyberspace that keeps a close watch upon civil liberty issues of cyberspace.

One of the most controversial projects imposed by Indian government upon Indian citizens is unique identification project of India (UID project of India) or Aadhar project of India. It is managed by Nandan Nilekani led unique identification authority of India (UIDAI). Both Aadhar project and UIDAI are unconstitutional and operating without any Legal Framework and Parliamentary Oversight, informs Dalal.

Aadhar project and UIDAI are based upon deceit and deception. There is no legal framework, no defined policies and guidelines and most importantly no procedural and civil liberty safeguards.

However, nothing can match the evil practice of websites and Internet censorship in India done by Indian government, its agencies and commercial companies operating in India. For instance, Google has been censoring critical web posts regarding Aadhar project of India and unique identification authority of India (UIDAI) for the past two or more years. Further, it has also temporarily filtered some of our posts questioning the practice of World Bank to grant unaccountable loans to countries like India. Further, international loans and grants related posts questioning the role of World Bank and Indian government are also poorly placed in search results.

Our latest article has been censored by Google News twice at this and this. Of course, this is neither a co incidence nor a technical glitch that Google is currently facing. The truth is that unaccountable, illegal and unconstitutional websites blocking, Internet censorship and e-surveillance exercise along with lack of legal framework makes Aadhar project and UIDAI very dangerous project and authority. These activities censorship and e-surveillance are supported by the draconian cyber law of India. Citizens wake up before it is too late. Meanwhile here is the controversial interview that has been censored twice.

Unique identification project (UID project) or Aadhar project of India is always portrayed as a welfare scheme. In reality, Aadhar project and UIDAI have evil intentions. In fact, Aadhar project and UIDAI are the most evil projects of India till now. What is more surprising is why this e-surveillance and big brother project has not been scrapped by the Prime Minister’s office (PMO). It is high time for us to actively protest against the Aadhar project and UIDAI before it is too late.

Censorship And E-Surveillance Makes Aadhar Project And UIDAI Dangerous

Aadhar project and UIDAI are based upon deceit and deception. There is no legal framework, no defined policies and guidelines and most importantly no procedural and civil liberty safeguards.

However, nothing can match the evil practice of websites and Internet censorship in India done by Indian government, its agencies and commercial companies operating in India. For instance, Google has been censoring critical web posts regarding Aadhar project of India and unique identification authority of India (UIDAI) for the past two or more years. Further, it has also temporarily filtered some of our posts questioning the practice of World Bank to grant unaccountable loans to countries like India.

This article has been censored by Google News twice at this and this. Of course, this is neither a co incidence nor a technical glitch that Google is currently facing. The truth is that unaccountable, illegal and unconstitutional websites blocking, Internet censorship and e-surveillance exercise along with lack of legal framework makes Aadhar project and UIDAI very dangerous project and authority. These activities of censorship and e-surveillance are supported by the draconian cyber law of India. Citizens wake up before it is too late. Meanwhile here is the controversial interview that has been censored twice.

Unique identification project (UID project) or Aadhar project of India is always portrayed as a welfare scheme. In reality, Aadhar project and UIDAI have evil intentions. In fact, Aadhar project and UIDAI are the most evil projects of India till now.

What is more surprising is why this e-surveillance and big brother project has not been scrapped by the Prime Minister’s office (PMO). In this interview of Praveen Dalal, managing partner of New Delhi based ICT Law Firm Perry4Law and a Supreme Court Lawyer, he has shared his opinion and concerns regarding Aadhar project and UIDAI.

Q 1. Is India ready for a controversial project like Aadhar?

A 1. In my personal opinion, India is not yet ready for either Aadhar Project/UID Project or Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI). In fact, both Aadhar and UIDAI are “Highly Undesirable” at this stage. Aadhar and UIDAI must be preceded by a Constitutionally Sound Legal Framework and Parliamentary Oversight. Both of these are missing presently making it an “Unconstitutional Project”.

Q 2. What is the process of making a constitutionally sound law in India?

A 2. Constitutionally preparation of a Legislation/Bill is the duty of Indian Government and it must be passed by the Parliament of India. In this case, an authority like UIDAI is suggesting the Bill that (UIDAI) itself is devoid of any Constitutional Validity. Indian Government must come up with its own Bill on Aadhar Project as even the Bill by UIDAI is mere “Eyewash” and does not make much difference. Even if it is passed by Parliament of India, the Unconstitutional Nature of the Aadhar Project and UIDA would remain the same.

Q-3. What are the serious concerns that have been ignored by Indian Government, UIDAI and Indian Cabinet?

A-3 I found it really surprising the way the Bill prepared by UIDAI was cleared by Cabinet and introduced in the Parliament. Many issues, including Profiling, Privacy Safeguards, Civil Liberties Protection, E-Surveillance, etc have been totally neglected by UIDAI and Cabinet and perhaps would be ignored by the Parliament of India as well.

Q 4. How do you see the present activities of Aadhar project and UIDAI?

A 4. The present exercise of taking Biometric Details of Indians is simply “Unconstitutional”. A Project and Authority without any Legal Sanction and Parliamentary Oversight cannot indulge in these activities on such a mass scale. I believe the Government of India is violating various Civil Liberties of Indian though Aadhar Project and UIDAI by making it, Directly and Indirectly, Relevant and Mandatory.

Q-5. Is Aadhar project and UIDAI still not governed by any legal framework and what are the recent developments in this regard?

A 5 Yes. Till now the position has not changed. Rather it has become worst where the District like Mysore has made UID Number Mandatory for various Public Services even though UIDAI claims it to be Optional. Practically UID never was, and never will be, Optional.

Q 6. What are the possible Civil Liberty violations that Indians can face in near future?

A 6. There are great chances that Biometric Details of Indian would be shared with Intelligence Agencies of India and Law Enforcement Agencies of India. Projects like National Intelligence Grid (NATGRID), Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems (CCTNS). Central Monitoring System (CMS), etc would love to utilise these Biometric Details.

India And E-Delivery of Public Services Development Policy Loan

This is the updated version of my previous article on similar topic. E-delivery of services has been seen as an essential part of e-governance in India. However, e-governance itself is based upon good governance that also in a corruption free manner.

E-governance has the potential to eliminate corruption but in the Indian context e-governance itself has become a source of corruption. What is surprising is the fact that this is happening right in front of and under the nose of World Bank. The bigger question is whether the World Bank or Indian government is accountable for loans and grants that are never utilised for the benefit of common man in India?

Recently the World Bank and Indian government signed a loan agreement of $150 million for the e-delivery of public services in India. The loan has been granted as the e-delivery of public services development policy loan to be utilised under the national e-governance plan of India (NEGP).

Although the intentions are good yet the final outcome is not difficult to predict. India has a very poor track record of policy formulation and its implementation. For instance, policies pertaining to cyber law, cyber security, encryption, telecom, telecom security, mobile security, etc are still missing.

Further, India also has a poor track record of e-governance utilisation and providing of electronic delivery of services in India. We have no legal enablement of ICT systems in India and legal framework for e-delivery of services in India is also missing. In fact, as per e-governance experts of India, e-governance in India is dying. Without a mandatory e-governance services in India, e-delivery of services in India cannot be achieved.

According to Praveen Dalal, managing partner of New Delhi based law firm Perry4Law and leading techno legal expert of India, “The Government and Indian Bureaucrats need to change their mindset and stress more upon outcomes and services rather than mere ICT procurement. India needs a services-based approach that is not only transparent but also backed by a more efficient and willing Government. Presently the Bureaucrats and Government of India are in a “resistance mode” towards novel and effective e-governance policies and strategies and they are merely computerising traditional official functions only. This is benefiting neither the Government nor the citizens and is resulting in wastage of thousands of crores of public money and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and World Bank Grants amount”.

“The Governmental will and leadership is missing in India. To worsen the situation the Government of India is concentrating more upon the image rather than upon the end results. The grassroots level action is missing and the benefits of ICT are not reaching to the under privileged and deserving masses due to defective ICT strategies and policies of Indian Government. India is suffering from the “vicious circle” of defective e-governance, as the basic input .i.e. governance itself is poor. India needs a “virtuous circle” of e-governance through good governance that would have multiplication and amplification effect upon e-governance efforts of Indian Government, says Praveen Dalal.

E-delivery of public services in India is missing and World Bank is not at all interested in establishing transparency and accountability in Indian NEGP. World Bank must ensure accountability of Indian NEGP in order to show that its loans are actually meant for growth and development of Indian masses rather than benefiting few politicians and bureaucrats as is happening right now.

In these circumstance, the e-delivery of public services development policy loan would just add to the woes of Indians as this type of e-governance would be a source of corruption itself rather than removing the mass corruption existing in India. No time in the past the need for a strong and effective Jan Lokpal Act is felt more than the present circumstances where neither India nor International organisations like United Nations, World Bank, UNDP, etc are questioning the acts and omissions of Indian government.

World Bank Loans Accountability And Google’s Censorship

India is one of the most Endemic E-Surveillance Countries of the World, says Praveen Dalal, managing partner of Perry4Law and leading techno legal expert of India. India is also perhaps the only country of the World where Phone Tapping and E-Surveillance is done without Judicial Scrutiny, informs Dalal. If this is not enough we have an Endemic E-Surveillance oriented Cyber Law in India, says Dalal.

Information technology act, 2000 (IT Act 2000) is the sole cyber law of India. It also carries provisions that are clearly illegal and unconstitutional. For instance, provisions regarding e-surveillance, Internet censorship and website blocking are violative of the Constitution of India, says Dalal.

In India websites can be blocked by mere written directions by governmental agencies. Further, constitutional and legal web posts can be removed or censored by merely asking for the same. What is surprising is the fact that even big companies like Google are more than willing to obey the illegal and unconstitutional orders of Indian government.

I wrote a critical article titled “Does World Bank Sees What Happens to Its Loans? For some strange reasons, this article of mine was censored by Google. Of late Google has been censoring and messing up with search results regarding views and opinions that are critical to Indian government. For instance, articles on Aadhar project and UIDAI are frequently censored by Google. Thanks to the draconian cyber law of India, this is now possible without following any due process in India.

Recently e-delivery of public services development policy loan has been granted by World Bank to India. However, there is no accountability for the loan so granted and till now neither World Bank nor Indian government has shown any initiatives or laid down any blueprint in this regard. Till now no practical and effective e-governance has been ensured by either World Bank or Indian government and public at large has been fooled in this regard.

Now Google is trying to manipulate with the news results as well as search engines results pages (SERPS) by expressly going against its motto of don’t be evil. However, irrespective of the draconian cyber law of India, censorship by Google, and manipulations by Indian government, we would keep a close watch upon the recent loan of World Bank. If need arise, we may directly contact World Bank for any clarification in this regard.

Does World Bank Sees What Happens To Its Loans?

Loans are granted by international organisations and institutions for the development of a nation. But it is a rare occasion when such loans are actually utilised for the development of such nation. On the contrary, such loans just ensure the personal development of ministers and bureaucrats and common man never receives the benefits of such loans or grants.

Recently the World Bank and Indian government signed a loan agreement of $150 million for the e-delivery of public services in India. The loan has been granted as the e-delivery of public services development policy loan to be utilised under the national e-governance plan of India (NEGP). However, the bigger question is would this loan be utilised for the benefit of common man?

Keeping in mind the past record, the answer seems to be in negative. India has a poor track record of e-governance utilisation and providing of electronic delivery of services in India. We have no legal enablement of ICT systems in India and legal framework for e-delivery of services in India is also missing. In fact, as per e-governance experts of India, e-governance in India is dying. Without a mandatory e-governance services in India, e-delivery of services in India cannot be achieved.

According to Praveen Dalal, managing partner of New Delhi based law firm Perry4Law and leading techno legal expert of India, “The Government and Indian Bureaucrats need to change their mindset and stress more upon outcomes and services rather than mere ICT procurement. India needs a services-based approach that is not only transparent but also backed by a more efficient and willing Government. Presently the Bureaucrats and Government of India are in a “resistance mode” towards novel and effective e-governance policies and strategies and they are merely computerising traditional official functions only. This is benefiting neither the Government nor the citizens and is resulting in wastage of thousands of crores of public money and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and World Bank Grants amount”.

“The Governmental will and leadership is missing in India. To worsen the situation the Government of India is concentrating more upon the image rather than upon the end results. The grassroots level action is missing and the benefits of ICT are not reaching to the under privileged and deserving masses due to defective ICT strategies and policies of Indian Government. India is suffering from the “vicious circle” of defective e-governance, as the basic input .i.e. governance itself is poor. India needs a “virtuous circle” of e-governance through good governance that would have multiplication and amplification effect upon e-governance efforts of Indian Government, says Praveen Dalal.

E-delivery of public services in India is missing and World Bank is not at all interested in establishing transparency and accountability in Indian NEGP. World Bank must ensure accountability of Indian NEGP in order to show that its loans are actually meant for growth and development of Indian masses rather than benefiting few politicians and bureaucrats as is happening right now.

The loans granted by World Bank must be tied up and accountable loans. These loans must be tied up with performance and achievement and must be released in stages only. Once the first stage is accomplished satisfactorily then only the next stage loan must be given.

However, neither World Bank nor Indian government is in a mood to actually utilise the granted loans for the betterment of Indian masses. Why and for whom these loans are granted would always remain a big question.

ICT Skill Development In India

Information and communication technology (ICT) is one area that is technical in nature and requires effective skills to utilise its benefits. In the Indian context, ICT skills have not yet been developed properly. Part of the reason for the same is the academic nature of our educational system. Another reason for the weak ICT skill development is India absence of legal framework for information society in India.

For instance, legal enablement of ICT systems in India is missing. Similarly, there are no laws for providing mandatory e-governance services in India. Till now we do not have any electronic delivery of services framework in India. The problem is that ICT skill development has not been represented properly at the national policy making level.

Even the national e-governance plan of India (NEGP) has failed to make any mark in this regard. This is because skill development in India is not upto the mark in this regard. Areas like cyber law skill development in India, e-courts skill development in India, online skill development in India, technical education and skill development in India, etc are still not explored.

Further, no efforts have been made to ensure techno legal ICT skill development in India. We have a single techno legal ICT skill development institution in India. The same is managed by Perry4Law Techno Legal Base (PTLB).

PTLB is providing ICT skill development trainings and courses in India in fields like cyber law, cyber security, cyber forensics, information warfare and cyber warfare, cyber terrorism prevention, e-courts, online dispute resolution (ODR), police training, lawyers training, judges training, etc.

If you are interested in getting world class techno legal ICT skill development trainings and coaching in India, get yourself enrolled at PTLB.

ICT And IPR Skill Development In India BY PTLB

Information and communication technology (ICT) related issues require expertise to handle and manage. However, skill development in India is not upto the mark in this regard. Areas like cyber law skill development in India, e-courts skill development in India, online skill development in India, technical education and skill development in India, etc are still not explored.

Similarly, intellectual property rights in India (IPRs in India) are also complicated in nature. They cover a range of areas like copyright, trademarks, design, patents, geographical indications, semiconductor protection, traditional knowledge, etc. Technological issues of IPRs in India are difficult to understand and apply. Cyber crimes are affecting IPRs like trade secrets and data protection severely. Techno legal IPR skill development in India is the need of the hour.

Perry4Law Techno Legal Base (PTLB) is the exclusive techno legal institution of India that provides techno legal ICT and IPR skill development in India. PTLB is also providing e-discovery related litigation, LPO and KPO support in India and world wide.

Both ICT and IPR related issues are becoming more challenging and complicated. Future issues in these areas would require techno legal trainings and skill development. The sooner we start this the better it would be for the ICT and IPR professionals of India.

IPR Services In India

Intellectual property rights services in India (IPRs services in India) are world known. We have professionals and firms that are world renowned in this regard.

However, today’s IPR environment has become Techno Legal in nature. IP Professionals of India must be well versed with both Technical and Legal Aspects of IPRs.

Perry4Law and Perry4Law Techno Legal Base (PTLB) specialise in Techno Legal IPR Services. Further, PTLB is also managing the exclusive techno legal IPR LPO and KPO of India.

While the IPR field is thriving upon innovation yet IPRs service providers are themselves have to be more innovative to cater the service requirements of these IP owners. PTLB manages one such resource that provides innovative IPR LPO, KPO and techno legal services to clients worldwide.

If you are interested in the techno legal intellectual property rights services in India and abroad, keep a close watch upon the IP Blog of PTLB. The Blog is covering areas like copyright, trademarks, patents, traditional knowledge, semiconductor industry, geographical indications, etc.

Why Is Google Messing Up With Search Placements?

It is no more a secret that Google do censor and filter search results. Whether they are news, search engine results pages (SERPS) or realtime results, Google do manipulates the results. Now this manipulation, censorship or filtering may be a compulsion due to orders or direction form a government like Indian government or may be due to some rouge employee who is messing up with search results.

Surprisingly, Google has neither admitted nor denied these allegations though they have been leveled against it since 2010. What is more interesting is the fact that news and opinions about Aadhar project of India and unique identification authority of India (UIDAI) are the one that are mostly censored and manipulated with.

The government of India gained draconian, unconstitutional and illegal e-surveillance, Internet censorship, website blocking and many such Orwellian powers through the information technology amendment act, 2008 (IT Act 2008). The IT Act 2008 amended the sole cyber law of India i.e. information technology act 2000 (IT Act 2000) and conferred unregulated and unreasonable e-surveillance and censorship powers upon Indian government and its agencies. Till now the Indian government has not prescribed procedural safeguards and guidelines subject to which these Orwellian powers can be exercised. As a result the government is using these powers without any accountability and transparency.

This was bound to happen as people of India never objected to the draconian cyber law of India that becomes a nightmare after the 2008 amendments. Now the civil liberties of Indians like right to privacy, freedom of speech and expression, right to know, etc are at stake. Internet censorship in India kept on increasing and India citizens remained silent. It is high time that the present unconstitutional cyber law of India must be repealed.

India has become a police state and commercial companies like Google have to comply with various directions and order of Indian government and its agencies. Neither Google nor Indian government is going to protect your civil liberties and resorting to self defence is the only possible option to reclaim some of your civil liberties.

National Frequency Allocation Plan 2011 Of India

The draft national frequency allocation plan 2011 of India (NFAP 2011) is one of the most important and arguable plan of India. Various government departments have their own interests and concerns that are preventing formulation of a NFAP of India.

The responsibility to formulate the NFAP 2011 rests with the wireless planning and coordination wing (WPCW) department of telecommunications (DoT). WPCW had issued the draft NFAP 2011 in the third week of March upon which various inputs have been provided.

Various government departments and telecom operators have written to the DoT and expressed disagreement with the plan. DoT will send all these views to the Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM), which will come up with the final version of the NFAP 2011.

According to Praveen Dalal, managing partner of New Delhi based law firm Perry4Law and leading techno legal expert of India, the NFAP 2011 must be legally effective and technologically sound. Presently, issues like Encryption, VOIP, Satellite Phones, Spectrum Allocation, etc are not properly addressed by Indian Government, informs Dalal.

The NFAP 2011 would be an integral part of the national telecom policy of India hence it is essential that we must have a new and effective telecom policy for India. In fact, the national telecom policy of India 2011 has already been proposed and it may cover NFAP 2011 and allied matters as well.

Let us see how effective national telecom policy of India 2011 and NFAP 2011 would finally be.

Working Group On Information Security, Electronic Banking, Technology Risk Management and Cyber Frauds Of RBI

This is the updated version of my previous article on similar topic. This article is discussing the constitution of a working group by Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to bring necessary techno legal banking reforms in India. Both technical and legal reforms have been suggested by the report of working group that if implemented by banks of India would go a long way in bringing banking reforms in India.

Now the RBI has issued a notification for the implementation of the suggestions of its working group. Banks need to ensure implementation of basic organisational framework and put in place policies and procedures which do not require extensive budgetary support, infrastructural or technology changes, by October 31, 2011. The rest of the guidelines need to be implemented within period of one year unless a longer time-frame is indicated in the circular.

In the past, RBI constituted a working group on information security, electronic banking, technology risk management and cyber frauds. The working group submitted its report in the recently upon which public inputs were invited. After analysing the public inputs, the final draft has been recently released and notified by the RBI.

RBI has also directed that all banks would have to create a position of chief information officers (CIOs) as well as steering committees on information security at the board level at the earliest. This direction was provided through the information technology vision document for 2011-17 (IT Vision 2011-17) and the recent notification of the draft report. This document has suggested many technological as well as legal reforms for banking sector of India.

RBI has recently acknowledged the risks of e-banking in India. There are many problems from which the online banking or Internet banking in India is suffering. The most important pertains to maintaining effective cyber security for banking and financial sectors of India. Similarly, there are no effective Internet banking laws in India or online banking laws in India. In the absence of stringent laws in this regard, online banking risks in India are increasing. However, of all the shortcomings, nothing can match the absence of encryption laws and standards in India. In the absence of proper encryption norms in India, e-banking in India is really insecure.

Although, RBI has been taking many far reaching and important steps yet e-banking in India still very risky. Of late, cases of phishing and banking frauds have increased tremendously in India. Further, cyber due diligence of banks in India is still a far dream. Even the directions of RBI to appoint CIOs and steering committees on information security have not yet been implemented.

Cyber security for banking and financial institutions of India is not in proper shape. Even due diligence requirements under the cyber law of India are not properly met. This has forced RBI to upgrade ATM security in India. Further, RBI has also imposed penalty upon 19 banks for non compliance with the regulatory requirements.

Indian banks are poor at cyber security policy formulation and its implementation. Cyber Security Policy is an issue that is very important for Banks of India, says Praveen Dalal, managing partner of New Delhi base ICT law firm Perry4Law and leading cyber law expert of India. With the growing use of Internet Banking, ATM machines, Credit and Debit Cards, Online Banking, etc, Banks of India must also upgrade their Cyber Security Infrastructure and establish a Cyber Security Policy, suggests Dalal.

RBI must rigorously implement the directions and suggestions made in the report of working group. Without stringent actions, the report would never be actually and practically implemented by Indian banks.

Training of Judicial Officers Of India

Judges training in India is a very important aspect of a sound judicial system. If judges are not properly trained and skilled, it may adversely affect the justice delivery system of a nation. In fact, a trained and sensitive judiciary can greatly expand the reach of access to justice to needy population.

Judges in India need to upgrade their skill from time to time. Special skill development initiatives must be undertaken in India for Indian judiciary. This is more so regarding e-courts skill development that is almost missing in India.

E-courts in India can make Indian judicial system more transparent and user friendly. Although e-courts project of India has been launched as a mission mode project under the national e-governance plan (NEGP) of India, it has failed to materialise so far. Despite spending crores of money, we are still waiting for the establishment of first e-court of India. Due to absence of e-courts skill the e-court project has still not been materialised.

Legal and Judicial Fraternity of India must be well aware of Scientific Concepts like Cyber Law, Cyber Forensics, Digital Evidencing, E-Discovery, E-Courts, Online Dispute Resolution, etc, says Praveen Dalal, managing partner of New Delhi based law firm Perry4Law and CEO of Perry4Law Techno Legal Base (PTLB). This requires good and qualitative Training and Skill Development Courses, suggests Dalal.

PTLB is providing various techno legal trainings and skill development courses to lawyers, judges, police officers, corporate executives, etc. PTLB is also providing techno legal training and education to judges in India and worldwide. PTLB is also providing techno legal trainings in India to lawyers. Even online training of judges in India is also provided by PTLB. Law ministry of India must take active help of institutions like PTLB for its various projects.