On October 17th, India will be celebrating the 20th anniversary of the birth of the digital society of India. On this day in 2000, Information Technology Act 2000 was notified. On that day, an electronic document became legally recognized as equivalent to a paper document. The digital signature was recognized as equivalent to a physical signature. Together, the legal recognition of electronic document and the method of authentication gave legal recognition to a digital contract. Digital contracts gave birth to the transactions in the digital society with judicial oversight. The electronic document also got recognition as “Evidence” under the Indian Evidence Act and Section 65B became effective as the means of making an electronic evidence admissible in the court of law.
This day is therefore significant in the history of evolution of Digital India and Naavi.org has been celebrating the day as the “Digital Society Day of India” ever since. First few years we even had physical events to celebrate the day. We have always believed that MeitY has to take up this celebration in large scale but it has not happened.
Anyway it is our duty to remember the importance of the day.
Naavi.org is putting together some suggestions on what amendments may need to be considered in the ITA 2000 in the current scenario where the Personal Data Protection Act will automatically affect some of the provisions of this Act.
I invite comments from public on what are the three most important pain points in the Act that they have been confronted with in these years so that it can be consolidated and brought to the attention of the Government.
Naavi
