October 17th each year since 2000 has been a day to remember as the day when the Indian Digital Society was born.
Just as India existed from time immemorial but we celebrate August 15 as the day of our independence, Digital India was in existence before October 17 2000 in small parts but got legal recognition with the notification of Information Technology Act 2000. (ITA 2000). A substantial amendment in December 2008 released a new version of ITA 2000 which became effective from the notification made with effect from 27th October 2009 and acquired more clarity on April 11 2011 with the notification of Reasonable Security Practices under Section 43A and the Intermediary Guidelines under Section 79.
Now Government of India is talking of a “Digital India Act” which is contemporaneous with the current digital world where Social Media Intermediaries, Artificial Intelligence, Meta Verse, E Commerce, Quantum Computing etc were not in existence when ITA 2000 was conceived.
Though the withdrawal of PDPB 2019 did cause a temporary set back in the industry expecting a new set of data protection laws, it re-iterated the importance of ITA 2000 as the current operating Data Protection Law in India since Section 43A and Reasonable Security rules (or Sensitive Personal Data Protection Rules) continues to exist.
We today speak of 5G and how it can transform India into a new era of “Digital India” and are proud that we are leaders in the digital payments with 40% market share in the world for digital payments. We recognize that the Launch of ONDC-Open Network for Digital Commerce could transform the small business sectors and onboard them on to Digital services. Today even the Supreme Court proceedings are streamed online closing the gap between the common man and the highest judiciary.
All these developments show that Digital India is truly booming.
We must however remember that prior to October 17, 2000, we did not even recognize an electronic document legally and could not authenticate an electronic document digitally. There was no concept of a judicially recognized digital contract though there were technological innovations like the ATM, Net Banking and Demat Shares in use.
But October 17, 2000 transformed the situation in India with the notification of ITA 2000. The electronic document, Digital Signature and the Digital Contract got legal recognition and the Digital Society of India was born.
The importance of this development can never be taken away and we need to recognize this and celebrate this even when we are looking forward to a new Digital India Act.
FDPPI therefore will celebrate October 17 2022 as the Digital Society Day by conducting a virtual mini conference on the theme “Digital India in the making” where we discuss the “Role of ITA 2000 in the emerging Cyber Legal system in India”, the “Recent CERT In Guidelines” along with the “Compliance Management Rating” related to CERT In guidelines and ITA 2008 compliance.
Register today for the event on October 17, 2022 between 4.00 pm to 8.00 pm. All those who register for IDPS 2022, a three day virtual event of FDPPI (Third annual event of Indian Data Protection Summit) will be sponsored on behalf of FDPPI.
Register for IDPS 2022 and get a free registration for the October 17 event here:
https://fdppi.in/wp/idps2022-registration/
Register today and participate in the discussions.
The program will consist of presentation from Naavi followed by a panel discussion.
Naavi
