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The Session registration link for IDPS 2021 is now available. Register today and block your calendar.

The Flagship event on Data Protection in India for the year namely IDPS 2021 is being conducted as a virtual conference on November 17,18 and 19.

The eventful three days will host 9 Panel Discussions and several Keynote speeches from eminent industry professionals.

At present the registration is free. Please block your calendar and register yourself.

The program schedule is here.

Naavi

Mr Suresh Kumar, the then Law Minister of Karnataka inaugurated a seminar on Privacy on October 17, 2008 at KLE Law College, Bangalore, seen here with Naavi

On 17th October 2000, India notified Information Technology Act 2000. With the notification, for the first time in India, “Binary Expressions” processed in “Computers” were recognized as Electronic Documents and equivalent to written documents (Subject to exceptions in Section 1(4) of ITA 2000).

Simultaneously, digital signatures were recognized as a form of authentication and digital contracts recognized in law became feasible.

This was the birth of Digital Society in India. Today, the 17th October 2021 is the 21st anniversary of this momentous day.

Naavi has been advocating that this day has to be commemorated as the Digital Society Day of India since it marked a significant change in the history of India. If we are today talking of Digital India and taking pride in our achievements in digitization, the origin of this Digital India was in the legal recognition of digital documents.

The importance of October 17, increased when ITA 2000 was upgraded with the amendments of 2008 which incidentally became effective from 27th October 2009. With this amendment, ITA 2000 fortified its provisions on “Personal Data Protection” and “Non Personal Data Protection” with the  introduction of sections 43A, 72A, etc.

Even after Section 43A is replaced with PDPB 2019 passed into an Act, the remaining provisions for data protection in ITA 2000 continue to make it the principal Cyber Law of India.

Let’s remember this day therefore as the day Indian Digital Society was born. Hope some day in future, MeitY will recognize the importance of October 17 for the Digital future of India and start commemorating the day officially.

It may be recalled that Naavi along with KLE Law College, Bangalore conducted a major event on Privacy way back on 17th October 2008 which was inaugurated by the then Law Minister of Karnataka, Mr Suresh Kumar.

That was the time when the Personal Data Protection Bill had been presented in the Parliament along with the ITA 2000 amendment Bill. ITA 2000 amendment bill became a law and created the ITA 2008 version of ITA 2000. The Personal Data Protection Bill however lapsed and we are still struggling to bring a law for Privacy Protection in India.

Today’s Privacy Activists need to refer to the events of this seminar available here and see how the Digital Society Foundation of India started as a trust tried to establish an organization which inter-alia was interested in developing education on Cyber Law in India. However this imitative could not be sustained. The current day FDPPI is a new incarnation of the DSFI which appears to have taken off because the environment is more conducive today to Privacy and Data Protection.

A Copy of the Personal Data Protection Bill 2006 presented in the Parliament at that time is available here and is worth looking into when analyzing the legislative history of PDPB 2019.

Some more photographs of the event are here:

When the Indian Data Protection Summit 2021 (IDPS 2021) discusses the Past, Present and Future of Privacy Law in India, it is necessary to remember this 2006 version of the Bill which faded into oblivion.

Naavi

Naavi, the Chairman of FDPPI had earlier undertaken  “Karnataka Cyber Law Awareness Movement” in 2005 during which long certification courses were conducted across Karnataka in Bangalore, Mysore, Hubli and Mangalore under the umbrella of Cyber Law College.

Cyber Law College is a division of Ujvala Consultants Pvt Ltd which is a supporting partner of FDPPI.

In a new comprehensive outreach program, Naavi is now scheduling an “Indian National Privacy Awareness  Movement” (INPAM) starting from the Vijayadashami day on 15th October 2021.

The INPAM would be a free program aimed at ordinary citizens and students to make them aware of the concept of “Privacy”, “Data Protection” and the “PDPB 2019”.

The program would be conducted on the Mobile App- FDPPI available here:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=co.edvin.titge  (For Android)

https://apps.apple.com/in/app/myinstitute/id1472483563 (For ioS)

Please download the App and await further instructions on the batches.

The program would initially be launched in English and Kannada and later different batches would be introduced in different languages.

Naavi

Today’s Economic Times carries a report “Center Weighs Single Nodal Policy”. According to the report, the Government is contemplating a new “Nodal Policy” for Social Media to tackle the aggression of the rogue Tech Companies who have no respect for Indian sovereignty.

In the process however, the Government has once again shown that it does not want to confront the media and is ready to compromise on the Intermediary Guidelines of February 25th, in which an attempt was made to bring self regulation on social media to curb fake news.

It is disappointing that time and again the Government shows its indecisiveness and takes one step forward and two steps backward when it comes to taking tough decisions whether it is the farm laws or the amendments to ITA 2000 or the Personal Data Protection Act.

The opposition may appear weak whenever elections are held in India but their hold on media is so strong that any new law will be opposed both in the media and in the Courts. It is for this reason that media can get away with advertisements to recruit journalists with the sole purpose of opposing the Government and Courts which spend end less hours to defend anti nationals and  bail applications in serious narcotics cases while genuine cases languish in pendency.

The move on “Single Nodal Agency” reminds us of the “Convergence Bill” which was hotly debated in the years 2000-2001 before being dropped like a hot potato for reasons of political expediency.

It may be interesting to look at some of these old forgotten issues in the articles available in the links below.

https://www.naavi.org/cl_editorial_04/edit_01_mar_11_01.htm

https://www.naavi.org/views.htm

Knowing the attitude of the press, the opposition and the Courts, the attempt to bring a “Single Nodal Policy” will only mean that the “Self Regulation” envisaged under the Intermediary Guidelines of February 25th may take a back seat.

Let is wait and see if the new Ministry is able to cut the hesitancy and make bold moves required to take India forward.

Naavi