HERE IS AN ALTERNATIVE TO UNIVERSAL BASIC INCOME

The  new  GDP

In current turmoil about ownership and protection of personal data , this GDP stands for,

Great  Data  Pilferage

On the internet, there are thousands of Data Thieves , who hack into web sites / search engines and siphon off all kinds of user data which accumulates there through usage

Then there are web sites where users submit a huge amount of their personal data for availing certain services / for buying things etc

These sites are known to “ sell “ such user-data to other companies ( - mostly , e-commerce companies ), without “ explicit “ user permission

Sites like Google – Apple – Facebook – Amazon ( the infamous GAFA ) , may not be “ selling “ user data to others “ directly “ but make such data available to advertisers “ indirectly “

  

In the process , GAFA make tons of revenue / profit

This has prompted France to introduce ( effective Jan 01 ) , the so-called GAFA tax , which is estimated to yield to the French government, $ 570 million in 2019

I am worried that when our own DATA  PROTECTION  ACT  takes concrete shape , our government too , may consider levying some such tax on Social Media sites

But the Indian user is much smarter . He is telling the government ,

“ Over the past 4 years , you have convinced us about the advantages of DBT ( Direct Benefit Transfer ) .

So , please , don’t  tax GAFA . It will be impossible to figure out how much revenue / profit they made , using our PERSONAL data and therefore , how much tax they must pay

Whatever figure IT department may come up with , will get challenged in Supreme Court

Instead , let them pay us DIRECTLY for use of our personal data .

We have just read the following news report :

Your digital life may be up for sale for just Rs 3,500: Kaspersky Lab 

[ According to cyber security firm Kaspersky Lab that investigated Dark Web markets to find out how much personal data is worth, cyber criminals can sell someone's complete digital life for less than $50 (nearly Rs 3,500 )

This can include data from stolen social media accounts, banking details, remote access to servers or desktops, and even data from popular services like Uber, Netflix, and Spotify, as well as gaming websites, dating apps, and porn websites which might store credit card information. ]

We would not be surprised if our data is being sold to 10 different parties ( E-Com sites / Advertisers etc ) every month , adding up to a loss of Rs 35,000 per month ( Rs 4.2 lakh per year )

We request you to incorporate provisions in our proposed Data Protection Law , to get these web sites to deposit this amount DIRECTLY in our Jan Dhan bank account, every time they use it for commercial purpose

And , please exempt this income from personal income tax !

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Dear Shri Arun Jaitleyji / Shri Ravi Shankar Prasadji ,

Here is your golden opportunity to implement an equivalent of a Universal Basic Income , without having to worry – “ How shall we fund it ? “

Just ensure that our own Data Protection Law gets centered around :

Only  Answer  ;  a Statutory  Warning 

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19  Dec  2018

www.hemenparekh.in / blogs