World
over citizens are demanding that their Governments take some urgent / concrete
steps from all kinds of malicious postings / fake news / hate speeches etc on
Social Media web sites such as Google - Facebook - Twitter - Whats App etc
In this
matter , USA is most liberal and EU has introduced GDPR to penalize offending
online media , holding them accountable for what their users post
At the
other extreme, China manages to curb all dissent / opposition to its Govt , by
simply telling online media : PUBLISH DISSENT and
PERISH
In
our own country, government is about to introduce a DATA PROTECTION BILL , -
without any clue as to WHO will protect WHOSE data and HOW !
If our Govt is really serious / sincere , persons drafting the
bill should read this
Even MPs belonging to Opposition Parties would find some
constructive questions to ask in Lok Sabha !
Slow and Steady ? Sure Way
to Nowhere !
------------------------------------------------
Context
:
Data
protection bill may get Cabinet nod next week
Highlights :
· The government plans to amend the IT law to increase
penalty on Apps and Web sites that are unable to control fake news and
child pornography . Amendments will include an EXTREME provision of taking down apps and web sites in violation
·
The move comes days after senior officials of the
IT ministry met representatives from top global social media and internet
companies and sought their views on
proposed rules that would, among other things, help trace the origin of
unlawful content. This is one of the key area of dispute between the government
and companies
·
The amendments could potentially impact the
operations of popular services like WhatsApp , Facebook , Google , Twitter , Telegram . Some of
these services have had differences with the government over the issue of tracing the origin of content
that is fake, scope of encryption, content deemed interfering with politics and
elections, spread of child abuse and revenge porn
·
The government had last year carried out an
exercise to determine whether blocking web sites and apps was
technically feasible if telecom companies and internet service
providers were asked to do so. The issue is still being discussed
·
He
( Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad ) said the government was looking at regulating the services of
foreign internet companies operating in India to make them accountable
to Indian Laws and judiciary
·
While
section 69A of the IT Act gives powers to the government to order blocking of
access to information that is detrimental to the sovereignty , security and
friendly relations of the state , the government is
considering whether there can be a TOTAL CLAMPDOWN on the operations of an app
or web site in case of serious violations
========================================================
Note these Keywords / Phrases :
·
Provision…..web
sites in violation
·
Seeking
their views….
·
Tracing
the origin of content…
·
Whether
blocking was technically feasible………
·
Looking
at regulating the services……….
·
Government
is considering…….. [ Why
is “ begging “ left
out ? ]
What kind of “ Content “ is considered “ Undesirable “ ?
·
Fake
News / Child Pornography
·
Content deemed interfering with politics and elections
·
Spread of child abuse
·
Revenge porn
Which Government
Authority will “ deem “ , “ which “ content meets “ what
“ criteria ?
Will it be
possible to get the web sites to agree to the criteria
laid down by government ?
Will government
end-up agreeing to the criteria Web sites set up
for “Self Regulation” ?
Will we end up
with “ It’s my word against your word “ type
of situation in court of law ?
How many
(thousands) of cases of “ Unlawful Content “ can government fight at a time
?
What do web sites have to say ?
·
Tracing
the origin of fake content is difficult
But how come, neither the government nor the web sites are talking of
the following ? :
·
Web
sites allowing Apps to collect / hack , PERSONAL
DATA of users / friends
·
Web
sites themselves making tons of money from “ misuse “ of User Data
·
Web
sites not sharing with their users , profits they make from such User Data
Will amending IT Act help ?
·
Amendment
by itself, cannot stop “ Fake Accounts “
which remain difficult to trace
·
It
does not stop those web sites to make tons of money through misuse of data
Any analogy for the proposed amendment ?
·
Locking
the stable after the horse has bolted !
What should be the right approach ?
·
Prevent
creation of fake accounts
·
Ensure
100 % traceability of each and every activity by
the users on every web site
·
Immediate
“ Digital Death “ ( Capital punishment
= non-use of internet itself ) by culprits posting fake news / hate
speech / objectionable content
·
No
need to “ Request / Urge / Ask / Order “ the web sites to install “ automated
tools to filter “ the objectionable content ( under new rules of Section 79 of
IT Act )
·
No
need to file court cases if they fail to “ filter “ ( - and wait for years ! )
But what about making those web sites pay for use of Personal Data ?
·
For
every single use of User Data , ensure that the web site concerned makes a DBT
( Direct Benefit Transfer of a micro-payment ) into the Jan Dhan Account of the
concerned user ( I have estimated this at Rs 35,000
per month and urged Shri Arun Jaitleyji to exempt this from Income Tax ,
treating this as Universal Basic Income )
What is required to “ Prevent the Disease “ ?
· Where is USA on this
? > Internet Bill of
Rights
·
Father
of Internet agrees > Tim Berners-Lee
Speaks
How can this be legitimized ?
·
By
re-drafting the proposed “ Data Protection Bill “
( It is still , not late ! )
Will those web sites agree ?
·
Don’t
try to “ SELL “ this idea to them . Just “ TELL “ them ,
“ Sign up on
the dotted lines or QUIT INDIA “
Does this not sound “ draconian “ ?
·
It
will – to pseudo-liberals and neo-experts debating in air-conditioned TV
Studios . 500 million poor people ( covered by Ayushman Bharat Scheme ) will
welcome this
Will this stop Citizen Data from being hacked ?
·
Currently,
citizens’ personal data is lying on thousands of servers of Google – FaceBook –
Twitter – Amazon etc . Under my proposal , all Indian Citizens’ PERSONAL DATA will reside only on the server
of www.IndiaDataCustodian.gov.in
Hence it will be
relatively difficult to pilfer .
Of course , such a
concentrated / single repository of entire LIFE
HISTORY DATA of a billion Indians makes it a very lucrative target for
evil hackers, who have in the past managed to hack into NASA and even PENTAGON
servers and more recently pilfered personal data of Angela Merkel and
hundreds of EU politicians / celebrities
And to be brutally
honest , even my suggestion would protect the misuse of Personal Data of
citizens , only for next 5 years or so !
By 2024 , average
home will get populated with dozens of Internet Connected devices / items (
vehicles - furniture – fridge – oven – TV – wall clocks – door locks – you name
it of IoT ! ) – all of which embedded with hundreds of sensors which will relay
/ transmit to Device Manufacturers / ISPs / MSPs / Social Media / E Com web
sites / Government Agencies etc , every single word you utter / every food that
you eat / every medicine that you take , and video of everything you do, on
24x7 basis !
George Orwell’s 1984 will have finally arrived , although 40 years later
!
=========================================================
PERSONAL
DATA FLOW PROCESS CHART
ROLES
# Social Media / E Com Web Sites &
Apps
·
Shall
enter into legally binding Contract with IDC
·
Shall
display a “ Statutory Warning “ on their home-page
·
Shall
not ask / require users to submit ANY personal data
·
Shall
not ask users to click, “ I agree to the TERMS & CONDITIONS “
·
Shall
access “ User permitted personal data “ from IDC , only upon User
Login
·
May
acquire additional / aggregated User Data from IDC by paying
online
# Citizes
·
Shall
submit Personal Data on IDC at 10 ascending levels
of details
·
Shall
select Social Media sites on IDC and grant specific “ Data Level “
access to each
·
Specify
/ select what of his personal data ( level wise /
aggregated ) can be sold to any website ( Jan
Dhan Bank A/c No and Aadhar No, to be part of personal data )
·
Shall
not provide any Personal Data to those websites with which IDC has a contract
·
Grant
to IDC, a special Power of Attorney, to deal
with Web sites on his behalf
# IDC ( www.IndiaDataCustodian.gov.in
)
·
Represent
in courts, all Registered Users for their usage / dealings with web sites
·
Ensure
that web sites can access only that Personal Data which
User has selected
·
On
behalf of users, “ sell “ additional data ( but only anonymized
/ aggregated ) and issue “ instructions “ to buyer , how much money to
deposit in which Jan Dhan A / C
·
Do
not renew “ Annual User Registration “ unless he fills in “ Site Rating “
online
·
Cancel
Registration if “ malicious / unlawful “ content posting on any Social Media is
traced to him ( -
what I earlier described as “ Digital Death = Capital Punishment “ )
·
Provide
feature for online lodging of complaints against any web site
·
Act
as a Gate-Keeper / Gateway , between the Web Sites and the Indian Citizens
=========================================================
Related Readings :
· Supreme
may Propose : Technology will Dispose [ 23 July 2017
]
·
· A Fool’s Paradise
? [
29 Aug
2017 ]
· 7
Pillars of Data Protection Law
[ 27 Nov
2017 ]
· Data Protection
without Data Privacy ? [
08 Jan 2018
]
Dear Shri Ravi Shankar Prasadji,
I urge you to incorporate my above suggestion in proposed
DATA PROTECTION BILL
If you do , the entire world will look up to India for
guidance in matter of PERSONAL DATA PROTECTION and
PRIVACY
======================================================
05 Jan
2019
RSVP
> hcp@RecruitGuru.com
