Legal Enablement Of ICT Systems In India

Information and communication technology (ICT) is both a boon and bane. It is a boon as it facilitates e-governance, e-commerce and e-delivery of public services. It is a bane as it has a darker side as well. ICT is very frequently used for committing various cyber contraventions and cyber crimes.

This is the reason why we must have a strong and stringent legal framework to regulate ICT dealings. Legal enablement of ICT systems ensures formulation of legal framework for various cyberspace dealings.

Legal enablement covers areas like cyber law, cyber security, cyber forensics, critical ICT infrastructure protection, anti cyber warfare steps, anti cyber espionage steps, anti cyber terrorism steps, etc.

Legal enablement also includes policy issues like cyber law policy, cyber security policy, cyber forensics policy, etc. At the same time legal enablement also ensures a legal framework for all these components. A cyber crisis management plan is also an essential part of the legal enablement initiative of any nation.

In the national context we have no legal enablement of ICT systems in India. We have information technology act 2000 as the cyber law of India that is trying to give some legitimacy to cyberspace dealings in India. However, in the desire to get everything at a single place, the cyber law of India has failed to achieve even a single aspect of legal enablement.

There is no deterrent for cyber criminals in India as almost all the cyber crimes are bailable. Mandatory e-governance services in India are missing and the cyber law of India has imposed a blanket ban upon asking such services by Indiana citizens. The e-commerce environment of India is also not safe and sound. Lack of cyber security and encryption usage makes e-commerce of India highly vulnerable to cyber attacks.

India must repeal the cyber law of India and come up with separate laws on these aspects of legal enablement. As far as cyber security law and cyber forensics law are concerned, India has none.

It would be safe to presume that we have no legal enablement of ICT systems in India. India is not a part of international cyber law treaty and there is also no international cyber security treaty in existence. Thus, India is lax regarding legal frameworks, policy issues and cyber security requirements and the same need to be changed as soon as possible for the larger interest of India.

Cloud Computing Policy Of India

Cloud computing is the buzz word in India these days. However, the crucial question is whether cloud computing is a viable option in India? Cloud computing is based upon essentials like privacy protection, data protection and data security. India has none.

There is no cyber security in India and even cyber security policy of India is missing. There is no privacy law in India. There is no data protection law in India. And there is no data security law in and cyber security law in India. In short, there is no legal framework for cloud computing in India at all. With these negative developments India should not use software as a service (SaaS) and cloud computing for crucial governmental services.

In fact, cloud computing in India is a new landmine for privacy in India. For instance, in order to safeguard its commercial interests in India, Research in Motion’s (RIM) Blackberry has established a framework that would allow Indian intelligence agencies to monitor contents on its messenger service. Interestingly, this e-surveillance arrangement is cloud computing based and this shows how vulnerable cloud based systems can be for violating civil liberties.

India is not ready for cloud computing and in order to effectively use the benefits of cloud computing and saas we must have a cloud computing policy of India. This cloud computing policy must clearly incorporate essential civil liberties safeguards, lawful interception law related principles, e-surveillance policy of India, cyber security policy of India and other similar policies.

Presently, India is giving too much importance to commercial interests and e-surveillance activities and this may hamper the growth of cloud computing in India. It is high time to formulate effective cloud computing policy of India.