New rule of VPN in India, users’ data will have to be kept safe for 5 years
A Virtual Private Network (VPN) is a network that encrypts data and helps users stay hidden even when they are online. Its use in India has seen an increase recently. The government has recently tightened its grip on the VPN provider companies to stop it. Now, some VPN providers are leaving India, while the rest are considering working on new regulations. The government says that the new rule is aimed at improving cyber security, but some VPN companies have claimed that the new rule may lead to cyber security-related loopholes in the system. However, this argument was rejected by the minister.
Minister of State for Electronics and IT Rajiv Chandrashekhar on Wednesday released the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) regarding incidents of cyber crime. It was said that such virtual private network (VPN) service providers who are not ready to follow the new guidelines, they have the option of exiting India. He said that every good company or organization understands that a secure and reliable internet will help them.
It is important to follow the rules
Chandrashekhar said, ‘No one has any option to say that we will not follow the rules and laws of India. If you don’t have logs, start saving logs. If you are a VPN that wants to hide and keep users anonymous, and if you do not want to comply with the laws, and if you want to go out, then you have no other way but to go out.’
The Ministry of Electronics and IT has made it mandatory for cloud service providers, VPN firms, data center companies and virtual private server providers to protect users’ data for at least five years.
The Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In), in a guideline issued on April 28, has asked all government and private agencies, internet service providers and social media platforms to report cyber security breaches within 6 hours of being detected. But the American technology industry organization ITI, which has membership of giant tech companies like Google, Facebook, IBM (IBM) and Cisco, has urged the Indian government to change these guidelines.
