Relax, sharing personal information is safe now

In a path-breaking step, the draft of "Information Technology Rules 2011" proposed by the centre government in February, will soon become a law, bringing relief to thousands of people who were till now bothered by unsolicited calls, SMS-es and spasm from companies they never knew of.

Named 'Reasonable Security Practices and Procedures and Sensitive Personal Information', the law will make sharing of personal information absolutely safe to individuals or corporate bodies that collect, handle or store personal information of citizens for any purpose.

According to the law, the concerned company will have to adhere to international standards of securing information and demonstrate the same to a competent government authority. The law encompasses the banking, telecom and insurance sector as well and they will be liable for prosecution if the collected data or personal information is shared, published or sold without an individual's prior consent.

This new law is boon for the citizens who were annoyed by random business calls, e-mails or spam. However, it will affect the bulk SMS and email services adversely.

Experts speak
Sagar Rahurkar, a techno-legal consultant and faculty at the Asian School of Cyber Law, said, "The new rule will make it mandatory for any individual or company to ensure that the personal information with them is secure as per international standards of IS/ISO/IEC 27001. Not only that, they will also have to ensure physical security of hardwares like servers."

Explaining the impact of such rules, Advocate Vaishali Bhagwat said: "Indians, by culture, are very social and share their personal information easily with others. The proposed law shows that the times are changing. The new rule, when implemented, will also increase India's corporate credibility in the international scenario. If any company fails to comply by the standards, it would be liable to pay compensation.

The adjudicating officer would be chief secretary of IT Ministry and he can refer it to police for further investigation. The complainant can also appeal to the Cyber Appellate Tribunal in New Delhi if he is not satisfied with the action taken."

u00a0Asked about the liability of a corporate body or individual who would not comply with these policies, the Supreme Court Advocate and cyber law specialist Pavan Duggal, said: "If loss has occurred to a party, he/she can file a complaint with the police. He/she can also approach the adjudicating officer under section 43A of the Information Technology Act."