PUBG Mobile is banned in India including with 118 other mobile apps with links to China were banned on Wednesday by the federal government under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act, and by utilizing the provisions of IT (Procedure and Safeguards for Blocking of Entry of Info by Public) Guidelines 2009.
In its press launch, the federal government stated that the apps had been “prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity” of the nation, and have the danger of leaking user private data. Nonetheless, authorized specialists are questioning the way the government is using its sovereign powers to ban widespread apps in the nation.
The most recent ban is third in a series of bans. The govt already banned 106 “Chinese” Mobile Applications within the nation in slightly over the last two months, with two similar actions in June - July.
The primary decision was taken in late June, whereas its follow up was ordered practically a month later, close to the end of July.
Technology and geopolitics are getting combined
In all three instances to this point, the government has used Section 69A of the IT Act, which primarily grants the facility to block public access of any data available on the web. However Technology Lawyer and Founder of authorized advocacy group Slfc.in Mishi Choudhary stated the section was a mere stopgap measure.
“Whether 59 apps are banned or 118, all this underscores how technology and geopolitical matters are becoming two strands of a braid,” she told Gadgets 360.
Apar Gupta, Executive Director of the Internet Freedom Foundation (IFF), a digital rights organization, agreed with Choudhary and stated that the usage of the blocking power to ban apps one after the opposite was leading to a situation the place the initially intended purpose for part 69A, which was to block web sites, is being over-utilized. He additionally noted that even websites blocking must be seen as a provision of last resort rather than first recourse.
Need for a stringent data protection regulation
The statement released by the Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY) pertaining to the fresh ban highlighted that it decided to block these apps after receiving reports of the apps “stealing and surreptitiously transmitting users' data” to servers situated exterior the nation. It additionally cited recommendations from the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre, Ministry of Home Affairs, for blocking the 118 apps.
Nonetheless, Gupta stated that the government hadn't provided any evidence even to a degree where one would get any reasonable pieces of information. He also mentioned that the trend of announcing bans through press releases didn't contain any legal process.
“This entire process has been done under a press release,” he stated. “A press release is not an authorized order under the Information Technology Act.”
Since the ban is mainly projected as a move to guard residents' knowledge, the necessity of a stringent data protection regulation has additionally been noticed by specialists. “We must ensure that people are protected and they are not reduced to pawns in the data game,” Choudhury stated.
News Source - NDTV
