SafeUM
Home Blog Services Download Help About Recharge

Axarhöfði 14, 110 Reykjavik, Iceland

Iceland - 2015
SafeUM
Blog
Services
Download
Help
About
Recharge
Menu
Archive
TOP Security!
22 Sep 2015

India tried to make deleting instant messages and e-mails illegal

The Indian government faced a wave of outrage due to controversial clauses in a recently published draft of its new National Encryption Policy.

The policy draft, written by the Department of Electronics and Information Technology, stipulated that mobile users in the country would be legally required to store any encrypted communications on their devices for up to 90 days -- and could be punished if they failed to comply.

Almost every Internet-based method of communication uses some level of encryption. This means that deleting messages that are less than three months old from widely used instant messengers, like WhatsApp, Viber and Hike, as well as from e-mail clients such as Gmail, would be illegal. "All information shall be stored by the concerned [organisations/citizens] entity for 90 days from the date of transaction and made available to Law Enforcement Agencies as and when demanded in line with the provisions of the laws of the country," the draft read.

However, following public and social media outcry, an amendment was made excluding "mass encryption products" like the above mentioned services from the policy. Another controversial measure that was outlined in the original draft stated that all services that offer encrypted communications were to alert themselves to the government.

"All vendors of encryption products shall register their products with the designated agency of the Government," it read. "While seeking registration, the vendors shall submit working copies of the encryption software / hardware to the Government along with 4 professional quality documentation, test suites and execution platform environments."

The draft policy is likely to change more, as the department has opened it up for public comment until October 16. It comes months after the issue of net neutrality was a hot topic in India. At the heart of the debate was telco Airtel, who attempted a zero-rating plan which involved select sites, like e-retail giant Flipkart, becoming data-free for customers, which some cited as anti-competitive practice.

OUR POINT
It is difficult to imagine how Indian government understands the way this initiative can be realized in real time. Where can any user get his encrypted texts? How will any user store sent and encrypted messages? What if the phone memory is low? Moreover, does it mean that I can’t delete any message from my chat on my phone? SafeUM secure messenger will help you in this Orwell situation. SafeUM has a unique feature: different levels of application access, depending on the entered PIN-code.

If you enter "fake PIN" in SafeUM messenger, the page with encrypted correspondence will be empty: Well, I do not have any encrypted chats! WhatsApp, Telegram, Viber, and other messengers don’t provide users with anonymity, as they have to provide their phone numbers. These apps don’t provide users with privacy and anonymity.

There are two ways of registration in SafeUM messenger:
1)        by phone number;
2)        by login and password.

It is better to use the second registration option in such cases. You won’t have to provide your phone number, email, and any other personal information. The ability to stay anonymous is integrated in SafeUM. Download SafeUM, use additional data protection features and rest assured your communication is 100% private.
Tags:
India surveillance
Source:
CNet
2129
Other NEWS
3 Jul 2020 safeum news imgage An encrypted messaging service has been infiltrated by police
4 May 2020 safeum news imgage Two-Factor Authentication ​What Is It and Why You Should Use It
12 Dec 2019 safeum news imgage Encryption is under threat - this is how it affects you
4 Nov 2019 safeum news imgage Should Big Decisions Be Based on Data or Your Intuition?
7 Jun 2018 safeum news imgage VPNFilter malware infecting 500,000 devices is worse than we thought
4 Jun 2018 safeum news imgage Hackers target Booking.com in criminal bid to steal hundreds of thousands from customers
1 Jun 2018 safeum news imgage Operator of World's Top Internet Hub Sues German Spy Agency
30 May 2018 safeum news imgage US says North Korea behind malware attacks
29 May 2018 safeum news imgage Facebook and Google targeted as first GDPR complaints filed
25 May 2018 safeum news imgage A new reason to not buy these cheap Android devices
24 May 2018 safeum news imgage Flaws in smart pet devices, apps could come back to bite owners
23 May 2018 safeum news imgage Google sued for 'clandestine tracking' of 4.4m UK iPhone users' browsing data
21 May 2018 safeum news imgage LocationSmart reportedly leaked phone location data onto the web
18 May 2018 safeum news imgage The SEC created its own scammy ICO to teach investors a lesson
17 May 2018 safeum news imgage Thieves suck millions out of Mexican banks in transfer heist
All news
SafeUM
Confidential Terms of Use Our technologies Company
Follow us
Download
SafeUM © Safe Universal Messenger

Axarhöfði 14,
110 Reykjavik, Iceland

Iceland - 2015