The Indian government has been aggressively pushing the Digital India framework and forging ahead with the campaign to even the most remote part of the nation.&nbsp;

The government aims to improve online infrastructure across the nation and, with better internet connectivity, the government and other services will be made available efficiently.&nbsp;

But the spread of the internet comes with online security and cybercrimes, and in order to tackle such threats, there's a need to establish measures and regulations.&nbsp;

Hence, India is planning to enforce Digital India Act (currently a draft), which will seek to ensure that the internet in India is open, free from user harm and criminality. It will also look after establishing the institutional mechanism of accountability.&nbsp;

<h2>What is Digital India Act (DIA)?&nbsp;</h2>

DIA has been introduced to replace the Information Technology Act, which came into being in October 2000.&nbsp;

The government said that the Digital India Act, of 2023 is a future-ready legislation that aims to provide a strong legal framework to support India's tech goals.&nbsp;

A statement published by PIB read, "It constitutes a significant part of the Global Standard Cyber laws being formulated by the Narendra Modi Government for catalysing India's digital economy."&nbsp;

The statement also added that Digital Personal Data Protection Bill, the National Data Governance Framework policy, the recent amendments to the IT Rules, and CERT-In guidelines are important elements of this legal framework.&nbsp;

Today, the nation is the world's largest "digitally connected democracy" with 830 million internet users.&nbsp;

The government argues that the internet is mostly managed under the 23-year-old IT Act, which lacks provisions on user rights, trust, and safety, among other issues, and is ill-equipped to deal with emerging, sophisticated forms of cybercrime such as doxxing, cyberstalking, and online trolling, among others.

<h2>Technology has pros and cons&nbsp;</h2>

From the internet to mobile phones to artificial intelligence (AI), several waves in information technology have come with immense benefits for humankind. But there have been associated issues as well.&nbsp;

For example, many hail ChatGPT, and other tools like it, as the "next big thing". ChatGPT is an AI-powered language model, which is capable of generating human-like text based on context and past conversations. It is developed by OpenAI.&nbsp;

Its usage spread like a virus across the world, threatening jobs, and more. But the tool has also been condemned by experts. Recently, US regulators have asked OpenAI how it's addressing the potential for ChatGPT to generate false and misleading statements about real people.&nbsp;

AI-powered tech can help with efficiency and productivity gains, improved speed of business, and more, but there's also a need to establish control over the tech o keep it in check.&nbsp;

The Washington Post reported that the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) sent a letter to OpenAI this week requesting specific information about how the company addresses the potential risk for ChatGPT "to generate statements about real individuals that are false, misleading, disparaging, or harmful."&nbsp;

(With inputs from agencies)

&nbsp;

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The Indian government has been aggressively pushing the Digital India framework and forging ahead with the campaign to even the most remote part of the nation. The government aims to improve online infrastructure across the nation and, with better internet connectivity, the government and other services will be made available efficiently.

The Indian government has been aggressively pushing the Digital India framework and forging ahead with the campaign to even the most remote part of the nation. The government aims to improve online infrastructure across the nation and, with better internet connectivity, the government and other services will be made available efficiently. But the spread of the internet comes with online security and cybercrimes, and in order to tackle such threats, there's a need to establish measures and regulations. Hence, India is planning to enforce Digital India Act (currently a draft), which will seek to ensure that the internet in India is open, free from user harm and criminality. It will also look after establishing the institutional mechanism of accountability. What is Digital India Act (DIA)? DIA has been introduced to replace the Information Technology Act, which came into being in October 2000. The government said that the Digital India Act, of 2023 is a future-ready legislation that aims to provide a strong legal framework to support India's tech goals. A statement published by PIB read, "It constitutes a significant part of the Global Standard Cyber laws being formulated by the Narendra Modi Government for catalysing India's digital economy." The statement also added that Digital Personal Data Protection Bill, the National Data Governance Framework policy, the recent amendments to the IT Rules, and CERT-In guidelines are important elements of this legal framework. Today, the nation is the world's largest "digitally connected democracy" with 830 million internet users. The government argues that the internet is mostly managed under the 23-year-old IT Act, which lacks provisions on user rights, trust, and safety, among other issues, and is ill-equipped to deal with emerging, sophisticated forms of cybercrime such as doxxing, cyberstalking, and online trolling, among others. Technology has pros and cons From the internet to mobile phones to artificial intelligence (AI), several waves in information technology have come with immense benefits for humankind. But there have been associated issues as well. For example, many hail ChatGPT, and other tools like it, as the "next big thing". ChatGPT is an AI-powered language model, which is capable of generating human-like text based on context and past conversations. It is developed by OpenAI. Its usage spread like a virus across the world, threatening jobs, and more. But the tool has also been condemned by experts. Recently, US regulators have asked OpenAI how it's addressing the potential for ChatGPT to generate false and misleading statements about real people. AI-powered tech can help with efficiency and productivity gains, improved speed of business, and more, but there's also a need to establish control over the tech o keep it in check. The Washington Post reported that the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) sent a letter to OpenAI this week requesting specific information about how the company addresses the potential risk for ChatGPT "to generate statements about real individuals that are false, misleading, disparaging, or harmful." (With inputs from agencies) WATCH WION LIVE HERE You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here.

'Digital India Act': New Delhi's proposed plan to ensure online safety

Does digital-space invade private space? Does India need a data ombudsman to keep a check on all instances of data infringement?

Many might disagree with it due to India&rsquo;s dependability on export technologies. However, the online state of affairs is troubling in the age of Big Data. We have to seriously consider how a data protection law could protect the fundamentals of individual privacy.

There are many ambiguities as well questions that the committee of experts led by Justice B.N. Srikrishna needs to look into as they set about&nbsp;to craft an Indian&nbsp;data protection law.&nbsp;

India, as the largest producer of online data and as an emerging digital economy, needs to espouse a balanced data protection law to prevent misuse of personal data of its citizens and to protect its appetite for the digital economy. Here are four pointers in this regards.

First &ndash; definition &ndash; the law needs to distinguish a line between personal data and non-personal data so that the non-personal data could flow free for&nbsp;innovations. India&rsquo;s data protection law should be Indian in nature and not a replication of a stringent law like the EU data protection regulation.

Second &ndash; accessibility- the creation of data centres needs to be treated under the jurisdiction of India Law. These data centres would facilitate Indian law enforcement and investigative agencies to address diverse online and offline crime issues. The classic example is the Blackberry data turf war in 2010 due to the limitation of Mutual Legal Assistant Treaty.

Third &ndash; data flow- These data centres would enable indigenous start-ups to mushroom and give better data-driven services to the end user. Currently, the EU&rsquo;s GDPR is a strict data protection law of the digital world that keeps internet industries at bay, creating a negative effect on disruptive innovations and digital economy. However, recent talks in the EU mentioned that for free flow for digital innovations, there would be policy to leave aside &lsquo;non-personal data&rsquo;. New Delhi can learn from EU&rsquo;s mistakes.

Fourth - regulations &ndash; a strong data protection law would curb the misuse of personal data. Government of India should look into the issues of &lsquo;passive data collection&rsquo; which is often hidden in the applications. Second, it would create a trust between the user, service providers and governments. If the individual is not the owner of the data, then it is the responsibility of the government to ensure the protection of such data.

Combination of all these four factors- definition, accessibility, data flow and regulations - would open up unprecedented opportunities for India&rsquo;s $ 1 trillion digital economy.

Recently, Microsoft, Amazon and Google have opened up cloud data centres in India to provide better services to world&rsquo;s second largest internet users. This indicates that India could be a potential data hub for the South Asian countries.

In addition, estimations also suggested that by 2020 India would be a marketplace of $ 4.1 billion in cloud space industry.&nbsp;

Justice Brandeis warned against &ldquo;the progress of science in furnishing the government with means of espionage&rdquo;, which is why most&nbsp;tech-researchers&nbsp;are a bit suspicious about government&#39;s role in both India and abroad.

At the advent of the digital age, privacy and data protection have become two sides of the same coin. Meanwhile, the concept of privacy is socially constructed and naturally influenced by the history, culture, traditions and values of a nation.&nbsp;To address issues of different value clusters of societies, as well as, for protection of personal data, does India need a data gatekeeper? The answer to this is, yes!

(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL).

To address issues of different value cluster of societies India needs a ?data Ombudsman? to address personal data protection issues of all Indians home and abroad

Does digital-space invade private space? Does India need a data ombudsman to keep a check on all instances of data infringement? Many might disagree with it due to India’s dependability on export technologies. However, the online state of affairs is troubling in the age of Big Data. We have to seriously consider how a data protection law could protect the fundamentals of individual privacy. There are many ambiguities as well questions that the committee of experts led by Justice B.N. Srikrishna needs to look into as they set about to craft an Indian data protection law. India, as the largest producer of online data and as an emerging digital economy, needs to espouse a balanced data protection law to prevent misuse of personal data of its citizens and to protect its appetite for the digital economy. Here are four pointers in this regards. First – definition – the law needs to distinguish a line between personal data and non-personal data so that the non-personal data could flow free for innovations. India’s data protection law should be Indian in nature and not a replication of a stringent law like the EU data protection regulation. Second – accessibility- the creation of data centres needs to be treated under the jurisdiction of India Law. These data centres would facilitate Indian law enforcement and investigative agencies to address diverse online and offline crime issues. The classic example is the Blackberry data turf war in 2010 due to the limitation of Mutual Legal Assistant Treaty. Third – data flow- These data centres would enable indigenous start-ups to mushroom and give better data-driven services to the end user. Currently, the EU’s GDPR is a strict data protection law of the digital world that keeps internet industries at bay, creating a negative effect on disruptive innovations and digital economy. However, recent talks in the EU mentioned that for free flow for digital innovations, there would be policy to leave aside ‘non-personal data’. New Delhi can learn from EU’s mistakes. Fourth - regulations – a strong data protection law would curb the misuse of personal data. Government of India should look into the issues of ‘passive data collection’ which is often hidden in the applications. Second, it would create a trust between the user, service providers and governments. If the individual is not the owner of the data, then it is the responsibility of the government to ensure the protection of such data. Combination of all these four factors- definition, accessibility, data flow and regulations - would open up unprecedented opportunities for India’s $ 1 trillion digital economy. Recently, Microsoft, Amazon and Google have opened up cloud data centres in India to provide better services to world’s second largest internet users. This indicates that India could be a potential data hub for the South Asian countries. In addition, estimations also suggested that by 2020 India would be a marketplace of $ 4.1 billion in cloud space industry. Justice Brandeis warned against “the progress of science in furnishing the government with means of espionage”, which is why most tech-researchers are a bit suspicious about government's role in both India and abroad. At the advent of the digital age, privacy and data protection have become two sides of the same coin. Meanwhile, the concept of privacy is socially constructed and naturally influenced by the history, culture, traditions and values of a nation. To address issues of different value clusters of societies, as well as, for protection of personal data, does India need a data gatekeeper? The answer to this is, yes! (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL).

Opinion: Personal data is vulnerable. How to protect it.

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'Digital India Act': New Delhi's proposed plan to ensure online safety

Opinion: Personal data is vulnerable. How to protect it.