Government ideates new IT Act for include cybercrime, data privacy and new technologies

Amidst emergence of new technologies and the consequential increase of cyber crime rates, phishing, hacking, online bullying, the 20-year old Information Technology Act, 2000 (IT Act) does not deal with these crimes. However, with the changing ecosystem, the Government has now decided to revisit the IT Act and plans to bring cyber crime, data privacy and related frauds under the ambit of the IT Act.

According to IT and Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad technology and the ecosystem has transformed vastly. After the digital revolution, there is an urgent need to factor in digital payments and digital delivery of services within the scope of the IT Act. After a meeting with Microsoft Corporation Chief Executive Officer Satya Nadella, the Minister said that a committee of experts will soon be formed soon to finalise the contours of the new law.

When the IT Act was formed a couple of decades ago, the vastness of this was not contemplated. The Act is not equipped to deal with the problems like hacking, spying, online bullying, phishing, etc that come that modern technological advancements have brought nor does it adequately address the issue of cyber crime and data protection.

The proposed act for protecting data privacy is at the stage of a Bill, called ‘The Personal Data Protection Bill, 2018’. It is currently under the Joint Parliamentary Committee led by Bharatiya Janata Party’s Meenakshi Lekhi.