India's VPN Crackdown: A Growing Concern VPN Banned
India's VPN Crackdown: A Growing Concern VPN Banned
The Indian Ministry of Home Affairs has recently ordered the removal of several Virtual Private Network (VPN) applications from the Apple App Store and Google Play Store.
This move affects popular VPN services like Cloudflare’s 1.1.1.1 app, Hide.me, PrivadoVPN, and Avast SecureLine
Under new cybersecurity regulations, the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team
(CERT-In) requires VPN providers to log and store user information, including email addresses, IP addresses, and timestamps, for a minimum of five years.
This has led to significant pushback from VPN companies, with some choosing to withdraw their services from India rather than comply with these stringent rules
As a result, many users may turn to illegal VPN services, risking exposure to viruses and further privacy breaches.
For instance, Avast SecureLine users in India will now see a message stating, "VPN is unavailable. This feature cannot be accessed in this territory."
While VPNs remain legal in India, the new regulations effectively render them unusable within the country, raising concerns about privacy and cybersecurity
The directive, issued by India's cyber watchdog - the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In), meant to tackle cyvercrime, came into effect on 27 June, 2022 and mandates
VPN providers to maintain the following data as part of the know your customer (KYC) policy for five years:
Validated name of subscribers/customers
Period of hire
IPs allotted to the user
Email address, IP address and time stamp used at the time of registration
Purpose of hiring services
Validated address and contact numbers
Ownership pattern of the subscribers
the primary aim of using a VPN is to keep one's IP address private so users can stay clear of website trackers that track user data and location.
VPN companies will be forced to store servers and user privacy will no more be a core functionality.
the primary job of a VPN is to hide your IP address from your ISP and other third parties.
This allows you to send and receive information online without the risk of anyone but you and the VPN provider seeing it.
The new VPN Rules could potentially violate the “Right to Privacy” of the customers, as enumerated under Article 21 as the rules direct the VPN providers to keep the personal data of users for 5 years or longer and the violation of which may tantamount to fine or jail term
