5 days ago
WhatsApp filed a lawsuit against the Indian government over the new IT Rules 2021 stating that the rules will compel the messaging platform to break privacy protections, Reuters reported earlier today. The filing comes a day after the deadline to comply with the new rules passed.
Download a copy of WhatsApp’s petition here.
A WhatsApp spokesperson confirmed this news with MediaNama saying that traceability “fundamentally undermines people’s right to privacy.”
Traceability mandate will break end-to-end encryption
In the lawsuit filed by WhatsApp in the Delhi High Court, the platform said that one of the provisions of the new rules is a violation of the privacy rights guaranteed by the Indian constitution. The provision in question is the traceability mandate which requires a significant social media intermediary providing services primarily in the nature of messaging to enable the identification of the first originator of a message, people familiar with the la
April 23, 2021
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Nikhil Pahwa, Editor, MediaNama: So, I think there are lots of issues and lots of points which have been raised. I was wondering if you would like to share your views and your comments. I know we’re starting a little early. But since we have you here, I thought we might want to explore your views on these rules that you’ve been so closely involved with architecting.
Rakesh Maheshwari, Senior Director and Group Coordinator of Cyber Law & eSecurity, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology: Yeah, so first of all, good evening to all of you. I was listening to some of the earlier views in the program. But, thereafter, I was not into the conversation and therefore have lost the points.
#NAMA: The traceability mandate and what it means for end-to-end encryption medianama.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from medianama.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Rakesh Maheshwari, Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology
Key references
The Information Technology Intermediaries Guidelines (Amendment), 2018 [download]
IT Rules 2011 [read]
Shreya Singhal Judgment: [read]
Summary of the IT Rules
Intermediaries And Social Media Platforms [read]
Digital News Publishing [read]
OTT Streaming Services [read]
Key developments
Unblocking of handles: IT Ministry notice to Twitter warns of consequences [Read]
CEO Will Cathcart says WhatsApp hopes to find solution to traceability without breaking encryption [read]
India’s FOSS community files plea in Kerala High Court against IT Rules, challenges traceability mandate [read]
Opinion/Analysis Pieces
The Case of the Online Intermediary by Chinmayi Arun [Read]