After encryption controversy Government withdraws draft proposal

Information and Technology Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said that the government is withdrawing the same to avoid any ambiguity among the users.

A new draft of the policy will be issued soon after considering all aspects to secure the internet consumers. "In view of the concerns raised, I have written to Department of Electronics & Information Technology (DeitY) to withdraw the draft, and reword it appropriately," he said.

He also added that the government backs freedom of social media. "Our government supports social media. We respect the right for expression ad articulation."

Prasad said that the purport of the Encryption Policy relates "only to those who encrypt, not to ordinary consumers."

He also said that the policy was only a draft and not the opinion of the government. "The Draft Encryption Policy released on Monday is only a draft, and not the view of the Government . We need to acknowledge that cyberspace transactions are rising enormously." Prasad said.

Earlier, the government had clarified that the proposals in the draft policy were not aplicable to social media and WhatsApp.

The policy that critics describe as "draconian" sought to encourage use of encryption or conversion of electronic data into another form, and intends to put regulations in place for the purpose.

As it appeaed from the policy proposals, the government  would  have access to all encrypted information, including personal emails, messages or even data stored on a private business server.

The Draft National Encryption Policy wanted users to store all encrypted or scrambled text communication for at least 90 days and make it available to security agencies, if required, in text form. It also wants everyone to hand over their encryption keys to the government.

The language of the proposal thrown open to the public for feedback alarmed  experts.