Telecom Bill: Experts Seek Clarity Amid Privacy Worries

(MENAFN- Live Mint) "New Delhi: industry stakeholders, including Big Tech executives, raised concerns over a lack of clarity on specific rules, following the Rajya Sabha's approval of the Telecommunications Bill 2023 on Thursday. The Bill had been cleared by the Lower House of the Parliament a day earlier one, the concern stems from the lack of explicit specifications excluding internet-based over-the-top messaging and communication services from the exemptions granted by the central government on encryption standards to insiders, there are concerns over the definition of terms such as 'telecommunications service' and 'telecommunications network', as they do not explicitly exclude OTT services, such as Meta's WhatsApp, Microsoft's Teams, Google's Meet, among others 19(f) and 20(2) of the Telecom Bill, 2023, extended exemptions allowing the Centre to access encrypted messaging data from platforms“on the occurrence of any public emergency or in the interest of public safety”. These exemptions would allow the government to intercept and suspend“any message or class of messages, to or from any person or class of persons, to or from any telecommunication equipment or class of telecommunication equipment, or relating to a particular subject, brought for transmission by, or transmitted or received by any telecommunication service or telecommunication network”.“There have been some discussions at higher levels-not just at Meta, but across pretty much every relevant platform, on this particular nuance of the Centre having the power to specify breaking encryption. This would lead to significant technical challenges, too, as the end-to-end encryption is typically integrated into the fundamental framework of most applications,” an official who is aware of policy development discussions at Google and Meta, said, seeking anonymity.“The lack of clarity on telecommunications equipment, especially since OTT services are not explicitly out of the ambit of the Bill, is the major concern.”Meta did not respond to an emailed query till press time 19 December, in an interview with Mint, Sandhya Devanathan, vice president and India head, Meta, said:“For a long time, we've welcomed constructive regulation balancing user safety, while not stifling innovation. The government has a progressive view on regulation and the Telecom Bill tabled in Parliament is exactly that. This Bill offers support for a budding internet economy. That's what the present government signalled with it.”Google, too, did not respond to Mint's query till press time experts said the concerns are valid and allow for various interpretations of the rules.“Even though it is being claimed that OTT is beyond the purview of the legislation, there is a lot of ambiguity. Definition of 'telecommunication service' in the present version is wide enough to encompass OTT services if need be, potentially leading to state and particularly DoT's intervention in the realm of internet services, including online communication services like WhatsApp, Signal and others. This, coupled with powers granted to the State to intercept, detain and block, can have a grave impact on privacy and users' rights,” said Isha Suri, research lead at policy think-tank Centre for Internet and Society Waghre, executive director of Internet Freedom Foundation, said:“The question on explicitly mentioning OTTs in the Bill was dodged in Parliament. It is certainly open to wide interpretations. The Centre had the scope to put the interpretation to rest but the executive may have retained its discretion and could invoke a licensing regime in the future under the terminology of authorization.”

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