Govt to frame rules for digital data protection

With incidents of cyber crime on the rise, the government on Saturday said that it would frame and notify rules for data protection and liabilities of service providers under the Information Technology Act as part of its 100-day agenda. The government will frame and notify the rules in respect of

key sections viz 43A (Data Protection), 70A (Protection of Critical Information Infrastructure), 70B (Agency to handle Cyber Security), 79 (Liabilities of Service Providers) relating to cyber security in the Information Technology Act," minister for communications and IT Kapil Sibal told reporters in New Delhi.

The government will also prepare three manuals for skill enhancement in the area of cyber forensic, he added.

In the last few months, many government websites have been defaced, while incidents of false schemes offering money online are also on the rise.

The government will also bring out a draft consultation for policy on rolling out mobile governance and draft the Electronic Service Delivery Bill as part of the 100-day agenda.

"As part of various e-governance initiatives, the government will focus on nationwide roll-out of e-district mission mode project and draft the Electronic Service Delivery Bill," Sibal said.

A draft consultation document on policy for mobile governance will also be brought out, he added.

Union and state governments have been working towards adoption of technology for providing citizen services like birth and land records, across Internet and mobile platforms.

A pilot scheme for providing digital literacy to women, especially in rural areas will also be introduced during this period.

The government also envisages to set up a National Electronic Mission, which was one of the recommendations made by a high-level task force.

The Minister said that the government is working on attracting investment in semiconductor units and promoting innovation and intellectual property rights.

Sibal said that emphasis would be laid on promoting development of human resource by "framing a suitable scheme for enhancing capacity of institutions like C-DAC and DoEACC," along with setting up IT academies under PPP mode.

A National facility for assessing quality of biometric devices for Unique Identification (UID) applications will be set up, apart from infrastructure at Kolkata, Bangalore and Hyderabad for testing of large area photovoltaic modules, he said.

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