A plea put forward by a Parliamentary Standing Committee proposes a blanket ban on VPN services in India. The committee proposed that the Government of India should block all the services of the Virtual Private Network (VPN). The Panel states that VPNs are a technological challenge and used by criminals for notorious activity while staying anonymous online.
The plea recommends the Ministry of Home Affairs to coordinate with the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITy) to coordinate with the Internet Service Providers to carry out this action. VPN has seen an uptick in usage in the past couple of years in India. Some of the most notable VPN services currently operating in India include Express VPN, Nord VPN, IPVanish, and more.
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Why is there a push for VPN ban in India?
The Standing Committee on Home Affairs termed VPN services as a threat to cyber security. These services are readily available online and can be downloaded by anyone without a proper check. This makes it hard for anyone to know the intention of the user. The users might be conducting malicious activity while staying anonymous online.
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The committee proposes to keep track of the use of VPN services or for a complete blanket ban. While it is common knowledge that criminals may use a VPN or the Dark Web to conduct illegal activities, most tech companies also rely on VPNs to protect their network and data from hacks.
VPN services are popular in India to access content that is restricted based on the region from where they are accessed. For example, using a VPN, you can view content on Netflix that is exclusively available in the UK or the US. Another reason why VPN services are popular is that it allows users to access banned porn sites in India. Several users also use a VPN to safeguard their identity online, as they like the privacy and security VPNs provide.
Using the merit of threat to cyber security, the Committee recommends a ban on VPN services permanently in the country. Another suggestion is that the government should coordinate with international agencies in the blocking of VPNs. At the same time, it asks government agencies to keep a keen eye on the usage of such services.
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