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On a holiday in Goa –– or even just lounging in your backyard –– you click a selfie and post it on Facebook. The next thing you know: you’re in violation of a law that could make you serve up to seven years in prison and pay a fine of anywhere between ₹1 crore and ₹100 crore. This may sound fictional, but it could soon become reality if India’s new draft policy on geospatial information turns into a law.
It’s not just companies such as Google and Uber that will be impacted by the proposed policy; even individuals will have to think twice before taking a picture.
“Any person who wants to acquire, disseminate, publish or distribute any geospatial information of India, may make an application along with requisite fees to the Security Vetting Authority for security vetting of such geospatial information and licence thereof to acquire, disseminate, publish or distribute such Geospatial Information in any electronic or physical form,” says the new draft Bill titled ‘The Geospatial Information Regulation Bill, 2016’.
“Most mobile cameras have a facility to trigger and record GPS data. So, when you’re clicking a picture, you are acquiring geospatial information without the government’s permission. So you’re technically in violation of the law,” said Prasanth Sugathan, Counsel at Software Freedom Law Center, India.
A similar section of the IT Act, 2011 had been widely misused by police and politicians in various States to arrest unsuspecting citizens for posting comments on social networking sites. The rule, under Section 66A, was struck down by the Supreme Court in March last year.
The Geospatial Information Regulation Bill, 2016, whose draft outlaws the acquisition of geospatial information without the government’s permission, is expected to impact smaller companies rather more than the large ones.
Experts said that the law is being created to keep large corporates in check, but if implemented in its current form, its biggest impact would be on start-ups and smaller firms that use or create geospatial data.
“While companies such as Uber and Google can survive by getting all their maps vetted by the government, smaller companies will be impacted. This will act as a big entry barrier in favour of the dominant players such as Google and Microsoft,” said Sumandro Chattapadhyay, research director at Centre for Internet and Society.
“Smaller companies have no means to know what kind of geospatial information they can store and what they cannot. Moreover, if a start-up requires three months to get approvals for your data before you can use it, it’ll be as good as dead,” Chattapadhyay said.
Google declined to comment on the draft Bill.
U-turn by Centre
Sanjay Kumar, president of the Association of Geospatial Industries, recalled that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had in a speech in September last highlighted the importance of geospatial data in everyday life of the common man. “But now, the government seems to be taking a U-turn,” he said.
The Association has hundreds of members, including Google, offering various geospatial services.
“The PM’s campaigns on skill development, digital India and enhancement of the transport sector are heavily dependent on geospatial data. There are several private sector companies that provide services for these projects. If this Bill is passed as drafted, all this development process will be stalled,” said Kumar.
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