CCG’s Week in Review [June 17-24]: Curated News in Information Law and Policy

From the Aadhaar Amendment Bill introduced in parliament today to US’ cyberattacks against Iranian military installations and India’s soon-to-be-formulated cybersecurity strategy — presenting this week’s most important developments in law and tech.

Data Protection

• [June 18] Government stands firm on e-commerce, data security, Times of India report.
• [June 18] Government executives, tech companies lock horns over data protection, draft ecommerce policies, Inc42 report.
• [June 18] Karnataka to announce new IT policy with focus on Tier-II cities, Medianama report.
• [June 19] Data Protection Bill to reach Parliament soon; rules may remain stringent, Business Standard report.
• [June 20] Adtech industry ignores data protection laws, UK regulator rules, Forbes magazine report.
• [June 20] Data skills in demand as data becomes the new oil, Business Today report.
• [June 21] India is set to become a data powerhouse, confirms Piyush Goyal, Entrepreneur India report.  

E-Commerce Policy and Digital Payments

• [June 18] RBI to examine concerns over data localisation rule: Government, Money Control report; The Wire report.
• [June 19] India to counter US protectionism with e-commerce, data security bills, Hindustan Times report.
• [June 18] Commerce Ministry: MeitY, RBI to realise full use of digitisation in trade: Piyush Goyal, United News India report.
• [June 19] Piyush Goyal meets retailers and Kirana stores representatives to discuss e-commerce policy, Business Today report.
• [June 20] Digital payments zoom past FY 19 target driven by private lenders, Economic times report.
• [June 20] A more robust Digital India 2.0 to be unveiled soon, DNA India report.
• [June 24] Data Protection and Aadhaar Amendment Bills listed for budget session, Economic Times report.
• [June 24] RBI increases focus on cybersecurity as India’s digital payment craze peaks, Analytics India magazine report, Analytics India magazine report.

Aadhaar

• [June 21] GST Council approves Aadhaar card for GSTN registration , Deccan Chronicle report.
• [June 22] Aadhaar is very well protected, says cybersecurity chief Rajesh Pant, NDTV report; Business Standard report. 
• [June 23] India’s Aadhaar technology a big hit with other nations? Here’s more: India could soon start exporting e-governance software products like Aadhaar to at least 20 Asian and African countries, Qrius report. 
• [June 23] Aadhaar ousts 5.53 lakh fake ration beneficiaries in Mumbai and Thane, Indian Express report.
• [June 24] IT Minister RS Prasad introduces Aadhaar amendment bill in Parliament, “Aadhaar does not violate privacy, is in national interest” Medianama report.

Blockchain and Crypto

• [June 17] Europol looks to strengthen crypto and blockchain knowledge, CNN report.
• [June 18] Facebook announces Calibra cryptocurrency wallet, wants to create universal currency with Libra, India Today report; Quartz report; Medianama’s all-you-need-to-know summary.
• [June 20] Libra could be unbalanced by India’s crypto laws, Coin Desk report.
• [June 21] The Week in tech: Facebook’s Crypto Dream Faces deep Mistrust, New York Times report. 
• [June 22] Global money laundering watchdog has crypto in its sights, Al Jazeera report.
• [June 24] Inc42 report on Cryptocurrencvy this week: Facebook’s Libra, Russia to adopt crypto regulations, FATF recommendations and more.  

Free Speech / Tech and Law Enforcement

• [June 18] Why post on Pulwama intelligence failure blocked on twitter, Digvijaya Singh fumes, India Today report.
• [June 18] India asks WhatsApp to fingerprint messages to ensure traceability, The Economic Times report; Medianama report.
• [June 18] India bullies Twitter into banning accounts of American, British students thousands of miles away, The Daily Beast report.
• [June 19] India forces Twitter to suspend open source intelligence handles, The Week report.
• [June 20] Rapper Hard Kaur charged with sedition for post against Adityanath, Bhagwat, The Wire report.
• [June 21] No, India did not bully Twitter into banning OSINT accounts, India Today report.

Internet Shutdowns

• [June 21] Internet suspended in parts of West Bengal’s North 24 parganas district, Medianama report.
• [June 23] Myanmar blocks internet as violence escalates in Rakhine state, The National report.

Big Tech

• [June 20] Big tech fears US regulation, but it may be Ireland that should scare them, CNBC report.
• [June 23] Apple or Android? What is the NDA Cabinet using? Spoiler: Amit Shah prefers iPhone XS, The Economic Times report.

Emerging Tech/ Aritificial Intelligence (AI)

• [June 19] Microsoft launches AI Digital labs in India, aims to train 1.5 lakh students , Medianama report.
• [June 24] Hybrid cloud technology is safe but the security it offers isn’t absolute, Financial Express report,

Telecom/ 5G

• [June 20] Why 5G is the next headache for some of India’s richest men, ET Telecom report.
• [June 20] 5G will power IOT networks, it will also make cyberattacks easier- are telcos listening? ET Prime report.
• [June 21] DoT to roll out centralised database of all IMEI numbers “in the coming weeks”: Indian Express report; Medianama report.

More on Huawei

• [June 19] Qualcomm and Intel are quietly lobbying against Trump’s Huawei ban, Android Central report.
• [June 19] Don’t share our goods with Huawei: US to Indian companies in letter to MEA, The Economic Times report.
• [June 19] US ban on Huawei presents Nokia and Ericsson with a huge opportunity, Business Standard report.
• [June 20] Huawei technology exposes millions of peoples’ calls to surveillance, US warns, Forbes report.
• [June 20] DoT alone will not take call on Huawei, says telecom secretary Aruna Sundarajan, Live Mint report.
• [June 20] China asks India to make an independent judgment on Huawei, New Indian Express report.
• [June 22] Huawei reportedly sued US Commerce department over seized equipment, ramping up trade war tensions, the Business insider report.
• [June 23] Huawei urges India to take ‘informed’ decision on let5tting it join 5G trial, Business Standard report.

Cybersecurity

• [June 17] Millions of Venmo transactions scraped in warning over privacy settings, Tech Crunch report.
• [June 18] ‘Shot on OnePlus’ app leaked users’ email addresses and other personal data for years, NDTV report; Medianama report.
• [June 19] US Senate bill to strengthen cybersecurity coordination with state and local governments, Federal News Network report.
• [June 20] Data protection startup Driva’s valuation crosses $1 billion, joins unicorn club, Business Standard report.
• [June 21] India, France to deepen cooperation in the cybersecurity sector, All India Radio report.
• [June 22] India’s Cybersecurity Strategy Policy in 2020, says National Cybersecurity Coordinator Rajesh Pant, Medianma report.
• [June 22] US blacklists 5 Chinese groups working in supercomputing, National Herald report.

Cyberwarfare

• [June 15] US escalates attacks on Russia’s power grid, The New York Times report.
• [June 17]Experts propose feds use sanctions and cyberweapons to fight deepfakes, Defense One report.
• [June 21] Trump made the right call by not pulling the trigger on Iran after it shot down a US drone, former officials say, Business Insider report.
• [June 22] Iranian hackers wage cyber campaign amid ongoing tensions with the US, Time Magazine report.
• [June 23] Trump approved cyberattacks on Iran after drone downing, Al Jazeera report.
• [June 23] US carried out cyberattacks on Iran, New York Times report; The Wall Street Journal report; The Hindu report.

Tech and Military

• [June 17] Sniper rifles for India Army delayed as 20 firms offer weapon, but none make ammunition, Defense Aviation Post report.
• [June 18] Paris Air Show: Dassault, Airbus unveil stealth jet to replace Rafale, The Week report.
• [June 18] Defence University to Defence Chief – Modi Government now has political capital for the big reforms, The Print report.
• [June 18] US voices interoperability concerns about Indian S-400 procurement, Jane’s Defence Weekly report.
• [June 19] India-US military trade: Partnership between the two nations on an upwards trend, the Financial Express report.
• [June 19] Great power competition ushers in a new generation of european weapons, Defense One report.
• [June 20] Make aero engines in India for self-reliance: Defence experts, Outlook India report.
• [June 21] Navy issues EoI for shortlisting Strategic Partners for building six submarines worth Rs. 45,000 crore, Economic Times report; Business standard report.
• [June 21] Two Bengaluru startups first to get CGCA certification for drones Medianama report.
• [June 22] One more UPA era defence deal under scanner: CBI searches Sanjay Bhandari’s house, The Deccan herald report ; The Hindu report.
• [June 22] US and India to soon sign industrial security annex which will allow transfer of advanced defence technology, Swarajya magazine report.
• [June 24] India lining up defence deals worth $10 billion with US amid trade row, Times of India report.
• [June 23] Defence forces hope FM will leave enough funds for modernisation in Budget, The Economic Times report.
• [June 24] India scraps $500 million arms deal with Israel after DRDO promises Make in India, Indian Express report, International Business times report.
• [June 22] Own space station is crucial to India, says ISRO chairman K. Sivan, Business Standard report.

Opinions and Analyses

• [June 17] GDPR: Looking to the year ahead, Cooley LLP analysis.
• [June 18] Amit Cowshish, Analysis for the IDSA/ Indian Defence Review, Design and Development of equipment by DRDO, DPSUs and Ordnance Factories.
• [June 18] China Cybersecurity and Data Protection monthly update by Herbert Smith Freehills on Lexology.
• [June 18] Medianama summary: Copyright Amendment Rules 2019: statutory licensing for internet broadcasting firms, stricter code of conduct for copyright societies, etc.
• [June 18] Michael Schmitt’s analysis for Just Security (blog), ‘US Cyber Command, Russia and Critical Infrastructure: What Norms and Laws Apply?’.
• [June 18] Robert Chesney’s analysis for Lawfare (blog), US Cyber Command and the Russian Grid: Proportional Countermeasures, Statutory Authorities and Presidential Notification.
• [June 19] Matthew de Silva, Quartz, The problem with Facebook calling its crypto “Libra”,
• [June 19] Is tech too intertwined for Huawei to fall? Fortune analysis.
• [June 19] 2001-2019: Huawei’s long history of being considered a national security threat, Medianama summary.
• [June 20] Ishan Mehta, Wired, under Trump, the fight against cybercrime has waned.
• [June 20] Aayush Mohanty, The Economic Times blog, India’s security interests vis-a-vis the US’ Hobson’s choice.
• [June 20] Mei Bowen, Economic Times Telecom, 5G puts the spotlight on network security.
• [June 23] Manish Tewari, The Asian Age, The case for regulating social media in India.
• [June 21] Martin Giles, MIT Tech Review, Five Reasons why “hacking back” is a recipe for cybersecurity chaos.
• [June 23] Zack Doffman, Forbes magazine, US attacks Iran with cyber not missiles—a game changer, not backtrack.

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