In 2022, India began enforcing a new VPN policy mandated by the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In). As a result, several VPN applications, including Cloudflare’s 1.1.1.1, Hide.me, and Privado VPN, were removed from the Apple App Store and Google Play following directives from the Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre (I4C), part of the Ministry of Home Affairs, TechCrunch reports.
The rationale provided by I4C is that these applications violate Indian laws. According to the new policy, VPN providers must retain user activity logs for five years, share connection data with Indian authorities, and allow government access to user information upon request. Compliance also requires collecting users’ real names, email addresses, phone numbers, and IP addresses at the time of registration and connection.
Non-compliance with these regulations could lead to criminal liability. Consequently, many VPN providers have chosen to withdraw from the Indian market or limit their services to existing users without further sales in the region. Foreign VPN providers have opted to remove their servers from India, continuing operations by routing users through non-Indian IP addresses, thus circumventing the regulations.
The Indian government justified the policy as a measure to combat severe crimes, particularly those involving child exploitation. By targeting VPN usage, the authorities aim to prevent criminals from masking their identities while disseminating or accessing illegal content. While controversial, the policy underscores India’s commitment to addressing this pressing issue.
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