Cyber laws in India - An Introduction
With the growth of advanced technology cyber crimes have been increasing manifold. Read this article to get an introduction on the common cyber laws and their role in the cyber world. Get familiarized with the foundation of cyber laws.
Let us first get familiarized with terms with the prefix cyber. Taken from the Greek word cybernetic, the prefix Cyber is a very familiar term in the internet world. Cybernetic means "governing". Cyberspace refers to the network of computer systemsf or the world of internet. Cyber Laws are the internet laws that deal with the use of the networks and which govern the virtual world of internet. With the success of internet, a lot of issues relating to privacy invasion, breach of intellectual property and access to the internet etc have emerged.Importance of the cyber laws in India
Cyber laws are very essential primarily due to the following reasons:
With every great technology, comes great disadvantages too. Cyber crimes are increasing with the technological advancement. Cyber crimes can be defined as any illegal activity involving computers, the internet or a network. Cyber laws play a very important role in all activities on the internet. With the increase in the usage of internet, comes the need for better cyber laws. Cyber laws are the laws that has been approved by the government, which has been enforced over a certain area and must be obeyed by all in that area. Cyber laws cover the following areas:Cyber crimes
Cyber crimes involves any illegal activity having the computer as a medium or as a target. The most common cyber crimes are cyber thefts which also includes identity thefts, fraud, forgery, defamation, pornography and hacking. Reports show that forgery was done mostly by youngsters in the age group of 18-30 years, whereas cyber frauds were committed mostly by middle aged people in the age group of 30-45 years.Electronic And Digital Signatures
Electronic records are authenticated or validated data using the electronic signatures. Digital signatures are a variant of electronic signatures.
Digital signatures serve the following purposes:Data Privacy And Protection
Cyber laws provide protection of the privacy of individuals. It deals mainly with protection of data uploading of a person or its usage without the person's consent or knowledge. The punishment prescribed in India is up to 3 years in jail with or without monetary fine. The data transmission may be intentional. It can be a image or photo videotaped, photographed or recorded. The person shouldn't be worried about the data. Using the latest technologies, data can be manipulated from controllers like bank gateways, service providers and social networking websites. With the rise of mobile devices, it is possible to locate the location of a person and his/her preferences and updates, which violates the privacy.
Privacy on the internet can be achieved through different means such as encrypting e-mails, making networks and proxies anonymous. Social networking sites often set default settings, which permits use of private information. The users are mostly ignorant of the same. Mostly adults are concerned about their privacy than their younger counterparts.Intellectual Property
The Intellectual property basically means that any creation, let it be music, dance, symbols, designs created out of the human mind has the legal rights for exclusivity.
The Intellectual Properties include:
In conclusion, cyber laws govern the basic four tenets of cyber crimes, electronic and digital signatures, Intellectual property and data privacy and protection. It is essential that strong laws are present, so that the cyber world can run smoothly.
Read Legal issues with downloading copyrighted content on Torrent
Follow