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As India tightens its grip on the internet by enforcing a new data law, several VPN providers are fleeing the country.
The Indian Computer Emergency Response Team, also known as the CERT, is the responsible body given the charge by the Indian government to tackle cybersecurity and threats.
The new data law has bounded all internet companies to store user data in India, which is a significant concern for privacy-conscious users.
VPN providers say that they cannot guarantee the safety of their users’ data under the new law, so they are forced to leave India.
NordVPN spokesperson Laura Tyrylyte said, “As digital privacy and security advocates, we are concerned about the possible effect this regulation may have on our users and people’s data. From what it seems, the amount of stored private information will drastically increase throughout hundreds or maybe thousands of different companies.”
She added, “authoritarian governments have typically introduced similar regulations to gain more control over their citizens.”
The prevailing situation is a significant blow to internet freedom in India, as VPNs are often used to bypass government censorship and access blocked websites.
The new data law also has a chilling effect on freedom of expression, as many people are self-censoring themselves for fear of reprisals from the government.
This is a significant setback for those who believe in an open and free internet, and it remains to be seen how the situation will develop in the future.
It is still unclear how the new law will be enforced and whether the government will be able to track down and punish those who use VPNs to access banned websites.
However, so many VPN providers are fleeing the country shows that the government is serious about clamping down on internet freedom. For Australians, this means that it is now more important than ever to use a VPN when accessing the internet.
A VPN will encrypt your traffic and route it through a server in another country, making it impossible for the government to track what you are doing online.
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