We need to ask ourselves why the ONLY real regulatory legislation coming up on geospatial technology in India, is by the Ministry of Home Affairs, and not something more appropriate like Earth Sciences / IT etc
Some clues on its genesis below. Have after reading a decent analysis (that I can no longer find) on law in this area, have dumped relevant stuff with links on a hackpad <https://datameet.hackpad.com/Geodata-law-policy-etc-dump-4W4x85BXhNl#:h=INDIA> This also provides a good regulatory brief SURVEY & MAPPING IN INDIA - THE REGULATORY FRAMEWORK <https://www.mlinfomap.com/Pdf/Survey&Mapping-Lahiri%202.1.pdf> and is a recommended read. *21-Mar-2016* Govt plans law on what can be seen in India from skies Under the draft legislation — tentatively titled Geospatial Information Regulation Bill — disseminating, publishing or displaying information that is likely to affect “security, sovereignty or integrity” of the country will become a punishable crime, a senior government official told Hindustan Times. The Centre is drafting a law to regulate data and high resolution images collected from the skies and shared through applications such as Google Earth, a move aimed at securing strategic installations from enemy eyes. Under the draft legislation — tentatively titled Geospatial Information Regulation Bill — disseminating, publishing or displaying information that is likely to affect “security, sovereignty or integrity” of the country will become a punishable crime, a senior government official told Hindustan Times. The term geospatial refers to data on a location collected through satellites, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), aircraft and balloons. The Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) has its own app called Bhuvan which provides geospatial data to the public. Many other applications give a 360-degree view of important towns and cities around the world which, security agencies believe, could be used by terrorist groups to plan attacks. “A draft bill has been prepared and is being circulated among all stakeholders for their views to firm up the legislation,” said the official involved in drafting the bill. He spoke on the condition of anonymity. “The idea is not to ban such applications but regulate them,” the official added. India has no specific law to regulate geospatial information despite security and privacy concerns, the official said. Stressing that the company takes security very seriously, a Google spokesperson said: “We believe that geospatial information can be used to empower individuals and organisations to make positive contributions in their respective environments.” Investigators who probed the 2008 Mumbai attack suspect that the terrorists were shown their targets on apps such as Google Earth by their handlers prior to the strike. The government so far has not allowed Google to take three-dimensional images of India. The draft suggests establishing a security vetting authority to scrutinise applications of geospatial information or data providers that intend to put data in public domain. “Such a legislation is urgently required. If it is enacted and applied along with the Information Technology Act, it can help the government in regularising geospatial information or data,” said lawyer Pawan Duggal who specialises on cyber laws. http://www.hindustantimes.com/india/govt-plans-law-on-what-can-be-seen-in-india-from-skies/story-2d1cAeXcxexHKIFL6VYm0K.html --------------------------------------- *VAISHNAVI JAYAKUMAR* http://about.me/vjayakumar On Fri, May 6, 2016 at 2:14 PM, Dilip Damle <cadvis...@gmail.com> wrote: > May be it caters to a different Audience > > > > https://www.facebook.com/IndiaAgainstBazaruMedia/photos/a.1597608200495492.1073741829.1588778484711797/1720074534915524/?type=3&theater > > On Friday, May 6, 2016 at 1:52:10 PM UTC+5:30, Shirish Agarwal wrote: >> >> at bottom :- >> >> On 06/05/2016, Praachi Misra <misra....@gmail.com> wrote: >> > The law as it reads currently, is kafkaesque,. there are 4 different >> bodies >> > >> > being created, and nobody actually trying to subvert national security >> will >> > >> > contemplate seeking a licence. A map that can actually be utilised (not >> > scanned copy of pdf) should solve the problem of boundaries. >> > >> > We can only wonder..... why? >> > >> > Praachi >> > >> >> Hi all, >> >> I read the draft bill and have the same concerns as everybody else. >> Before I start further, the hackpad shared cannot be read anonymously, >> could something be done about it. >> >> https://datameet.hackpad.com/Geospatial-Bill-2016-zJwgcQaIvBq >> >> I just don't want to join another platform just to read. >> >> Quite simply, it seems it's being done so that GOI and ISRO's Bhuvan >> have monopoly over all GIS, killing effectively all private as well as >> community-based entities and interventions or only give licenses to >> big businesses like Google and other such big private providers, (Here >> maps come to mind) as well as those who are into mapping for Oil and >> Gas Industry among others. >> >> I *think* this is in line with the successful completion of IRSS >> (Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System) due to putting IRSS-1G >> into orbit. >> >> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IRNSS-1G >> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Regional_Navigation_Satellite_System >> >> Overall, this is going to make us poorer as citizens as this knowledge >> would be curtailed. >> >> This also seems to have implications for disaster management, for e.g. >> the forest fires which happened in Uttarakhand. >> >> Government would be able to manipulate all and any data on the maps >> and we wouldn't know at all. >> >> -- >> Regards, >> Shirish Agarwal शिरीष अग्रवाल >> My quotes in this email licensed under CC 3.0 >> http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/ >> http://flossexperiences.wordpress.com >> EB80 462B 08E1 A0DE A73A 2C2F 9F3D C7A4 E1C4 D2D8 >> > -- > Datameet is a community of Data Science enthusiasts in India. 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