The Hindu Business Line : Nasscom plans tougher laws for data protection in BPOs

Nasscom will set up an independent Self Regulatory Organisation (SRO) to enforce stricter regulations for data protection in the BPO sector. It is also considering imposing sanctions for violation of such safeguards. The SRO has already completed its initial round of funding and the final rollout phase, including industry memberships, is under way, the Nasscom President, Mr Kiran Karnik, said on Tuesday.

Nasscom also intends to set up cyber labs in cities such as Mumbai, Pune, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Delhi and Kolkata and would double the number of training police officers in cyber crime investigation from the current number of approximately 1,800 to 3,000 in the next one-year.

Dismissing the concern over the lack of data protection laws in the country having repercussions on the BPO industry, Mr Kiran Karnik, said: "Problems related to security breaches are not limited to any one country. In the past 18 months, according to the reports by privacy watch groups, the incidents of identity thefts in the US have been 148 and affected nearly 94 million identities and in the UK the losses are estimated over a billion pounds."

Citing results of surveys conducted by Banking Code Standards Board of the UK banking Industry and Financial Services Authority, UK, he added that compared to other countries India was safer with regard to security breaches.

Data Protection

With few cases of frauds in Indian BPOs, there have been talks about the need to have a data protection law and other legislations to address the security initiatives.

He further said that the legal provisions such as IT Act 2000 and Copyright Act covered these issues and amendments to the IT were in the final stage of approval and should be tabled in the next session of Parliament.

"Except for Europe, even the US does not have a data protection law," said the Vice-President, Nasscom, Mr Sunil Mehta.

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