The draft was misinterpreted and people thought that the personal messages on Facebook, WhatsApp and Twitter cannot be deleted and to be saved for 90 days. However, the government denied it in the morning and issued a clarification.
Key Excerpts from Ravishankar Prasad’s Press Meet:
* We are very proud of the advance of social media under the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
* We respect the privacy of citizens but cyber crime is also rising enormously, which calls for an encryption policy.
* The committee had recommended the need for stand on encryption policy. Draft put out in public domain wiithout my knowledge. I have seen the concerns of public.
* I personally saw the draft myself. Certain sections were giving rise to uncalled for interpretations.
* I want to make it clear that the National Encryption Policy released yesterday was just a draft & not the view of this government.
* The purpose of the encryption relates only to – this has to be very clear – ordinary citizens do not fall in this domain.
* I have written for that draft to be withdrawn, made changes to and then re-released.