Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) will soon start a discussion procedure to deal with the problems of privacy, ownership, and security of information which flows via the network of telecom companies. “The discussion will be on data ownership, security, and data privacy in the telecom industry. The basic question is of possession of data, and who has the concluding right to data of a user,” RS Sharma, chairman of TRAI, told the media in an interview.
“Telecom companies must have some liability for the safety of information (that rides on them),” he further added to his statement. TRAI’s decision is connected to annoyance with Apple.
Sharma claimed that the discussion paper launching the consultation procedure might be subjected in this week. At the conclusion of the procedure, TRAI will be advising to the telecom divisions, which will take a concluding verdict on execution. TRAI’s move to drift the discussion paper seems to be partially triggered by its annoyance with Apple Inc., which is yet to permit TRAI’s DND (Do-Not-Disturb) app to be scheduled on its App Store, in spite of talks being carried on for almost a year. TRAI’s DND app, rolled out in June, plans to have power over unwanted messages and phone calls.
The app can follow the message and call logs of an enrolled user, and recommend which one is spam. This can then be complained to the service operators for action. Sharma, in an interview with the local media, has blamed Apple of being an anti-consumer and data colonizer since the company did not permit users to pass on data regarding unwanted messages and unwanted calls to companies as well as their mobile suppliers. Android software of Google, on the other hand, backs TRAI’s DND application. The TRAI chairman told the media that the broader problem was regarding ownership of the data.
“Apple can at best be the guardian of information. The ownership shall remain and must remain with the user who generated the data,” he further added to his statement. Well, for now, it is not clear if it is actually Apple that is responsible for consultation paper.