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Business News/ Mint-lounge / Features/  Geospatial Regulation Bill draft: What it means for your gadgets
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Geospatial Regulation Bill draft: What it means for your gadgets

The Geospatial Regulation Bill draft suggests the primary reasons for the proposed law are national security. But the powers and reach are far greater, and smartphone users are in the line of fire

The draft policy suggests that India’s geospatial data is solely owned by the Government of India. Irrespective of how you access that data, the source of that data, satellites used for that information, the data is owned by the government. Photo: AFPPremium
The draft policy suggests that India’s geospatial data is solely owned by the Government of India. Irrespective of how you access that data, the source of that data, satellites used for that information, the data is owned by the government. Photo: AFP

On 26 April, India launched its own satellite-based navigation system called the independent regional navigation satellite system (IRNSS), on the IRNSS-1G satellite. The primary objective was to provide location information to users in the country, with greater accuracy (better than 20 metres).

On 4 May, ministry of home affairs (MHA) released a draft of a bill titled “The Geospatial Regulation Bill 2016", which is designed to regulate the geospatial data and make it mandatory to acquire a license before using that location data. The wording of the draft suggests that the primary reason behind this proposed new law is national security, “geospatial information of India which is likely to affect the security, sovereignty and integrity of India and for matters connected therewith", it is potentially going to wield much greater control.

Here are the things that you should know.

What is this hype about the “Geospatial information" draft?

As defined by the draft, “Geospatial Information" means “geospatial imagery or data acquired through space or aerial platforms such as satellite, aircrafts, airships, balloons, unmanned aerial vehicles including value addition; or graphical or digital data depicting natural or man-made physical features, phenomenon or boundaries of the earth or any information related thereto including surveys, charts, maps, terrestrial photos referenced to a coordinate system." Simply put, everything you may otherwise see on navigation apps and even services that otherwise track and use your location.

In a nutshell, the draft policy suggests that India’s geospatial data is solely owned by the Government of India. Irrespective of how you access that data, the source of that data, satellites used for that information or whether that data is in public domain or not, the data is owned by the government. And to be able to use this, permission must be sought from the newly-established Security Vetting Authority (SVA).

What does the SVA do?

The Vetting Authority will monitor technical and information contents and the target areas, depending on the prevailing policies. The draft also suggests, “screening of the credentials of the end-users and end-use applications, with the sole objective of protecting national security, sovereignty, safety and integrity".

Essentially, the SVA will grant licenses to organisations and individuals who want to use geospatial data, in any capacity or for any application.

How does this affect you?

Do you use Google Maps, Apple Maps, Sygic Maps or MapmyIndia maps on your phone or in your car to find your way? You’d be breaking the law if you haven’t taken a license for using it now, because you have acquired this data and are using it.

You are going to a friend’s place, and to make it easier for you, they share their location with you using the WhatsApp instant messenger. In this case, both parties are breaking the law, one for creating new navigation information, and you for using it.

Adding a new point of interest (POI), say, hotels or monuments, on any mapping app will mean breaking the law, because you’re creating new geographical information system (GIS) data without having the permission or the license to do so.

Good luck to you if you are using apps such as Snapchat, Instagram and Twitter, and have the location enabled because you are publishing new geographical data, without the license to do so.

Booked a cab using Ola or Uber? You allowed the app to access your location information, thus creating new location data, which you legally shouldn’t unless you have a license to do so.

What happens if this becomes the law?

The penalties for all the above mentioned infringements (these are just some examples, there will be many more) include “a fine ranging from 1 crore to 100 crore and/or imprisonment for a period of up to 7 years".

But that hefty fine and rather long jail term for individuals is just one element. Any app that uses location services will get into trouble, and this means pretty much every app on your smartphone, including the likes of Uber, Ola, Zomato, Facebook, Twitter, BookmyShow, Apple App Store, Google Play Store, BBM, WhatsApp, fitness apps such as Fitbit, weather data apps such as Yahoo Weather and even your new Android Wear or Apple Watch smartwatch.

It is mind-boggling to even imagine getting permission every time you need to use geolocation data, or happen to create one while posting a photograph on Instagram, of what you cooked for dinner last night.

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Published: 11 May 2016, 01:37 PM IST
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