Now, some VPN providers are leaving India while others are considering doing so ahead of new rules that the government says are aimed at improving cybersecurity, but that the firms argue are vulnerable to abuse and could put users’ data at risk.
“The new laws are overreaching and are so broad as to open up the window for potential abuse. We refuse to put our users’ data at risk … as such, we have made the very straightforward decision to remove our India-based VPN servers,” he said., with users surging in 2020 and 2021 — as they did worldwide — as companies secured their networks with more people working from home amid the pandemic.
“If you don’t want to go by these rules, and if you want to pull out, then frankly … you have to pull out,” India’s junior IT minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar told reporters last month.Governments worldwide are imposing greater control on the flow of information online with a slew of regulations, as well as firewalls, internet shutdowns and social media blocks.