Private information and ownership patterns of clients may have to be collected by VPN providers and crypto exchanges under new regulations.
It was announced on Thursday that the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-in), an agency of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, will require crypto exchanges, VPN providers and hosting facilities to keep all of their customers’ data for five years.
Customers’ names, ownership patterns, contact information, and other data would be stored by Indian crypto exchanges under a recently published guideline.
Additionally, cryptocurrency exchanges and VPN providers must notify any cyber attack within six hours of its occurrence and provide the gathered data if requested by law enforcement. It was stated in the official document:
Service providers, intermediaries, data centres, and other business entities must comply with CERT-orders orders and directions for cyber incident response, protection, and prevention measures connected to cyber incidents in order to give the necessary support to CERT-In.
Many VPN service operators and privacy-focused crypto companies that do not collect or keep crucial user data may be forced to shut down their operations once the new regulations go into effect on June 22.
In an effort to combat cybercrime within six hours, CERT-in has issued new rules requiring platforms to keep and send over a wide variety of personal data. However, this has generated privacy worries among users. According to a commenter’s post:
However, “to be honest, no one in India cares much about their personal data,” says the Indian government, which wants to regulate the private lives of its citizens.
Some crypto exchange owners, on the other hand, applauded the move and said it will aid in tax evasion prosecutions. Sathvik Vishwanath, CEO of Unocoin, told Cointelegraph:
Cryptocurrency participants will benefit from more transparency into the data they are holding as a result of this move. Tax evaders and other criminals who use cryptography would benefit from the data.
According to the new regulations, crypto exchanges operating in India would be subject to the new restrictions, as well as those operating outside of India. However, based on previous crypto regulations, this may be relevant to all platforms.
As a result of India’s regressive crypto tax policy, trade volume and user engagement on Indian crypto exchanges have already decreased significantly.
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