Deleting WhatsApp Messages Before 90 Days Could Land you in Jail

While the Indian people continue to struggle for Net Neutrality, a new problem surrounded them with the release of the latest policy for 'National Encryption Policy' by the Indian Government.

If you delete your WhatsApp Messages or Emails that you receive or send before 90 days, it might be a crime and you can End-up In Jail.

If the new National Encryption Policy implements that come up with weird suggestions — one should not delete WhatsApp conversation, Gmail or any email for 90 days, it would be an Internet Disaster.

With the aim to 'provide confidentiality of information' and ensure 'protection of sensitive or proprietary information', the draft policy, proposed by an so-called 'expert panel' from the Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DeitY), requires:

Access to your Private Data

The government wants to have access to all your encrypted information including your personal emails, text and voice messages, and data stored in a private business server.

Not to Delete any WhatsApp Messages or Emails for 90 Days

The Policy will enforce Internet users to save all encrypted communication data in plaintext for at least 90 days, which includes: WhatsApp messages, emails, sensitive banking or e-commerce transactions details.

Share your Encryption Keys with Government

National Encryption Policy also want Indian Internet Users to give up their encryption keys to the Government and Security Agencies.

Foreign Services Providers need to Comply with Indian Government

In India, More than 80% of Internet users are addicted to Non-Indian services like WhatsApp, Facebook, Gmail, Skype, Telegram and thousands more.

But, the National Encryption Policy requires Service Providers located outside India to enter into an agreement with the Indian Government, which says:

"Encryption algorithms and key sizes will be prescribed by the Government," the policy reads.

You can send your comments to akrishnan@deity.gov.in by October 16, 2015.

The draft National Encryption policy has triggered national outrage among citizens of India that are forced to store their online messages send through WhatsApp, SMS, e-mail or any such service for up to 90 days.

Now Let's see what the government decides.

UPDATE: Government Amended the controversial "National Encryption Policy".