Internet apps providing Internet telephony (VoIP) services and Instant Messaging pose a threat for customer privacy and national security, the Indian telecom regulator TRAI (pdf) has said in a pre-consultation paper. The TRAI suggests a need for a detailed regulatory framework for VoIP and messaging apps to ensure better privacy and security: “The absence of a detailed regulatory framework governing OTT (online) communication services can have a number of implications, including for telephone number management, public safety, emergency number access and national security. While the open architecture of the Internet is responsible for the phenomenal growth of OTT services, it also causes the transfer of personal information on the Internet to be fraught with potential risks and scope for misuse. Besides security challenges at the national level, OTT (Internet) communications and OTT (Internet) media can also pose a threat to the privacy of individual users. While the open architecture of the Internet is responsible for the phenomenal growth of OTT services, it also causes the transfer of personal information on the Internet to be fraught with potential risks and scope for misuse. This calls for a need to examine the legal and regulatory framework required for governing the privacy of users of OTT services." The regulator is seeking comments from the stakeholders/public. Comments can be sent by 21s June 2016 to advqos@trai.gov.in. Questions related to this consultation are mentioned at the end of this post. This is TRAI's fourth consultation on net neutrality since March 2015. In May 2016, it issued a consultation paper…
