Parliamentary panel urges govt to permanently block VPNs in India due to rising cyber crime

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs has urged the government to permanently block virtual private networks, or VPNs in India.

As first reported by MediaNama, the committee paints VPNs as a tool used by criminals to bypass cyber security mechanisms and remain anonymous online, and urges the government to “strengthen tracking and surveillance mechanisms”.

The recommendations were made in a report that deals with cyber crimes against women.

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However, VPNs are not only used for illegal purposes, and indeed a part of India’s workforce relies on VPNs for daily productivity, as recognised by the government in June when it liberalised rules for Other Service Providers using private networks.

The IT Ministry did not specifically respond to the section on VPNs, but said that the Indian government already has various mechanisms through which it can block information online.