India drops insane encryption policy

The Indian government has performed a U-turn on a proposed encryption policy. Draft papers showed that the plan was to require people to store non-encryption versions of any data they have encrypted.

The draft policy was an all-encompassing one, and this led to a vocal backlash from users of social networks and messaging tools. The Indian government was forced to backtrack somewhat, making it clear that social media would be exempt and indicating that there is still a great deal of work to be done on the policy.

India's IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said that the draft documents had been released without his knowledge. He went on to say that the "draft encryption policy is not the final view of the government. It will be redrawn to specify who it will apply to".

The government is looking for feedback from the public about any encryption and privacy policy that might be put in place, and it is keen to stress that the aim is not to infringe upon the "social media messaging platforms used by the common man".

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