A Positive Union Budget Data safety however remains a challenge

S Mohini Ratna
Editor
VARINDIA

The Union Budget showcases a master plan for rural and agricultural development by dovetailing the financial resources available with 10 ministries. Secondly, the government is using a lot of data analytics in Budget preparation. They must have seen that the largest companies are anyway paying less than 25 percent. It is the smaller companies which have been paying higher rates; this clearly shows that Indian Inc. didn’t live up to the expectations. However, the government has managed to take its first step towards resolving issues around the Insolvency and Bankruptcy code (IBC) 2016. Increase allocation towards cyber security products and data compliance services is really a good move in the Union Budget 2018.

The budget overall is positive. There is visible support for the Fintech industry as the FM specifically mentioned that Fintech is playing an important role in the country’s growth and hence announced setting up of a working group for its growth. The announcement of the long-term capital gains (LTCG) on equity investments and 10% DDT however saw the Sensex plunge 1% within minutes.

There is no denying the fact that digital technology delivers growth, where companies in every sector are discovering digital solutions to traditional problems. Both consumer and business applications are contributing to the growing dominance of cloud services over the Internet. It is however a big confusion about who is responsible for protecting sensitive data stored in the cloud. The growth of Internet of Things (IoT) applications such as smart cars, smart cities, connected health and digital utilities requires scalable computing and storage solutions to accommodate new and expanding datacenter demands.

The Internet has greatly impacted the customer’s buying and decision-making process by providing more information than ever to consumers. Talking about internet, if you think of it as a unified, single entity, then no one owns it. This is true because the internet has come to occupy such a central role in our lives as a way of connecting and as a means to access services, but they don't have any ownership over the Internet itself. No government can lay claim to owning the Internet, nor can any company.

Going forward, social media has become a hotbed for cybercriminal activity. Social media is the biggest disruption in the way people receive their information, social updates. The youth segment in the country are the third highest number of Internet and social media users after China and the U.S. with an estimated over 381 million mobile phone subscriptions with Internet connectivity. Facebook ruling the list, with over 2 billion active users holds the majority market share. The Facebook-owned, WhatsApp was leading second; however, YouTube now jumps to second place with 1.5 billion active users. Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp follow behind in the 3rd and 4th place. To complement the growth, cyber terrorism has now become a gruesome activity.

No one can guarantee data safety in a digital world. When dealing with personal data, it is also necessary to consider the potential impact to the individuals concerned.