In the recent event, SurfShark VPN will shut down India servers. SurfShark recently released the news, saying that it will shut down the physical servers in India by June 26. But, the company will bring virtual Indian servers, and these servers will be located in two venues- Singapore and London.
Netherland based company, SurfShark, provides Virtual Privacy Network (VPN) services. It offers other products like a data leak detection system and a personal search tool. The company developed privacy network software compatible with Android, iOS, Windows, macOS, etc.
But in a recent announcement, the company revealed that it would shut down its VPN services in India. According to SurfShark, it responds to the new cyber security rules that the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has come forward.
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Reason for SurfShark VPN Shutting Down Indian Servers
Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology issued instructions to the VPN service providers. The new provisions added to section 70B of the Information and Technology (IT) Act, 2000, direct the service providers to maintain verified details of their users.
The new provision requires the providers to put aside their core values, and maintain the name of their service users, allotted IP address, email addresses, time of getting the subscription for the services and many more.
But the no-log policy of the VPN service providers is at odds with the ministry’s directives. A no-log policy means that the service provider does not collect or log any information or data of the users.
Likewise, SurfShark’s no-logs policy explains that SurfShark VPN does not keep track of online activities, and it only keeps the data enough to keep the VPN connection going.
SurfShark even tweeted, “Collect and Store customer data? NO! We value people’s privacy – that’s why we stand against India’s new data regulation law. We’ll shut down our physical Indian servers. Still, you’ll be able to connect to virtual servers through Singapore and London – check our server list.”
Mere days before, ExpressVPN already had decided to shut its Indian servers. The company took the step in disagreement with the new IT rules. Now, SurfShark VPN has followed suit.
Even the policy experts have raised their concerns about the new amendments. The experts state that these amendments and the directives lead to lesser privacy, and the possibility of browsing and downloading history is high. The Internet Freedom Foundation (IFF) has also raised its concerns. The IFF calls these directives merely the privacy violation that impacts VPN companies operating in India.
Nord VPN, too, was contemplating the proposed law by the ministry. Furthermore, it was also pondering over shutting down its Indian servers.