0

CONTENTS

1. Introduction ....
2. Information Technology Act, 2000 ....
 Provisions of the Act ....
 Features of the Information Technology Act, ....
3. Cyber Crime ....
4. Cyber Crime Against Children ....
 Need for protecting children from Cyber Crime ....
- Trafficking ....
- Child Pornography ....
- Morphing ....
- Kidnapping ....
- Cyber Bullying ....
- Cyber Bullying versus Cyber Stalking ....
5. Challenges faced while protecting children from cyber- crime
....
6. Conclusion ....
7. Bibliography ....
1

 Introduction:-

Data Protection refers to the set of privacy laws, policies and procedures that
aim to minimize intrusion into one's privacy caused by the collection, storage and
dissemination of personal data. Personal data generally refers to the information
or data which relate to a person who can be identified from that information or
data whether collected by any Government or any private organization or an
agency.

The Constitution of India does not patently grant the fundamental right to
privacy. However, the courts have read the right to privacy into the other existing
fundamental rights, i.e., freedom of speech and expression under Art 19(1)(a) and
right to life and personal liberty under Art 21 of the Constitution of India.
However, these Fundamental Rights under the Constitution of India are subject to
reasonable restrictions given under Art 19(2) of the Constitution that may be
imposed by the State. Recently, in the landmark case of Justice K S Puttaswamy
(Retd.) & Anr. vs. Union of India and Ors., the constitution bench of the Hon'ble
Supreme Court has held Right to Privacy as a fundamental right, subject to certain
reasonable restrictions.

India presently does not have any express legislation governing data protection or
privacy. However, the relevant laws in India dealing with data protection are the
Information Technology Act, 2000 and the (Indian) Contract Act, 1872. A codified
law on the subject of data protection is likely to be introduced in India in the near
future.

The (Indian) Information Technology Act, 2000 deals with the issues relating to
payment of compensation (Civil) and punishment (Criminal) in case of wrongful
disclosure and misuse of personal data and violation of contractual terms in
respect of personal data.1

1
http://www.mondaq.com/india/x/655034/data+protection/Data+Protection+Laws+in+India ( Accessed on 10th
September 2019 , 06:26pm )
2

 Information Technology Act, 2000

In 1996, the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law

(UNCITRAL) adopted the model law on electronic commerce (e-commerce) to
bring uniformity in the law in different countries.

Further, the General Assembly of the United Nations recommended that all

countries must consider this model law before making changes to their own laws.
India became the 12th country to enable cyber law after it passed the Information
Technology Act, 2000. While the first draft was created by the Ministry of
Commerce, Government of India as the ECommerce Act, 1998, it was redrafted as
the ‘Information Technology Bill, 1999’, and passed in May 2000 . 2
The IT Act of 2000 passed in a budget session of parliament and signed by
President K.R. Narayanan in 2000. It underwent further finalization by India’s
Minister of Information Technology, Pramod Mahajan.

 Provisions of the Act :

The original act addressed electronic documents, e-signatures, and

authentication of those records. It also enacted penalties for security breach
offenses including damaging computer systems or committing cyber terrorism.
Regulating authorities received power to monitor these situations and draft rules
as situations arose. The IT Act underwent changes as Internet technology grew. In
2008, additions expanded the definition of “communication device” to include
mobile devices and placed owners of given IP addresses responsible for
distributed and accessed content.

Privacy was addressed in 2011 when stringent requirements for collecting

personal information came into effect. The most controversial change in this act
involves section 66A. It makes “offensive messages” illegal and holds the owners
2
https://www.toppr.com/guides/business-laws-cs/cyber-laws/information-technology-act-2000/ ( Accessed on
10th September 2019 , 06:32 pm )
3

of servers responsible for the content. That means if an IP address with

pornographic images is traced to your servers, you can be held liable for it even if
you did not authorize its access.

Penalties arrange from imprisonment of three years to life and fines.

Offenses that occur in a corporate setting can result in further administrative
penalties and bureaucratic monitoring that can prove burdensome to doing
business.3

 Features of the Information Technology Act, 2000 -

1. All electronic contracts made through secure electronic channels are legally
valid.
2. Legal recognition for digital signatures.
3. Security measures for electronic records and also digital signatures are in
place
4. A procedure for the appointment of adjudicating officers for holding
inquiries under the Act is finalized
5. Provision for establishing a Cyber Regulatory Appellant Tribunal under the
Act. Further, this tribunal will handle all appeals made against the order of
the Controller or Adjudicating Officer.
6. An appeal against the order of the Cyber Appellant Tribunal is possible only
in the High Court
7. Digital Signatures will use an asymmetric cryptosystem and also a hash
function
8. Provision for the appointment of the Controller of Certifying Authorities
(CCA) to license and regulate the working of Certifying Authorities. The
Controller to act as a repository of all digital signatures.
9. The Act applies to offences or contraventions committed outside India
10.Senior police officers and other officers can enter any public place and
search and arrest without warrant

3
https://www.termsfeed.com/blog/india-it-act-of-2000-information-technology-act/ ( Accessed on 10th
September 2019 , 06:39pm )
4

11.Provisions for the constitution of a Cyber Regulations Advisory Committee

to advise the Central Government and Controller.4

 Cyber Crime :

Cyber-crime is not an old sort of crime to the world. It is defined as

any criminal activity which takes place on or over the medium of computers
or internet or other technology recognised by the Information Technology
Act. Cyber-crime is the most prevalent crime playing a devastating role in
Modern India. Not only the criminals are causing enormous losses to the
society and the government but are also able to conceal their identity to a
great extent. There are number of illegal activities which are committed
over the internet by technically skilled criminals. Taking a wider
interpretation it can be said that, Cybercrime includes any illegal activity
where computer or internet is either a tool or target or both.
The term Cybercrime may be judicially interpreted in some
judgments passed by courts in India, however it is not defined in any act or
statute passed by the Indian Legislature. Cybercrime is an uncontrollable
evil having its base in the misuse of growing dependence on computers in
modern life. Usage of computer and other allied technology in daily life is
growing rapidly and has become an urge which facilitates user
convenience. It is a medium which is infinite and immeasurable.
Whatsoever the good internet does to us, it has its dark sides too. 5 Some of
the newly emerged cybercrimes are cyber-stalking, cyber-terrorism, e-mail
spoofing, e-mail bombing, cyber pornography, cyber- defamation etc. Some
conventional crimes may also come under the category of cybercrimes if
they are committed through the medium of computer or Internet.

Cyber Crime Can be categorized in to two ways :-

4
https://www.toppr.com/guides/business-laws-cs/cyber-laws/information-technology-act-2000/ ( Accessed on
10th September 2019 , 06:54 pm )

5
Prof. R.K.Chaubey, “An Introduction to Cyber Crime and Cyber law”, Kamal Law House, 2012
5

(i) The Computer as a target : Using a computer to attack other

computer . e.g , Hacking , Virus / worm attacks , Dos attack etc .

(ii) The Computer as a weapon :- using a computer to commit

real world crime e.g, cyber terrorism , credit card fraud and
pornography .

 Cyber Crime Against Children in India ( Needs & Challenges ) :-

The Information Technology (IT) Act, 2000, is the primary law dealing with
cybercrimes against children and adults in India. It is supplemented by the various
rules that have been framed under it.6

Need for protecting children from Cyber Crime :-

Cybercrime is a concern not just for parents and teachers, but schools and
educational institutes by large. We are all a part of this virtual world, and it is
difficult to stay out of it. Though we may feel that cybercrimes don’t affect us, it is
a fact that these crimes affect the social conditioning on a deeper level.

With the rampant spread of social media, cyber criminals have discovered new
avenues to push forth their crime. Social media giants like Facebook, Twitter,
Instagram, Snapchat, and others realize the gravity of cybercrime, and employ
sophisticated cybercrime detection mechanisms along with getting legal support
from specialists of the Social Law Network and the like. The millennial children
have been exposed to digital world at an early ages. They are far more savvy in
networking, social media management, understanding app interface, and
employing technology to everyday problems. Many of them love to explore and
6
https://www.youthkiawaaz.com/2018/04/cybercrimes-against-children/ ( Accessed on 10th September 2019 ,
08:29 pm )
6

experiment, as children have always done. Today’s young people have no qualms
baring intricate details of their life on Twitter and Facebook. They tend to make
silly or mean comments on other people’s websites. Often they join spurious
clubs and forums online, chat with strangers, share photos of themselves, and risk
their personal information by entering private details on their phones, tabs, and
other devices. Thus they become easy targets for cyber criminals. Not just do they
expose themselves to crime, they also put their families and loved ones at risk. 7

The protection of Children from Cyber- crime is therefore highly needed or

they would be a victim of :-

(i) Trafficking – illegal deal or trade of children . Operating in at least 97

countries worldwide, Backpage was once the world's second largest
classified advertising website, but sex ads featuring underage boys and
girls in its "adult ads" section placed it at the center of a Senate
investigation in 2016. The resulting report, Backpage.com's Knowing
Facilitation of Online Sex Trafficking, found that Backpage was actively
facilitating and profiting from online child sex trafficking. A separate
report found that the site was also using a proxy company in the
Philippines to seek out sex traffickers by "contacting people who posted
sexually explicit ads on rival escort sites and offering them a free ad on
Backpage."8
An 8-year-old girl and her 6-year-old brother were rescued during a
crime raid after their parents were caught forcing their two oldest
sisters to perform in live streamed child sexual abuse shows in the
Philippines. 9

7
https://www.reachivy.com/blog/cyber-crime-concern-parents-young-kids ( Accessed on 13th September 2019 ,
03:34 pm )
8
https://www.unicefusa.org/stories/innocent-victims-fight-against-online-child-sex-trafficking/33866 ( Accessed
on 13th September 2019 , 03:56pm )
9
UNICEF/UN014961/Estey
7

(ii) Child Pornography / Pornology – the depiction of erotic behavior ( as in

picture , video or writing ) intended to cause sexual excitement . Child
pornography is publishing and transmitting obscene material of children
in electronic form. In recent years child pornography has increased due
to the easy access of the internet, & easily available videos on the
internet. Child pornography is the most heinous crime which occurs and
has led to various other crimes such as sex tourism, sexual abuse of the
child etc .
Recently Lt. Col. Jagmohan Balbir Singh was arrested by the Cyber
Cell of the Crime Branch police on the charge of uploading sexually
explicit images and clips of children on child pornography websites. Lt.
Col. Singh was charged under Section 67 B (punishment for publishing or
transmitting of material depicting children in sexually explicit act, etc. in
electronic form) of the Information Technology Act. It was the German
police who first spotted the activity from Mumbai on a server located in
the United States. They sent a report to the Interpol, which in turn
forwarded it to the CBI Delhi, and subsequently to the Mumbai Crime
Branch. The Cyber Cell tracked the server activity to the Internet
Protocol (IP) address of Lt. Col Singh and subsequently he was arrested
from his residence and charged with section 292 of IPC and 67B of IT Act
200010

In Bazzee.com case 11, the story started when a sexually explicit

video clip of two school students was shot with a cell phone camera and
then distributed among friends through the Multimedia Messaging
Service (MMS). The clip, showing a young girl engaged in oral sex with a
boy, was shot with her consent but was circulated to the others without
her permission. The clip then landed in the hands of a smart
entrepreneur who tried to make easy money out of it. Mr. Ravi Raj, a
final year M.Sc. Geophysics student of Indian Institute of Technology,
Kharagpur had opened an account under the name ‘Alice Electronics’ on

10
https://www.thehindu.com/news/Army-officer-arrested-for-child-pornography/article16299139.ece ( Accessed
on 26th September 2019 , 09:39pm )
11
https://www.manupatrafast.com/articles/PopOpenArticle.aspx?ID=76985177-567e-48d3-aa2f-
cb67be8da4a0&txtsearch=Subject:%20Miscellaneous ( Accessed 0n 26th September 2019 , 09:47 pm )
8

the auction site Bazee.com on 21’st of July, 2004. He posted the clip in
that account on the 27th of November, 2004 under the header ‘DPS Girl
having fun’ and it remained there till 29th November, 2004. Mr. Raj was
arrested on 14th December and produced before a Delhi court two days
later. The Court remanded him to three days police custody. Meanwhile,
the CEO of Bazee.com, Mr. Avnish Bajaj, was sentenced to jail for six
days by a Delhi court. Mr. Bajaj sought his release on bail on the ground
that he had been co-operating with the police in the investigation of the
case and had flown in from Mumbai to assist the probe. He was granted
bail later. The DPS boy who was at the centre of the MMS controversy
was also arrested and bought before a Juvenile Court in Delhi.
Describing the alleged act as a ‘misadventure’ and not ‘moral
depravation’, The Principal Magistrate of Juvenile Justice Board granted
him bail. On December 24, 2004 the other accused Mr. Ravi Raj was also
granted bail by a Delhi court considering the fact that the prime accused
has already been released on bail. The impact of the incident was that
the Delhi government by its notification dated February 1, 2005 banned
the use of mobile phones not only by students but also by teachers in all
government-run or aided schools. The most ironical part of the story is
that it concluded without even knowing what the female student visible
in the clip had to say or confess. Thus, Delhi Public School scandal was
not only the issue of child pornography but also MMS clip in cyberspace.

(iii) Morphing – changing smoothly one picture to be another by use of

computer .  With the advent of computer morphing software, today's
child pornography images sometimes do not depict actual abuse. Some
of these images are virtual and do not involve images of actual children.
Morphed child pornography falls between traditional child pornography
and virtual child pornography. These images involve actual children;
however, the full image often combines an "innocent" image of a child
with a sexual or nude image of an adult.12
12
https://www.questia.com/library/journal/1P4-2244073052/changing-faces-morphed-child-pornography-images-
and ( Accessed on 13th September 2019 , 04:00 pm )
9

(iv) Kidnapping – Abduct and hold them captive , typically to obtain a

ransom . According to an essay written by Richard C. Tramontana titled
“Controlling Internet Content Wont Work”, between 1995 and 2000,
approximately 135 children were abducted or molested as a result of
Internet contact. Although those numbers may not be alarmingly high in
that time span, it shows that communication through the internet can
potentially lead to abduction. Not necessarily, but potentially. Because
the numbers are not high, does not mean children and teens should not
be educated on the dangers of the internet.
  The methods with which predators can communicate with their
victims have increased. Internet bulletin boards, chat rooms, private
web sites, and social networks, have been used by sexual predators and
pedophiles in their attempts to exploit children.13

(v) Cyber Bullying – bullying that takes place using electronic technology.
Electronic technology includes devices and equipment such as cell
phones, computers and tablets, as well as communication tools
including social media sites, text messages, chat and websites.
Cyberbullying can follow victims wherever they go, whether they are in
a crowd or alone. Cyberbullies can reach their victims, 24 hours a day, 7
days a week, 365 days a year. They often post hurtful content online,
anonymously, so that they cannot be traced or stopped. Given the
nature of social media, such content is quick to go viral, and reaches a
large audience in the blink of an eye, making it difficult, even impossible,
for authorities to delete the harmful content before it wrecks damage
The all-pervasive nature of cyberbullying, as well as the amount of
time it takes to trace cyberbullies, makes the growth of cyberbullying an
alarming trend across the globe. Because cyberbullying is difficult to
track, many victims feel helpless and unable to cope with it, especially if
the bullying is personal and long-drawn. It is no surprise, therefore, that
this form of bullying has been known to trigger depression and anxiety

13
https://www.kean.edu/~schandle/Students/MAcot/the%20dangers.htm (Accessed on 13th September 2019 ,
04:12 pm )
10

in its victims. In many instances, it has also resulted in victims

developing suicidal tendencies.14
India seems to be a land of online bullies. The country has
recorded the highest rate of children falling victim to cyberbullying in
2018 so far, a survey conducted in 28 countries by the UK-based
consumer tech review firm Comparitech showed. Instances of
cyberbullying in India have accelerated this year with over 37% of
parents admitting that their children have become victims at least once,
which is 15% more than in 2016.15

Cyber Bullying versus Cyber Stalking

The difference between cyber stalking and cyber bullying is that of

age. When an adolescent is involved, the term used is cyber bullying but
in case when a major is involved, it is cyber stalking. There is no legal
distinction between the two other than that of age. The act in cyber
stalking is same as that of the cyber bullying, only difference being is
that of age. Cyber stalking is a form of cyberbullying. 16

Megan Meier and Cyber-Bullying & Facts of the Case

Megan Meier was a 13-year-old girl who had attended the Immaculate
Conception Middle School in Dardenne Prairie, Missouri. She took her
own life shortly before her 14th birthday as a result of what was
deemed bullying taking place over the Internet, or “Cyber-Bullying”.
Megan Meier is considered to be amongst the first cases of suicide
resulting from Cyber-Bullying in the United States of America. However,
in contrast to a large majority of Cyber-Bullying cases that has followed
14
https://www.thebetterindia.com/71909/cyberbullying-it-act-2000-cyber-law-in-india/ ( Accessed on 13th
September 2019 , 04:17 pm )
15
https://qz.com/india/1435072/37-of-indian-kids-are-bullied-online-new-study-says/ ( Accessed on 19th
September 2019 , 08:29pm )

16
https://cyberbullyingandstalkingguide.com/the-difference-between-cyber-bullying-and-cyber-stalking/ ( Accessed on 19th
September 2019 , 08:34pm )
11

Meier’s case, in which the bullying is typically undertaken by fellow

peers and classmates, Lori Drew, who was the parent of a fellow
student, was charged with masterminding the bullying of Megan Meier.
17

 Challenges faced while protecting children from cybercrime.

Endless discussion is there regarding the pros and cons of cyber crime.
There are many challenges in front of us to fight against the cybercrime
against children 18. Some of them here are discussed below:

 Lack of awareness and the culture of cyber security, at individual as well

as organizational level. There is no awareness given to children in
relation to crimes in cyber space at home neither in the educational
institutes because of which the children nor the parent know that the
situation is amounting to cyber crime . because of which many cases go
unreported . To cope with such problems, Delhi Police has been
launching cyber safety awareness programmes in schools in which
students are informed to avoid giving personal information online to
anyone they don't know. But again this is only an initiative by Delhi
Police and not by all states in the country . 19

 Lack of trained and qualified manpower to implement the counter

measures. The minimum necessary eligibility to join the police doesn’t
include any knowledge of computers sector so that they are almost
illiterate to cyber-crimes and how to tackle them .
 Cyber attacks have come not only from Indian Nationals but also from
neighboring countries contrary to our National interests.

17
https://acadpubl.eu/hub/2018-119-17/2/146.pdf ( Accessed on 19th September 2019 , 08:39 pm )

18
International Journal of Emerging Trends & Technology in Computer Science (IJETTCS) Volume 3, Issue 6,
November-December 2014

19
https://www.indiatoday.in/mail-today/story/delhi-schoolkids-increasingly-coming-under-attacks-by-cyber-
bullies-976595-2017-05-12 ( Accessed on 26th September 2019 , 10:52pm )
12

 The speed of cyber technology changes always beats the progress of

govt. sector so that they are not able to identify the origin of these
cyber-crimes . Cyber technologies knowledge of criminals are
developing at a faster rate compared to the growth of government's
intelligence on Cyber technologies. So criminals are one step ahead of
govt. So, by the time a government finds the root cause and tech of a
crime, the criminals have already escaped .

 Promotion of Research & Development in ICTs is not up to the mark.

 Security forces and Law enforcement personnel are not equipped to

address high-tech crimes.

 Present protocols are not self-sufficient, which identifies the

investigative responsibility for crimes that stretch internationally.

 Budgets for security purpose by the government especially for the

training of law enforcement, security personnel’s and investigators in
ICT are less as compare to other crimes.
13

 Conclusion :-

The Indian government, similar to many others, is behind the curve with
regard to tackling cyber-crime. We need better laws, better tech, we need to hold
intermediaries (such as Facebook Google, etc.) responsible and liable. Which laws
should apply when it involves minors? Etc . To answer the questions raised by all
these stakeholders, the community, technology providers, law enforcement
agencies, and the government, will need to come together for united action
against cyber-crime, especially against children.
14

Bibliography
Primary Source :
1. Prof. R.K.Chaubey, “An Introduction to Cyber Crime and Cyber law”, Kamal Law House,
2012

Secondary Source :
1. http://www.mondaq.com/india/x/655034/data+protection/Data+Protection+Laws+in+India
( Accessed on 10th September 2019 , 06:26pm )
2. https://cyberbullyingandstalkingguide.com/the-difference-between-cyber-bullying-and-cyber-
stalking/ ( Accessed on 19th September 2019 , 08:34pm )
3. https://www.indiatoday.in/mail-today/story/delhi-schoolkids-increasingly-coming-under-
attacks-by-cyber-bullies-976595-2017-05-12 ( Accessed on 26th September 2019 , 10:52pm )
4. https://www.kean.edu/~schandle/Students/MAcot/the%20dangers.htm (Accessed on 13th
September 2019 , 04:12 pm )
5. https://www.manupatrafast.com/articles/PopOpenArticle.aspx?ID=76985177-567e-48d3-aa2f-
cb67be8da4a0&txtsearch=Subject:%20Miscellaneous ( Accessed 0n 26th September 2019 ,
09:47 pm )
6. https://www.questia.com/library/journal/1P4-2244073052/changing-faces-morphed-child-
pornography-images-and ( Accessed on 13th September 2019 , 04:00 pm )
7. https://www.reachivy.com/blog/cyber-crime-concern-parents-young-kids ( Accessed on 13th
September 2019 , 03:34 pm )
8. https://www.thebetterindia.com/71909/cyberbullying-it-act-2000-cyber-law-in-india/
( Accessed on 13th September 2019 , 04:17 pm )
9. https://qz.com/india/1435072/37-of-indian-kids-are-bullied-online-new-study-says/ ( Accessed
on 19th September 2019 , 08:29pm )
10. https://www.thehindu.com/news/Army-officer-arrested-for-child-
pornography/article16299139.ece ( Accessed on 26th September 2019 , 09:39pm )
11. https://www.toppr.com/guides/business-laws-cs/cyber-laws/information-technology-act-2000/
( Accessed on 10th September 2019 , 06:32 pm )
12. https://www.termsfeed.com/blog/india-it-act-of-2000-information-technology-act/ ( Accessed
on 10th September 2019 , 06:39pm )
13. https://www.toppr.com/guides/business-laws-cs/cyber-laws/information-technology-act-2000/
( Accessed on 10th September 2019 , 06:54 pm )
14. https://www.unicefusa.org/stories/innocent-victims-fight-against-online-child-sex-
trafficking/33866 ( Accessed on 13th September 2019 , 03:56pm )
15

15. https://www.youthkiawaaz.com/2018/04/cybercrimes-against-children/ ( Accessed on 10th

September 2019 , 08:29 pm )

TABLE OF CASES
Avnish Bajaj vs State (N.C.T.) Of Delhi on 21 December, 2004 (2005)
3 CompLJ 364 Del, 116 (2005) DLT 427
1. Avnish Bajaj vs State (N.C.T.) Of Delhi on 21 December, 2004 (2005) 3
CompLJ 364 Del, 116 (2005) DLT 427 ( Bazee.com case )