Central Government Exempts CERT-In from RTI Act

Context:

• The Central government has added the Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) among a list of organizations that are exempted from the ambit of the Right to Information Act (RTI), 2005.

ERT-In exempted from the purview of RTI Act

• The  Sub-section (2) of Section 24 of the RTI Act empowers the central government to exempt any organization from the purview of the transparency law.

• • Using those powers, the Centre has included CERT-In at serial number 27 in the Second Schedule of the RTI Act.

What is CERT-In?

• CERT-In is a functional organization of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology that secures Indian cyberspace.
• It provides Incident Prevention and Response services and Security Quality Management Services.

Vision: Proactive Contribution in Securing India’s Cyberspace.

Mission: To enhance the security of India’s Communications and Information Infrastructure through proactive action and effective collaboration.

Objectives of CERT-In

• Preventing cyber attacks against the country’s cyberspace.
• Responding to cyber attacks, minimizing damage and recovery time and Reducing ‘national vulnerability to cyber attacks
• Enhancing security awareness among ordinary citizens.

Functions: The Information Technology (Amendment) Act 2008, designated CERT-In to serve as the national agency to perform the following functions in the area of cyber security:

• Collection, analysis and dissemination of information on cyber incidents.
• Forecast and alerts of cyber security incidents.
• Emergency measures for handling cyber security incidents.
• Coordination of cyber incident response activities.
• Issue guidelines, advisories, vulnerability notes and whitepapers relating to Information 
• Security practices, procedures, prevention, response and reporting of cyber incidents.
• Such other functions relating to cyber security as may be prescribed.

Salient provisions of the RTI Act, 2005: 

• Timely Disclosure of Information: The RTI Act provides timely information disclosure to citizens by Union and State Public Authorities. 
• Accountability & Transparency: It seeks to empower citizens and promote accountability and transparency. 
• Disclosure of Various Aspects: Public Authorities must disclose various aspects of their structure and functioning under the Act. 
• This includes:
  • Disclosure of their organization
  • Functions and structure
  • Powers and duties of its officers and employees
  • Financial information
  • Procedure followed in the decision-making process, including channels of supervision and accountability, etc., among others. 
• Section 4 of the Act: It calls for proactive disclosure of information by all authorities so that the public has minimum resort to using this Act to obtain information. 
• Section 8 of the Act: It provides exceptions to the disclosure of information, on that basis sharing of information can be denied. 
• Exceptions under Section 8 of the RTI Act: The sharing of information can be denied if the disclosure of information can prejudicially affect: 
• • The sovereignty and integrity of India. 
  • Security, strategic, scientific, or economic interests of the State.
  • Relations with Foreign States. 
  • Lead to incitement of an offense. 
  • Information expressly forbidden to be published by any court of law the disclosure of which may constitute contempt of court. 
  • If the disclosure of information can cause a breach of privilege of Parliament or the State Legislature
  • Information, including trade secrets or intellectual property, the disclosure of which would harm the competitive position of a third party, unless the competent authority is satisfied that larger public interest warrants the disclosure of such information. 
  • Cabinet papers including records of deliberations of the Council of Ministers, Secretaries, and other officers. (Material based on which decision was taken shall be made public if not exempted). 
  • Personal information, unless it serves a larger public interest. 
• Section 8 (2): It provides for disclosure of information exempted under the Official Secrets Act, 1923 if a larger public interest is served.

Also Read: Right to Information Act-2005

Source: Indian Express