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CONVENTION ON CYBERCRIME

THE CONVENTION ON CYBERCRIME,

• The Convention on Cybercrime, also known as the  Budapest Convention on Cybercrime or the  Budapest Convention, is the first international  treaty seeking to address Internet and computer  crime by harmonizing national laws, improving  investigative techniques, and increasing cooperation  among nations.
• It was drawn up by the Council of Europe in  Strasbourg, France, with the active participation of  the Council of Europe’s observer states Canada,  Japan, South Africa and the United States.
• It is open for ratification even to states that are not  members of the Council of Europe.
• As of September 2019, 64 states have ratified the  convention.

WHY IS IT CALLED BUDAPEST  CONVENTION?

• The Convention and its Explanatory Report was  adopted by the Committee of Ministers of the Council  of Europe at its 109th Session on 8 November 2001.
• It was opened for signature in Budapest, on 23  November 2001 and it entered into force on 1 July  2004.

BUDAPEST CONVENTION

India’s concerns over signing of this agreement:

• India did not participate in the negotiation of the Convention and thus is worried about it.
• The Convention — through its Article 32b — allows for transborder access to data and thus infringes on  national sovereignty.
• The regime of the Convention is not effective, “the promise of cooperation not firm enough,” or  that there are grounds for refusal to cooperate.

NOT JUST INDIA

• Brazil, China, Russia, Pakistan and  many other countries have not  signed Budapest convention  because of various issues.

RUSSIA’S ROLE

• Russia saw that the world needs an international  treaty to combat cyber security threat
• But since Budapest convention was not acceptable  Russia proposed a UN leg treaty with different  draft

RUSSIA’S PLAN

• The Russian proposal entitled “Countering the use of information and communications technologies for criminal purposes” passed in the  United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) Third  Committee 88-58, with 34 absentations, on recently.
• The proposal, which India voted in favour of, creates a  committee to convene in August 2020 in New York to  establish a new treaty through which nation-states can  coordinate and share data to prevent cybercrime.

ISSUES WITH RUSSIA’S PLAN

• In particular, the resolution calls for a check on the “use of  information and communications technologies for criminal  purposes.” Which activities it aims to curb exactly is unclear.
• Thirty-six rights groups argue in a letter that the resolution is  so vague that it could lead to the criminalization of ordinary  online activities that journalists, human rights groups, and  other members of civil society rely on, such as using  encrypted chat applications.
• The resolution could also “give wide-  ranging power to governments to block  websites deemed critical of the authorities,  or even entire networks, applications and  services that facilitate online exchange of and access to information,”

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