Download Electronic signature Presentation Computer

Even I had the similar problem, my windows 10 upgrade laptop crashed badly and I decided to go for Macbook Air which is all new OS for me. Earlier I had organised my work in Zotero in Mozilla Firefox, and I was using symlink to dropbox to sync my library between my office PC and Laptop (as free 300 MB cloud storage got exhausted early and I had no credit card to buy additional Cloud Storage from Zotero), it was all working good until I went for Window 10 upgrade and finally my hardware crashed. Now in mac I don’t know much where the appdata file stored and not sure even the symlink can be created from Zotero library stored in dropbox or not.I have installed Zotero in Firefox on mac yet I’m looking to find more easy way to do the same. I read a comparison which I hope you’ll find useful http://thesismonkey.com/compare-...Now, I’m going to try Readcube coz it has auto search and highlighted pdf options along with other features like Zotero. Lets hope it works well!

Here’s a breakdown of some awesome Features Office 3651. Work Smarter, EverywhereAfter buying Office 365, you also gain access to its accompanying mobile apps and browser apps. This allows you to access their cloud service from any up to date web browser on your desktop or mobile device. Even better yet, you don’t have to install Office software on your computer to do this.The mobile app allows you to access all of your Office 365 subscriptions and Office products right from your smartphone or tablet; this includes Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Onenote, and more. Cut the cord and stop working on your PC only — download the Microsoft Office 365 mobile app to stay productive, even while on the go.2. Enjoy 50 GB of StorageEach Office 365 user receives a whopping 50 GB of storage with Exchange Online; this can be used to save emails, calendar events, task lists, meeting notes, contact information, and email attachments.You can save some more space in your mailbox by utilizing the OneDrive cloud storage feature to share attachments.Your OneDrive storage is also synced to your device, enabling you to work offline on files. As soon as you reconnect to the web, the newest versions of your documents will be automatically uploaded to your cloud storage. The new versions of your documents will also be sent to any other connected device, including your phone or tablet — nifty!3. Edit Documents with Real-Time Co-AuthoringCollaborate online and see changes your team makes to shared documents within your Office apps as they happen with the real-time co-authoring feature in Word. Save your file to OneDrive cloud storage or SharePoint so your team can access the document and make any necessary edits or updates. You can also share it directly from Word by utilizing a handily integrated sidebar. As the publisher and access-giver, you can edit accessibility settings at any time.With the improved version control that was rolled out with Office 2016 co-authoring, you can see which changes to the document were made by which contributor and when the update was made. You can also easily revert back to a previous version of the file whenever you need to.4. Connect with Co-WorkersYou may not have known this, but Office apps include a Skype in-app integration. You can use this feature to instant message your teammates, share your screen during meetings and have audio or visual conversations — without even exiting the Office apps you’re working in. You can continue Skype conversations even after you close your office apps via your desktop or mobile version of Skype. The best part? Your team will receive unlimited Skype minutes.Source: Microsoft5. Send Links, Not FilesIt’s time to move away from email attachments. It’s never been easier to share documents for co-authoring!Simply upload your file to Office 365’s cloud storage. Then, write your email via Outlook or the Outlook web app. Rather than attaching your document to the email, you can insert a link to the file on your cloud. Outlook will automatically allow email recipients to edit the document you wish to share. You can always change permissions on any document at your convenience.6. Convert OneNote Items into Outlook Calendar EventsEasily configure OneNote items to tasks within your Outlook calendar. You can also assign tasks to colleagues, complete with follow-up reminders and concise due dates. You can also transfer meeting notes taken in OneNote via email to your teammates, and add important details (date, location, and attendees) to their respective meeting.7. Use Your Mouse as a Laser Pointer during PowerPoint PresentationsWith only a simple keyboard shortcut (Ctrl + P), your mouse can be used as a laser pointer during your PowerPoint presentations. You can also use the “presenter mode” commands while using this feature.The laser pointer tool has been a nifty trick within older versions of the office apps for years; however, it was only recently integrated for touch-screen devices. All you have to do is hold down on your device’s screen, and the laser pointer will appear.8. Create a Power Map Using ExcelTurn data into a 3-D interactive map with Power Map, one of the many Power BI-enhanced data visualization features that Excel has to offer. It comes with three different filters: List, Range, or Advanced. The Power Map will help you not only convey your data more effectively, but also support your claims by creating a tangible story from the numbers.

[1] PDF format is popularly known as print document format. This creates a virtual printer within operating system to print the document. For offline scanning of document, the PDF format is popular. The importance attached with these program is that you need to have PDFsoftware installed to run these files. If someone sends you PDF file and your computer do not have such software installed then that file is not to be read from there.There are so many PDF softwires available and this article aims to find out the mostly free software or freeware to help readers to choose from variety of options. More and more operating systems are providing built-in facilities for such products. Now-a-days everything comes with PDF formats beginning from circulars, bank statement, insurance statement, tax statement and e-books.That is why there immense important to have the free PDF software installed on computer but the thousand question is which one is to choose from the variety of resources available.Sumatra PDF:Sumatra PDF is available for download to Windows since the times of Windows XP. This program has very low foot print, light on system resources and fast. It is going to perform simple task as well as it is going to perform complex task depending upon you choose from PDFfiles. It is available with installed version as well as standalone portable version in which it does not write to registry.It is available in 64 bit version on Windows. It is available for Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8, 8.1 and 10. It is available for Windows operating system only.signNow Reader DC:It is from signNow and signNow is available for free for users. While installing this software do check for installation of MCAfee security and safe connect.it is a big download of nearing to 120 MB. Yours antivirus software might stop this installation so allow to install it. This software for high=end computing processes.Many features are included with it and for some features you might need it and if you want to have these features then it is better to choose this software. It has mobile version of android and apple operating system. With it you are going to synchronize documents with clouds and yours signature too and everything is going to stay with cloud to access from each and every device.When you first download signNow on Windows, a download manager first downloads and it is small in size and then by opening that download manager signNow software is installed and this is nearer to 120 MB.PDF-Xchange Editor:PDF-Xchange Editor is a smart PDF tools and most functions are free except some complex ones. It is a PDF reader, pdf editor and pdf tools. It can print PDFs, fill the forms created with signNow and can extract images from PDF files. There are some advanced features included in this free version but most of these are not free one is that watermarking of PDFsoftware which is not free.Foxit Reader:Foxit Reader is fast, simple and is there for years. It is available for Windows, Apple and android versions. It can fill forms and save data. Can include and validate electronic signatures. During installation user need to be cautioned not to install so many verities of other software. In order to keep the size of download minimal, the user manual is available for separate download.It is faster than PDF-Xchange Editor. If you are not interested in OCR facilities then Foxit reader is best suited for yours work. Multiple PDF documents when opened all these are opened in tab format and shifting from one tab to the other is easier. From time to time it introduces some new features in order to provide dynamic software development.It allows adding up of multimedia files easier. Collaboration with social media accounts becomes easier with Fixit Reader because of the ease to synchronize with Twitter, Facebook, Evernote and SharePoint. One caution is that Foxit Reader comes bundled with so many other software and toolbar and it is important to not to allow installations of such software during its installation.MuPDF Reader:It is very lightweight PDF Reader. On its first launch it will ask you about to choose from files instead of showing its interface and when the PDF is opened then it shows the exact documents and no toolbar and other interfaces are present. In order to see the interface of MuPDF reader you are going to click on the top left of the visible windows to find it. It provides a cleaner interface and superior look for PDF files.Google Chrome PDF viewer:While browsing for internet whenever you see any PDF and click on it and it will slowly open in another tab of Chrome and you can read it from there or download by clicking the downloadsymbol available there. This setting can be turned and changed out there easily, go to settings of chrome and then advanced and then content settings and then pdf documents, Scroll down and click on PDF documents and from there switch on ‘Download PDF files instead of opening automatically opening them in Chrome’ and this will download PDF files from net to computer.If you want to read PDF files that are stored inside computer, then right click on that files and then open with chrome and your chrome reader will automatically, open pdf files and for this you will not have to install pdf viewers. Similarly, with android if you install Google Drive then you will not need any other third-party PDF apps as Google Drive act as PDF viewer and make it default while opening the first PDF and that is going to make it default.TinyPDF:TinyPDF as the name suggests has very small foot print of PDF reader and it has no string attached. It is only 586k as it is less than one MB. It does not contain no malware, adware, watermarks and no pop Global Home: UPS is completely free. JPEG compression is supported. No ghost script and third-party software included with the installer version. The downside is that it is partially supported on 64-bit computer. Automatic font management is there.There are so many alternatives to use for PDF viewer and if your computer is 64 bit then you can download the 64 bit version of Sumatra PDF and if you want to insert electronic signature then opt for Foxit PDF reader and if you want to have the old and classic PDF reader which is heavier in file composition and not for low end computing purposes then go for signNow and lastly if you do not want to install PDF readers at all then it is better to open it with Google Chrome built in PDF viewer.So, there are many large numbers of option to choose from and if you want to have some complex PDF functions besides the presence of PDF reader you need pdf tools and others then it is best to have PDF-Xchange viewer and so many other option listed here you can choose it from. There are some other alternatives are available which are there to search ad find in internet.This entry was posted in Android Apps on Google Play, Apple Inc., Computer Information Technology, Google, Google Chrome, Information Technology, Internet, Windows 10, Windows 8, Windows XP and tagged signNow, Apple, doPDF, FOXIT READER, free PDF converter, google chrome, image to pdf converter, PDF Password Remover, pdf printer, pdf-xchange, Sumatra PDF A PDF Viewer for Windows, WINDOWS, Windows 8, WINDOWS VISTA, WINDOWS XP, Windows XP SP3 onFootnotes[1] Best Free PDF Writer and Reader

Sometimes we really don’t understand what we mean under “best”, even this question doesn’t elaborate what the best service means? Which criteria the author believes the service fits the best? price?best design? Reliability?Let’s better talk about “suitable” for this moment and current needs.As the previous answers mentioned, do you need the service to be available on all major platforms or a signature that will stand up in court?Do you need a free simple solution, a feature-rich service that charges on the amount of signatures/documents signed or on monthly basis?Do you need to work with your documents on the go with low or no internet connection (while travelling, in the airport or plane)?And you can ask yourself with tons of such questions to create a matrix of features-service to choose the one you need. Or you can use 3rd party platforms like Alternativeto to initially select the provider you are interested in.When we conducted a closed beta testing for signNow recently, one of the goals was to understand the main criterias SMB owners from US use to choose a solution or switch to another one.We interviewed more than 230 businesses and what’s interesting, while the top factor goes to Security&data privacy, price or for example, digital signature availability is not in Top-3 of choices. Speed of an app/solution and multiplatform availability (works in web browser as well as on Mac, iPhone/iPad, Android and Windows devices) are what values higher.So, if there is a need to sign/send documents on Mac, iphone/ipad, android, windows and web browser and to work with documents offline, signNow is alternative to go with. We are still in beta, implementing some major requests from our beta users, but will be launching this September.And, signNow is free while in beta.

Unnecessarily Blowing Horn.Recently, I visited Seoul (South Korea) for about two months. During my stay, I visited several places including some of the busiest places like Seoul Station and Seoul Tower but at none of the locations, I heard a single sound of horn. Can you Imagine ?During those two months, I guess, only twice, once when the ambulance passed in front of me and secondly, I heard the horn (while returning to home from the Office) when a cab was in a hurry and he was continuously blowing horn (coincidentally that was the last day of my stay in Seoul) ,everyone was staring at that vehicle as if the vehicle is being used for some crime.I think people in our country should learn to make the effective use of a horn.This reminds me of last summer, I was travelling from Noida Sector 18 to Noida Sector 26 in a cycle-rickshaw which was being pulled by a man of age around 60. I saw a car behind me which was continuously blowing its horn and the old man was trying his best to give the car some space for passage. The temperature was around 45 degrees Celsius that day.Now imagine the plight of the old man who is pulling a rickshaw in 45 degrees, and on the other hand, imagine the person who is sitting inside an AC car.Now tell me, wouldn’t the rickshaw puller want to signNow the destination as early as possible so that he could get some shade and rest? Or will continuously blowing the horn will make all traffic disappear for the car owner?I really felt bad for that old man that day. We use the horn unnecessarily which is resulting in an increase in noise pollution in India.

What is Digital Signature? And Benefits of Digital Signature CertificatesA digital signature is basically a way to ensure that an electronic document (e-mail, spreadsheet, text file, etc.) is authentic. Authentic means that you know who created the document and you know that it has not been altered in any way since that person created it.Digital signatures rely on certain types of encryption to ensure authentication. Encryption is the process of taking all the data that one computer is sending to another and encoding it into a form that only the other computer will be able to decode. Authentication is the process of verifying that information is coming from a trusted source. These two processes work hand in hand for digital signatures.How do I get a Digital Signature?Digital Signature Certificate (DSC) is a secure digital key that certifies the identity of the holder, issued by a signNowing Authority (CA). There are many companies provide Digital Signature , i.e.SIFYeMudhra(n)codeThese companies gives LRA to several companies that are basically known as LRA. You may directly apply online and purchase from your local authority.signNow - offers a 14 day free trial and 3 types of pricing plans starting from $9.99 when paid monthly. All plans include sending unlimited amount of documents for signature. Available for Mac, iOS, Windows, Android and Web-browser.signNow - offers a 14 day free trial and 2 types of pricing plans starting from $29 when paid monthly. All plans include sending unlimited amount of documents for signature. Available for web-browser, iOS and Android.signNow - offers a 30 day free trial and 3 types of pricing plans starting from $15 when paid monthly. The number of document sends included each month differs by plan type. Available for Web-browser, iOS and Android.signNow - offers a 14-day free trial and 3 types of pricing plans starting from $15 per month when paid monthly. All plans include fair user restrictions to sign documents and send them for signature. Available for web-browser, iOS and Android.signNow - offers a 14-day free trial and 3 types of pricing plans starting from $15 per month when paid monthly. Unlimited document sending is subject to fair use thresholds. Available for Web-browser, iOS and Android.signNow - offers a free trial and 2 pricing plans starting from $16 per month when paid annually. All plans include sending unlimited amount of documents for signature. Available for web-browser, iOS and Android.Digital Signature for E-tenderingThere are three types of digital signature certificates depending on the validation of identity and type of use. They are:Class I DSC – Individuals get it for validating the email identification of the users and in situations where risk is minimal and here the signature is stored in software.Class II DSC – Business organizations or individuals use this digital signature certificate to validate the information given by the subscriber in the application against the information available in a trusted consumer database and in other such situations where security risk is moderate. In this case a hardware cryptographic device is used for storing the signature.Class III DSC – This digital certificate is directly issued by the signNowing authority and it is required that the person applying for DSC must be present at the signNowing authority’s premises and prove his/her identity in front of the authority and the security risk involved in this case is very high. In this case also a hardware cryptographic device is used for storing the signature.The Necessity of Digital Signature CertificatesFor e-filing of the income tax returns by any individual, the Government of India has made it mandatory to affix digital signatures to the income tax returns documents. For affixing the digital signature one must have digital signature certificates issued by licensed certification authority.In addition, Ministry of Corporate Affairs has set the mandatory guidelines for the companies directing them to file all reports, applications and forms using a digital signature only and this again requires a digital signature certificate.For GST also a company must verify its GST application by affixing a digital signature using digital signature certificate in order to get registered for GST.These days many Government procedures, filling different applications, amendments and forms require digital signatures made by using digital signature certificates.Benefits of Digital Signature CertificatesSaves Money & Time: As there is no need of physical presence you can digitally sign your PDF files and other documents using DSC anywhere & anytime. You need not sign your paper documents and then scan them to send them across through internet if you follow the above given option. You can save the money which would otherwise be spent on printing and scanning the document. You can also go green by saving paper.Secured Data: The digitally signed documents are tamper proof as the digital signatures are secured with a private key and public key and they cannot be edited after digitally signing the document.Authentic: Digitally signed documents are authentic and the receiver can be completely sure about the sender’s identity and integrity. The receiver can easily execute the information in the document without worrying about the document being forged.Certificate (DSC) is essential for companies and organizations that take part or intend to take part in eTendering processes on various Government sites. If a organisation going to apply for any Government eTender needs to have a Class 3 Digital Signature Certificate registered in the name of a representative who is authorized to submit online offers for e-Tendering applications.How to apply digital signature ?We enable compliance with legal and regulatory requirements for end-to-end electronic transactions for any kind of E-Business.What Documents required for Class 3 Digital Signature ?Documents required for Class 3 Digital SignatureApplication Form (Duly Signed)Recent Passport Size Photograph (Pasted on the Application form and Signed across the Photo)Identity ProofPAN CARD * (Income Tax F Filing Portal requires PAN Encrypted DSC)PassportDriving LicensePhoto ID Issued by Central Or State GovernmentVoter IDAadhar CardApply for Digital SignatureAddress ProofPassportDriving LicenseLatest Utility Bills - Not Older than 3 Months (Telephone, Electricity, Water, Tax, LIC)Ration CardVoter IDBank Account Statement ( Not Older than 2 Months)Service Tax/ VAT registration CertificateProperty tax/ Municipal tax ReceiptProof of Right to do Business (Any one of the Following)Certificate of IncorporationMemorandum of Association & Articles of associationRegistered Partnership deedValid Business licenses like VAT , Service Tax RegistrationLicense under shop and Establishment Act (For Proprietorship Concerns)PAN Card of the Company/FirmProof of Right to do Business (Any one of the Following)Latest annual Report / BalancesheetLatest Income Tax ReturnsOrganization Bank Details on Banks Letter Head/ Latest Bank statement attested by BankAuthorization Letter in Favor of the applicationAll Documents to be Self Attested by the applicant & Attested by the Authorised Signatory of the Business with Stamp & Seal. For More information about Best Digital Signature company in kanpurDifferent software solutions exist for different platforms, hence I am going to give one (the most common one) for each one of them:Windows: Open the PDF in signNow and click the “Fill & Sign” button in the right pane.Mac: Open the PDF in Preview, click the Toolbox button, then click SigniPhone and iPad: Open the PDF attachment in Mail, then click “Markup and Reply” to sign.iPhone and Android: Download signNow Fill & Sign, open the PDF, and tap the Signature button.Chrome: Install the signNow extension, upload your PDF, and click the Signature button.n short, “best” varies by your specific need - and there are dozens of comparison vectors. The 2 most important, IMHO, are do you needA “standing order” doc that can be easily signed anytime by anyone, such as an injury waiver at a karate school / trampoline park / etc- that sort of thing. The signor is not pre-defined. For that, we (SwiftCloud) may well be best, but there are dozens to compare, and important to consider is volume, HIPAA medical compliance, integration to marketing, etc.Specific doc / signor - such as a real estate sales contract. The parties are pre-defined, and automation can be added to flow from group 1 (say, “the seller(s)”) to group 2 (seller’s agent, for example) to group 3 (the buyer(s) consecutively or concurrently.The #1 reason to use e-signature is to save time + integration on the data i.e. so marketing is 100% automated for example, and reducing time-to-close which results in higher sales pull-through rates. Don’t get me wrong, saving money on paper, printer, ink, printer jams, etc. is important - but that’s a money saver, not a money maker. Marketing and sales will actually create new revenue for you, so to not use electronic signature is for most businesses, downright neglectful. Granted, I’m a bit biased, but happy to do a formal study to prove it with real numbers, should anyone be so inclined.And you are good to go!!

What is Digital Signature? And Benefits of Digital Signature CertificatesA digital signature is basically a way to ensure that an electronic document (e-mail, spreadsheet, text file, etc.) is authentic. Authentic means that you know who created the document and you know that it has not been altered in any way since that person created it.Digital signatures rely on certain types of encryption to ensure authentication. Encryption is the process of taking all the data that one computer is sending to another and encoding it into a form that only the other computer will be able to decode. Authen...

The Information Technology Act, 2000 came into force on 17.10.2000 vide G.S.R No. 788(E) dated 17.10.2000 and for the first time, a legal definition of “Computer”, “Data”, “electronic record”, “Information” et al were provided. The said Act gave a legal recognition to the electronic records and digital signatures and in Chapter IX thereof provided for penalty and adjudication. Section 43 of the Act interalia provided that in case of unauthorised access, download or copying or damage to data etc, the person responsible shall be liable to pay damages by way of compensation not exceeding one crore rupees to the person affected.Apart from civil liability provided under Section 43, Chapter XI (Sections 63 to 78) of the Act of 2000 provided for criminal liability in cases of Tampering, Hacking, publishing or transmitting obscene material, misrepresentation etc. Apart from the same, Section 72 of the Act provided for penalty in case of bsignNow of confidentiality and privacy and laid that in case any person who has secured access to any electronic record, Data or information, discloses the same to any other person without obtaining the consent of the person concerned, he shall be punished with imprisonment upto two years or with fine upto Rupees one lakh or with both.However, the provisions of the Information Technology Act, 2000 were not adequate and the need for more stringent data protection measures were felt, the Information Technology (Amendment) Act, 2008 was enacted which came into force on 27.10.2009. The said Amendment Act brought in the concepts like cyber security in the statute book and widened the scope of digital signatures by replacing the words “electronic signature”. The amendment act also provided for secure electronic signatures and enjoined the central government to prescribe security procedures and practices for securing electronic records and signatures (Sections 15-16) The amendment Act also removed the cap of Rupees One Crore as earlier provided under Section 43 for damage to computer and computer systems and for unauthorised downloading/ copying of data. The said Amendment Act also introduced Section 43A which provides for compensation to be paid in case a body corporate fails to protect the data. Section 46 of the Act prescribes that the person affected has to approach the adjudicating officer appointed under Section 46 of the Act in case the claim for injury or damage does not exceed Rupees Five crores and the civil court in case, the claim exceeds Rupees Five crores. The amendment act also brought/ introduced several new provisions which provide for offenses such as identity theft, receiving stolen computer resource/ device, cheating, violation of privacy, cyber terrorism, pornography (Section 66A-F & 67A-C). The amendment act also brought in provisions directing intermediaries to protect the data/information and penalty has been prescribed for disclosure of information of information in bsignNow of lawful contract (Section 72A)With the enactment of the Amendment Act of 2008, India for the first time got statutory provisions dealing with data protection. However, as the ingredients of “sensitive personal data and information” as well as the “reasonable security practices and procedures” were yet to be prescribed by the Central Government, the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology vide Notification No. GSR 313 (E) dated 11th April 2011 made the Information Technology (Reasonable Security Practices and Procedures and Sensitive Personal Data or Information ) Rules, 2011 (the said rules). Rule 3 of the said rules defines personal sensitive data or information and provides that the same may include information relating to password, financial information such as bank account or credit card details, health condition, medical records etc. Rule 4 enjoins every body corporate which receives or deals with information to provide a privacy policy. Rule 5 prescribes that every body corporate shall obtain consent in writing from the provider of the sensitive information regarding purpose of usage before collection of such information and such body corporate will not collect such information unless it is collected for a lawful purpose connected with the function or activity of such body corporate and collection of such information or data is necessary and once such data is collected, it shall not be retained for a period longer than what is required. Rule 6 provides that disclosure of the information to any third party shall require prior permission from the provider unless such disclosure has been agreed to in the contract between the body corporate and the provider or where the disclosure is necessary for compliance of a legal obligation. The Body corporate has been barred to publish sensitive information and the third parties receiving such information have been barred to disclose it further. Rule 7 lays down that the body corporate may transfer such information to any other body corporate or person in India or outside, that ensure the same level of data protection and such transfer will be allowed only if it is necessary for performance of lawful contract between the body corporate and provider of information or where the provider has consented for data transfer. Rule 8 of the said rules further provide reasonable security practises and procedures and lays down that international standard IS/ISO/IEC 27001 on “Information Technology- Security Techniques- Information Security Management System- requirements “ would be one such standard.The Ministry of Communication and Information Technology further issued a press note dated 24th August 2011 and clarified that the said rules are applicable to the body corporate or any person located within India. The press note further provides that any body corporate providing services relating to collection or handling of sensitive personal data or information under contractual obligation with any other legal entity located within India or outside is not subject to requirements of Rules 5 &6 as mentioned hereinabove. A body corporate providing services to the provider of information under a contractual obligation directly with them however has to comply with Rules 5 &6. The said press note also clarifies that privacy policy mentioned in Rule 4 relates to the body corporate and is not with respect to any particular obligation under the contract. The press note at the end provides that the consent mentioned in Rule 5 includes consent given by any mode of electronic communication.Data Protection relates to issues relating to the collection, storage, accuracy and use of data provided by net users in the use of the World Wide Web. Visitors to any website want their privacy rights to be respected when they engage in e-Commerce. It is part of the confidence-creating role that successful e-Commerce businesses have to convey to the consumer. If industry doesn't make sure it's guarding the privacy of the data it collects, it will be the responsibility of the government and it's their obligation to enact legislation.Any transaction between two or more parties involves an exchange of essential information between the parties. Technological developments have enabled transactions by electronic means. Any such information/data collected by the parties should be used only for the specific purposes for which they were collected. The need arose, to create rights for those who have their data stored and create responsibilities for those who collect, store and process such data. The law relating to the creation of such rights and responsibilities may be referred to as ‘data protection’ law.The world’s first computer specific statute was enacted in the form of a Data Protection Act, in the German state of Hesse, in 1970.The misuse of records under the Nazi regime had raised concerns among the public about the use of computers to store and process large amounts of personal data.The Data Protection Act sought to heal such memories of misuse of information. A different rationale for the introduction of data protection legislation can be seen in the case of Sweden which introduced the first national statute in 1973.Here, data protection was seen as fitting naturally into a two hundred year old system of freedom of information with the concept of subject access (such a right allows an individual to find out what information is held about him) being identified as one of the most important aspects of the legislation.In 1995, the European Union adopted its Directive (95/46/EC) of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 October 1995 on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data (hereinafter, the Directive), establishing a detailed privacy regulatory structure. The Directive is specific on the requirements for the transfer of data. It sets down the principles regarding the transfer of data to third countries and states that personal data of EU nationals cannot be sent to countries that do not meet the EU “adequacy” standards with respect to privacy.In order to meet the EU “adequacy” standards, US developed a ‘Safe Harbour’ framework, according to which the US Department of Commerce would maintain a list of US companies that have self-certified to the safe harbor framework. An EU organization can ensure that it is sending information to a U.S. organization participating in the safe harbor by viewing the public list of safe harbor organizations posted on the official website.Data protection has emerged as an important reaction to the development of information technology. In India data protection is covered under the Information Technology Act, 2000 (hereinafter, the Act). The Act defines ‘data’ as, “‘data’ means a representation of information, knowledge, facts, concepts or instructions which are being prepared or have been prepared in a formalized manner, and is intended to be processed, is being processed or has been processed in a computer system or computer network, and may be in any form (including computer printouts magnetic or optical storage media, punched cards, punched tapes) or stored internally in the memory of the computer”. Protection of such data and privacy are covered under specific provisions in the Act. In the recent past, the need for data protection laws has been felt to cater to various needs. The following analyses the position of data protection law with respect to some of the needs.Data Protection Law In Respect of Information Technology Enabled Services (ITES)India started liberalizing its economy in the 1990’s and since then a huge upsurge in the IT business process outsourcing may be witnessed. Financial, educational, legal, marketing, healthcare, telecommunication, banking etc are only some of the services being outsourced into India. This upsurge of outsourcing of ITES into India in the recent past may be attributed to the large English-speaking unemployed populace, cheap labour, enterprising and hardworking nature of the people etc. Statistics have shown that the outsourcing industry is one of the biggest sources of employment. In a span of four years, the number of people working in call centers in the country supporting international industries has risen from 42,000 to 3,50,000. Exports were worth $5.2 billion in 2004-2005 and are expected to grow over 40% this fiscal year. US is currently the biggest investor in Indian ITES, taking advantage of cheap labour costs. Statistics indicate that software engineers with two-years experience in India are being paid about 1/5th of an equivalent US employee.Concerns about adequacy of lawBPO FraudsWith globalization and increasing BPO industry in India, protection of data warrants legislation. There are reasons for this. Every individual consumer of the BPO Industry would expect different levels of privacy from the employees who handle personal data. But there have been situations in the recent past where employees or systems have given away the personal information of customers to third parties without prior consent. So other countries providing BPO business to India expect the Indian government and BPO organizations to take measures for data protection. Countries with data protection law have guidelines that call for data protection law in the country with whom they are transacting.For instance, in, the European Union countries according to the latest guidelines, they will cease to part with data, which are considered the subject matter of protection to any third country unless such other country has a similar law on data protection. One of the essential features of any data protection law would be to prevent the flow of data to non-complying countries and such a provision when implemented may result in a loss of "Data Processing" business to some of the Indian companies.In the recent past, concerns have been raised both within the country as well as by customers abroad regarding the adequacy of data protection and privacy laws in the country. A few incidents have questioned the Indian data protection and privacy standards and have left the outsourcing industry embarrassed. In June 2005, ‘The Sun’ newspaper claimed that one of its journalists bought personal details including passwords, addresses and passport data from a Delhi IT worker for £4.25 each. Earlier BPO frauds in India include New York-based Citibank accounts being looted from a BPO in Pune and a call-center employee in Bangalore peddling credit card information to fraudsters who stole US$398,000 from British bank accounts.UK's Channel 4 TV station ran broadcast footage of a sting operation exposing middlemen hawking the financial data of 200,000 UK citizens. The documentary has prompted Britain's Information Commissioner's Office to examine the security of personal financial data at Indian call centers.In the absence of data protection laws, the kind of work that would be outsourced to India in the future would be limited. The effect of this can be very well seen in the health-care BPO business, which is estimated to be worth close to $45 billion. Lack of data protection laws have left Indian BPO outfits still stagnating in the lower end of the value chain, doing work like billing, insurance claims processing and of course transcription. Besides healthcare, players in the retail financial sector are also affected. Financial offshoring from banks is limited because of statutory compliance requirements and data privacy laws protecting sensitive financial information in accounts. In the Human Resource (HR) domain, there are many restrictions on sharing of personal information. In the medical domain, patient history needs to be protected. In credit card transactions, identity theft could be an issue and needs to be protected. Companies in the banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI) sector and healthcare have excluded applications/processes which use sensitive information from their portfolio for offshoring till they are comfortable about the data protection laws prevalent in the supplier country.Since there is lack of data protection laws in India, Indian BPO outfits are trying to deal with the issue by attempting to adhere to major US and European regulations. MNCs have to comply with foreign Regulations so that they don’t lose on their international partners. There are problems involved in this. Efforts by individual companies may not count for much if companies rule out India as a BPO destination in the first place in the absence of data protection law.Today, the largest portion of BPO work coming to India is low-end call centre and data processing work. If India has to exploit the full potential of the outsourcing opportunity, then we have to move up the value chain. Outsourced work in Intellectual Property Rights (IPR)-intensive areas such as clinical research, engineering design and legal research is the way ahead for Indian BPO companies. The move up the value chain cannot happen without stringent laws. Further, weak laws would act as deterrents for FDI, global business and the establishment of research and development parks in the pharmaceutical industry.Looking to the above scenario, we can say that for India to achieve heights in BPO industry stringent laws for data protection and intellectual property rights have to be made. . Thus, a law on data protection on India must address the following Constitutional issues on a "priority basis" before any statutory enactment procedure is set into motion:(1) Privacy rights of interested persons in real space and cyber space.(2) Mandates of freedom of information U/A 19 (1) (a).(3) Mandates of right to know of people at large U/A 21.Once the data protection rules are enforced in India, companies outsourcing to India are unlikely to dismantle the systems they have in place straightaway, and move data more freely to India. Hence ,the need for data protection laws would win over the confidence of international business partners; protect abuse of information; protection of privacy and personal rights of individuals would be ensured; there would be more FDI inflows, global business and the establishment of research and development parks in the pharmaceutical industry & impetus to the sector of e-Commerce at national and international levels would be provided.Data protection law in India (Present status):-Data Protection law in India is included in the Act under specific provisions. Both civil and criminal liabilities are imposed for violation of data protection.(1) Section 43 deals with penalties for damage to computer, computer system etc.(2) Section 65 deals with tampering with computer source documents.(3) Section 66 deals with hacking with computer system.(4) Section 72 deals with penalty for bsignNow of confidentiality and privacy. Call centers can be included in the definition of ‘intermediary’and a ‘network service provider’ and can be penalized under this section.These developments have put the Indian government under pressure to enact more stringent data protection laws in the country in order to protect the lucrative Indian outsourcing industry. In order to use IT as a tool for socio-economic development, employment generation and to consolidate India’s position as a major player in the IT sector,amendments to the IT Act, 2000 have been approved by the cabinet and are due to be tabled in the winter session of the Parliament.Proposed amendments:-The amendments relate to the following[22]:(i) Proposal at Sec. 43 (2) related to handling of sensitive personal data or information with reasonable security practices and procedures.(ii) Gradation of severity of computer related offences under Section 66, committed dishonestly or fraudulently and punishment thereof.(iii) Proposed additional Section 72 (2) for bsignNow of confidentiality with intent to cause injury to a subscriber.It is hoped that these amendments will strengthen the law to suffice the need.Data Protection Laws In Order To Invite ‘Data Controllers’.There has been a strong opinion that if India strengthens its data protection law, it can attract multi-national corporations to India. India can be home to such corporations than a mere supplier of services.In fact, there is an argument that the EU’s data protection law is sufficient to protect the privacy of its people and thus lack of strong protection under Indian law is not a hindrance to the outsourcing industry. To enumerate, consider a company established in EU (called the ‘data controller’) and the supplier of call center services (‘data processor’) in India. If the data processor makes any mistake in the processing of personal data or there are instances of data theft, then the data controller in the EU can be made liable for the consequences. The Indian data processor is not in control of personal data and can only process data under the instructions of the data controller. Thus if a person in EU wants to exercise rights of access and retrieve personal data, the data controller has to retrieve it from the data processor, irrespective of where the data processor is located. Thus a strong data protection law is needed not only to reinforce the image of the Indian outsourcing industry but also to invite multi-national corporations to establish their corporate offices here.Data Protection And TelemarketingIndia is faced with a new phenomenon-telemarketing. This is facilitated, to a large extent, by the widespread use of mobile telephones. Telemarketing executives, now said to be available for as low as US $70 per month, process information about individuals for direct marketing. This interrupts the peace of an individual and conduct of work. There is a violation of privacy caused by such calls who, on behalf of banks, mobile phone companies, financial institutions etc. offer various schemes. The right to privacy has been read into Article 21, Constitution of India, but this has not afforded enough protection. A PIL against several banks and mobile phone service providers is pending before the Supreme Court alleging inter alia that the right to privacy has been infringed.The EC Directive confers certain rights on the people and this includes the right to prevent processing for direct marketing. Thus, a data controller is required not to process information about individuals for direct marketing if an individual asks them not to. So individuals have the right to stop unwanted marketing offers. It would be highly beneficial that data protection law in India also includes such a right to prevent unsolicited marketing offers and protect the privacy of the people.Data Protection With Regard To Governance And PeopleThe Preamble to the Act specifies that, the IT Act 2000, inter alia, will facilitate electronic filing of documents with the Government agencies. It seeks to promote efficient delivery of Government services by means of reliable electronic records. Stringent data protection laws will thus help the Government to protect the interests of its people.Data protection law is necessary to provide protection to the privacy rights of people and to hold cyber criminals responsible for their wrongful acts. Data protection law is not about keeping personal information secret. It is about creating a trusted framework for collection, exchange and use of personal data in commercial and governmental contexts. It is to permit and facilitate the commercial and governmental use of personal data.The Data Security Council of India (DSCI) and Department of Information Technology(DIT) must also rejuvenate its efforts in this regard on the similar lines. However, the best solution can come from good legislative provisions along with suitable public and employee awareness. It is high time that we must pay attention to Data Security in India. Cyber Security in India is missing and the same requires rejuvenation. When even PMO's cyber security is compromised for many months we must at least now wake up. Data bsignNowes and cyber crimes in India cannot be reduced until we make strong cyber laws. We cannot do so by mere declaring a cat as a tiger. Cyber law of India must also be supported by sound cyber security and effective cyber forensics.Indian companies in the IT and BPO sectors handle and have access to all kinds of sensitive and personal data of individuals across the world, including their credit card details, financial information and even their medical history. These Companies store confidential data and information in electronic form and this could be vulnerable in the hands of their employees. It is often misused by unsurplous elements among them. There have been instances of security bsignNowes and data leakages in high profile Indian companies. The recent incidents of data thefts in the BPO industry have raised concerns about data privacy.There is no express legislation in India dealing with data protection. Although the Personal Data Protection Bill was introduced in Parliament in 2006, it is yet to see the light of day. The bill seems to proceed on the general framework of the European Union Data Privacy Directive, 1996. It follows a comprehensive model with the bill aiming to govern the collection, processing and distribution of personal data. It is important to note that the applicability of the bill is limited to ‘personal data’ as defined in Clause 2 of the bill.The bill applies both to government as well as private enterprises engaged in data functions. There is a provision for the appointment of, “Data Controllers”, who have general superintendence and adjudicatory jurisdiction over subjects covered by the bill. It also provides that penal sanctions may be imposed on offenders in addition to compensation for damages to victims.The stringency of data protection law, whether the prevailing law will suffice such needs, whether the proposed amendments are a welcome measure, whether India needs a separate legislation for data protection etc are questions which require an in-depth analysis of the prevailing circumstances and a comparative study with laws of other countries. There is no consensus among the experts regarding these issues. These issues are not in the purview of this write-up. But there can be no doubt about the importance of data protection law in the contemporary IT scenario and are not disputable.