Resp. Sir/Madame, I have been using the services of 'Prism net cafe' for the past six months or so. Since my desktop broke down. On 16th September, 2010 Pune Newsline carried a news item detailing how many unlicensed cybercafes are running in the city. http://www.indianexpress.com/news/police-chief-talks-tough-heat-on-unlicense... . Yesterday evening i.e. the 17th of September, 2010 i went to the above-mentioned cybercafe. They asked to have a scan of the identity proof. While I gave the relevant details and they were duly scanned. While I do understand and appreciate the work being done by the Pune Cyber Cell targeting terrorist/anti-social elements at large I am also concerned with the possibility of misuse of such information by unscrupulous individuals working in and around Cybercafes. I am sure you are aware of how common individuals/people's names and cell numbers are harvested routinely and sold for spamming/cold calling etc. While most of these are a nuisance rather than anything else, getting access to scanned identity information could have more issues. Possibility of cases of identity theft (couple or more which have already happened in India) may see a rise. how does Pune Police hope to secure the common public from such issues? While I have played out the State's predicament as well in my blog post http://wp.me/po8ay-1Y alongwith a copy of this letter I would appreciate a reply on the same. I have few poignant questions on the matter mentioned above as well :-
1. What if any new conditions are being made by Pune police for identity proof ? I looked for answers on the Pune Police website http://www.punepolice.gov.in/message_com.html and was none the wiser.
2. If a scanned picture of an individual along with relevant details are taken how is the police going to stop/save us from any possible misuse of our identity/information ?
3. If instructions have been issued/given to scan pictures for id proof, aren't they supposed to display those instructions on the display board.
The above mentioned cybercafe is located off J.M.Road near Mamta Sweets. My cell number is 091-976-333-0874 . If people want to forward the mail to other socially relevant groups, please do so minus my contact no.
A concerned citizen