The United States said that India’s stringent telecom regulations, particularly encryption norms on items like mobile phones causes hindrances in protecting information for companies functioning in the country.

In a telecom scene, encryption is a process that prevents people from accessing protected information. US Trade Representative, headed by Ron Kirk said that India in 2007 had released rules regulating the use of encryption at key strengths above 40 bits in telecommunication products.

According to these rules, use of encryptions greater than 40 bits is allowed, but only after receiving a written permission from the Department of Telecommunications (DOT) and submit the decryption key, split into two parts, with the DOT, said Kirk.

Referring to India’s strong encryption norms as confusing and detrimental to the security of companies operating in the country, Kirk, in his latest report of the 1377 Review, he added, “Furthermore, India prohibits use of any encryption on a dedicated network (as opposed to a public network) without prior approval from the DoT.”

These norms have been observed by India as a security measure.