Hi Friends,

Even as I launch this today ( my 80th Birthday ), I realize that there is yet so much to say and do. There is just no time to look back, no time to wonder,"Will anyone read these pages?"

With regards,
Hemen Parekh
27 June 2013

Now as I approach my 90th birthday ( 27 June 2023 ) , I invite you to visit my Digital Avatar ( www.hemenparekh.ai ) – and continue chatting with me , even when I am no more here physically

Saturday 18 June 2016

Intent to Marry ?



Department of Electronics and Information Technology ( DeitY ) has just issued following " Advisory " to matrimonial web sites :

#  Web sites will have to ask users to enter into a " User Agreement " in which there is a " confirmation of the
    user's intent to enter into a matrimonial alliance "

#  The user agreement will also be accompanied by the user having to furnish photo IDs to register online, for user
    verification (  I wonder , why Aadhar Card Number got left out  ! )

#  These portals are mandated to adhere to the provisions of the Information Technology Act 2000 and the Rules
    made there under including The Information Technology ( Intermediaries Guidelines ) Rules, 2011

#  These web sites should strive to achieve national and international standards

#  These web sites must display the name of the Grievance Officer as mandated by the Intermediaries Guidelines



WHY  ALL THESE  FUSS  ?


According to DeitY :

#  There have been instances where users of matrimonial web sites falsify their marital status , age , height , personality , health , social and economic status .

#  In most of  the cases , victims are women who fall prey to these fraudsters after getting introduced through fake profiles on matrimonial portals


HOW  ARE  OTHERS  COPING  ? 


#     Job  Portals


 Fake " Profiles ( Resumes ) " on Job Portals are more of a " Norm " than an exception  !

 Of course , most Appointment Letters carry a clause that the appointment will get cancelled if it is later found that a candidate has furnished wrong information / fudged data / hidden pertinent facts , in his profile

Such annulment of a contract is not so easy in case of a marriage , so , to an extent , DeitY is justified in its advisory



#    E Commerce  Platforms


 Wrong representations are also a major problem on most E Commerce Platforms , where Buyers and Sellers exchange information about themselves . A few web sites do carry out some sort of " Pre-Verification "


 Then there are web sites which have systems of " Online Reviews / Ratings " , of both , the buyers and the sellers / users of services , which act as some sort of " Credit Rating / Reputation Index " . 

Of course , even in these cases , occasionally , " Fake Reviews " get posted  !


#   Social Media  Web Sites  


There is practically no entry-barrier , nor any verification of the users

" Likes  /  Shares  / Comments / No of Connections / No of Followers " etc , decide the reputation of a user



#   Resource  Sharing  Web Sites

Some minimum verification is being carried out but " Reviews " and " User Ratings " decide the trustworthiness



WHAT  ABOUT  OFFLINE  MARRIAGE  FRAUDS  ?


I believe problem of our Society is far more with " OFFLINE " marriage frauds , rather than ONLINE frauds !

If you have any doubt , read following article from Wikipedia :

" India has by far the highest number of dowry related deaths in the world according to Indian National Crime Record Bureau.

In 2012, 18,233 dowry death cases were reported across India. This means a bride was burned every 90 minutes, or dowry issues cause 1.4 deaths per year per 100,000 women in India. "


Yesterday's  newspapers also gave following data :


*  No of court cases pending in India ............ 218  lakh

*  Of these , cases filed by women................  21 lakh ( I guess , only a handful for fraud on Matrimonial Portals  )


 I don't think , Matrimonial Portals can do anything beyond implementing  DeitY advisory , just as Mobile Service  Providers cannot control the usage of Mobile phone service ( including threat-calls  / sending of obscene MMS videos , etc ) , despite collecting KYC ( Know Your Customer ) document from its users


On other hand , MSPs do maintain - and make available to the Govt Authorities , Call Logs of any user , if demanded by the Authorities but I don't think Matrimonial Portals can maintain Logs of any such transactions between its users !



Who knows , that could well be the next ADVISORY from DeitY  !  


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19  June  2016

www.hemenparekh.in / blogs



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