Analysis of the Geospatial Information Regulation Bill, 2016

Authors: Nisha Purushothaman, Balaje R, Shahed Hashmi, Vinay Venu

Bill Summary

The Geospatial Information Regulation Bill, 2016 aims to regulate geospatial information by requiring a license to acquire, disseminate, distribute or publish geospatial information.

The act will create

1. An Apex Committee to oversee and administer the implementation of the act, make regulations for surveillance and monitoring, and to prescribe necessary fees
2. A Security Vetting Authority to perform security vetting of geospatial information based on regulations created by the Apex Committee
3. An Enforcement Authority that performs surveillance to ensure enforcement of the act
4. An Appellate authority to appeal on decisions made by the Security Vetting Authority or the Enforcement Authority.

About Geospatial information

Geospatial information as defined by the bill is primarily collected by satellites today. There are three kinds of activities involved in the creation of geospatial information.

1. Satellite imagery — Images taken from satellites can be of different varieties. These are provided by both countries and commercial companies. Image quality depends on
2. The number of spectrums being used (Multispectral images take multiple spectra of the light during imaging while panchromatic images are black and white. Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) systems help in creating 3D structure of the earth.
3. Temporal resolution — the time between two clicks of the same geographical area
4. Geometric resolution — The area covered by a single pixel. A 10m resolution means a single pixel represents a circle of diameter 10 metres.
5. Geo-Information Systems (GIS) — Systems that allow the addition of features to a picture taken by satellite imagery with geo-tagged data. Any kind of information can be mapped as different layers on top of the satellite imagery provided. Examples of such information include traffic, vegetation, population and cloud cover.
6. Location Services — This technology involves using a map created by satellite imagery, possibly value added using GIS and locating the current point on the map. Location services for India are mostly provided for free by the GPS (Global Positioning Service), a group of services operated by the US military.

Usage of geospatial information in the government and industry

The $4 billion Indian geospatial industry in India is expected to become a $20 billion market by 2025, growing at a cumulative annual rate of 12 to 15 percent. The global market size of the geospatial industry is $300 billion, which is expected to grow at the rate of 13.6% till 2020.

Images of India are available at resolutions at around 25 cm at ground level by several government and private companies around the world.

Geospatial information is valuable in government, research and the industry. Grindgis provides an incomplete list of 67 different uses of geospatial information. GisLounge provides a list of different analysis techniques that depend on the use of GIS technologies. These techniques are valuable in research. Commercial uses of geospatial information include handling the supply chain, route navigation, connecting with customers and planning. The government uses, or intends to use geospatial information in several initiatives such as AgRIS, JNNURM, NLRMP, R-APDRP, Digital India and Smart Cities.

National Security Concerns

The availability of geospatial information has the potential to raise several risks from a national security standpoint

1. Dependence on other countries for geospatial services required for military and civilian purposes can harm India during times of conflict
2. An incorrect depiction of borders of India affect the sovereignty of the Indian state
3. The growing military significance of geospatial information means the need to protect information against potential cyber attacks through direct interference, signal jamming, spoofing and direct attacks on satellites
4. High-resolution images of sensitive areas can aid terrorist activities

Regulations around the world

In the past, companies have been restricted from commercially selling high-resolution images. However, competition from around the world has led to the relaxation of these restrictions.

International law — The 1967 Outer Space Treaty declares space to be “the province of all mankind, free for exploration and use by all nations, and places international responsibility on the state for its national space activities, as well as liability on the launching state for any damage caused by space objects”

United States — The National and Commercial Space Programs Act (NCSPA or Act) of the United States regulates remote sensing and imagery and value addition by requiring licenses to operate under specific conditions (resolution etc). This act only covers companies involved in creating imagery and not services that utilize them.

Germany and France used to have restrictive licensing rules for the production of geospatial information, but they have relaxed many of these in recent times.

United Kingdom — In November 2017, the UK Government announced its plans to set up a new Geospatial Data Commission to develop a strategy for using the ‘government data’ to support economic growth. To further boost UK’s digital economy, “the government plans to work with the Ordnance Survey (OS) and the new UK Geospatial Commission, by May 2018, to establish how to open up freely the OS MasterMap data to UK-based small businesses in particular.”

China — Through the Surveying and Mapping Law, the People’s Republic of China considers private surveying and mapping of China illegal.

European Union — The European Union has set up the INSPIRE directive, a European Spatial Data Infrastructure that will enable the sharing of environmental spatial information among public sector organisations, facilitate public access to spatial information across Europe and assist in policy-making across boundaries.

Concerns over the bill

1. There is concern over whether the proposed bill will solve the intended purpose.
2. Geospatial information is updated frequently. This can add significant workload on the security vetting authority and can hinder the ability to vet information in a timely manner.
3. Section 4 — Licensing requirements for dissemination, publication or distribution of geospatial information can potentially affect small industries that use freely available geospatial information.
4. Section 4 — Distribution of geospatial information is not defined well. For example, a server in the US publishes geospatial information. There are several nodes that are passed for this information to reach an end user. This includes international grids, ISPs, DNS servers and local networks. Also, security techniques are available that prevent these intermediaries from knowing if the information being passed in is geospatial information. It is essential to define who the distributor is to determine liability. Section 19(2)(a) is not clear on who is liable in case of a breach.

Further Reading

1. Recommendations on the Draft of “The Geospatial Information Regulation Bill, 2016” — Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry, 2016
2. CIS comments on National Geospatial Policy Draft 2016
3. US Geospatial policy
4. US Spatial Law articles — https://www.gislounge.com/spatial-law-and-its-relevance-to-geospatial-practitioners/
5. Open Geospatial Consortium http://www.opengeospatial.org/about
6. US Geospatial Licensing policy
7. Chinese regulations
8. INSPIRE — http://inspire.ec.europa.eu/
9. http://geoawesomeness.com/the-story-of-indian-e-governance-and-geospatial-technology/
10. Colonel Lawrence J Portouw (United States Army), 2002 — Implications of high-resolution, commercial space imagery for national security and homeland defence
11. National and Commercial Space Programs Act (NCSPA or Act), 51 U.S.C. § 60101, et seq,
12. Frans G. von der Dunk, 2009 — European Satellite Earth Observation: Law, Regulations, Policies, Projects, and Programmes
13. United Kingdom National Space Security Policy

References

1. Geospatial Information Regulation Bill, 2016
2. Pakistan raises concerns over Geospatial Information Regulation Bill — The Hindu, Accessed 20/3/2018
3. How the Controversial Geospatial Bill Snowballed — And Was Then Shoved Into Cold Storage — The Wire, Accessed 20/3/2018
4. Recommendations on the Draft of “The Geospatial Information Regulation Bill, 2016” — Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry, 2016
5. National Geospatial Policy Draft 2016
6. CIS comments on National Geospatial Policy Draft 2016
7. https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2014-08/documents/national_geospatial_data_policy_0.pdf — US Geospatial policy
8. US Spatial Law articles — https://www.gislounge.com/spatial-law-and-its-relevance-to-geospatial-practitioners/
9. Open Geospatial Consortium http://www.opengeospatial.org/about
10. https://www.geoplatform.gov/
11. US — https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-bill/4395
12. https://www.nesdis.noaa.gov/CRSRA/licenseHome.html
13. UK — https://www.geospatialworld.net/blogs/uk-geospatial-commission-gets-80mn-budget/
14. China — http://en.nasg.gov.cn/article/Lawsandregulations/201312/20131200005471.shtml
15. INSPIRE — http://inspire.ec.europa.eu/
16. http://geoawesomeness.com/the-story-of-indian-e-governance-and-geospatial-technology/
17. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satellite_imagery (Accessed 27/3/2018)
18. Colonel Lawrence J Portouw (United States Army), 2002 — Implications of high-resolution, commercial space imagery for national security and homeland defence
19. Global Positioning System Standard Positioning Service Performance Standard, 4th edition, September 2008, Department of Defence, United States
20. National and Commercial Space Programs Act (NCSPA or Act), 51 U.S.C. § 60101, et seq,
21. US Bans High-Resolution Imagery of Israel (Accessed 27/3/2018)
22. U.S. Satellite Resolution Restrictions — LIFTED! (Accessed 27/3/2018)
23. Frans G. von der Dunk, 2009 — European Satellite Earth Observation: Law, Regulations, Policies, Projects, and Programmes
24. National Space Security Policy, United Kingdom, April 2014
25. How the Controversial Geospatial Bill Snowballed — And Was Then Shoved Into Cold Storage
26. https://www.geospatialworld.net/blogs/uk-geospatial-commission-gets-80mn-budget/ (Accessed 26/3/2018)
27. https://www.geospatialworld.net/blogs/four-facts-indian-geospatial-market/