VPN PROVIDERS AND MEITY’S NEW DATA-LEAK ADVISORY: LEGAL TESTS ON ‘REASONABLE EFFORTS’

On 11 December 2025, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) issued an advisory telling virtual private network (VPN) services and other intermediaries to make “reasonable efforts” to block access to two data-leak sites—proxyearth.org and leakdata.org—that allegedly publish personal details of Indian citizens.

- TDG NETWORK

The ministry warned that intermediaries that fail to show diligence could lose the “safe harbour” immunity provided by Section 79 of the Information Technology (IT) Act 2000.

Why this matters ~ Section 79 says intermediaries are not liable for third-party content if they observe “due diligence.” However, the statute never defines what diligence entails and courts have struggled to articulate astandard. MeitY’s advisory now puts VPN providers—especially “no-log” services that market privacy—as gatekeepers against data leaks. If they cannot inspect traffic, can they meet the requirement? Lawyers expect fresh litigation over the contours of “reasonable efforts” and the scope of Section 79's immunity.