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Tell HN: Razorpay a YC company shared donor data under a Section 91 order

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Re: Tell HN: Razorpay a YC company shared donor data under a Section 91 order

#161
post #45

I'm not a lawyer, nor am I an Indian lawyer, but if Razorpay received a Section 91 order ( https://indiankanoon.org/doc/788840/ ) they wouldn't have much choice on turning over any records. It looks to be the rough equivalent of third party doctrine in the US (which is also horrible). It can come from "any Court or any officer in charge of a police station". Banks and fintech in many countries are even more exposed t…

Would they care to share a copy of the order, in that case?

Re: Tell HN: Razorpay a YC company shared donor data under a Section 91 order

#162
post #32

In UP, India, a Muslim restaurant owner was arrested because the non-veg food he wrapped with old newspapers had photos of Hindu gods and goddesses. https://thewire.in/rights/up-man-arrested-for-wrapping-chick...

Not that I support the intention of cops to go at his restaurant in the first place, in the article I read, he swung his knife at the cop as well.

> Not that I support the intention of cops to go at his restaurant in the first place, in the article I read, he swung his knife at the cop as well.

No the article says - Police "alleged" that he swung his knife as well, which he and his family denies. I don't know what really happened but it would be silly to solely rely on cop's version of events.

Re: Tell HN: Razorpay a YC company shared donor data under a Section 91 order

#163

I've flagged this because (1) the poster is anonymous and (2) they misrepresent the issue in the title and (3) they seem to have some kind of beef with Razorpay. See: https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=throw_away_1042

Anonymous because I worry about my and family's life. I have a real handle, if I use that, I'm almost certain that I will receive death threats and false police cases.

The issue is not misrepresented. There was no court order. The said police written request is not contested by Razorypay.

Looking at the past tweets from one of the co-founder it is not surprising to see the compliance with the request.

https://twitter.com/shashank_kr/status/1175974410202697728

https://imgur.com/a/ZDRZZ87

Re: Tell HN: Razorpay a YC company shared donor data under a Section 91 order

#164

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Many? Which countries do not suffer from corruption? This seems to be the human condition. As the old saying goes, “power corrupts…”. It’s not of question of “if” a country is corrupt, it is “how much”.

True but India does seem to be steeped in it. I once bribed someone in India accidentally and didn't realise what had happened till afterwards. That's how embedded it is in daily life. I can't imagine that happening anywhere else I've been and I've been a few places.

What happened? Sounds like an interesting story

Re: Tell HN: Razorpay a YC company shared donor data under a Section 91 order

#165

Quoted post unavailable.

RazorPay does not even support non-Indian credit cards and payment instruments unless explicitly turned on - and this wasn't the case with Altnews. So there is no way anyone from Syria or Pakistan could have donated to Altnews.

Re: Tell HN: Razorpay a YC company shared donor data under a Section 91 order

#166

While I have no sympathy for razorpay but I'd just like to point out that laws in India are much more heavy handed than a country like US. People are thrown in jail for social media posts and sometimes just for liking a social media post(1) Twitter has been having a very hard time operating in India too(2) and routinely censoring stuff so while IANAL just remember that things are very different in different parts of…

> ...laws in India are much more heavy handed than a country like US.

AltNews alleges that RazorPay banned their account (and later restored it) without cause: https://archive.is/R9OJ8

To me, it seems like RazorPay simply buckled under pressure. Why wouldn't they, they need to be in bed with the central govt, or their business falls apart pretty quick.

Re: Tell HN: Razorpay a YC company shared donor data under a Section 91 order

#168

I've flagged this because (1) the poster is anonymous and (2) they misrepresent the issue in the title and (3) they seem to have some kind of beef with Razorpay. See: https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=throw_away_1042

> because (1) the poster is anonymous

Please rethink this criterion. Those of us who live under authoritarian regimes have to be cautious to protect us from both our governments and members of our society who support them.

Re: Tell HN: Razorpay a YC company shared donor data under a Section 91 order

#169
The police made a different statement and claimed that they had only requested RazorPay donor information of any foreign donors to AltNews (which claimed that it had restricted payments only from Indian citizens in India), and that they hadn’t asked RazorPay to disable the account of AltNews. Yet, RazorPay disabled the account for a day and then enabled it.

Now, the request was made under a law (CRPC 91) that allows the police to request for any “document or thing”. So a court order is not necessary.

But there seems to be a lot that’s not being revealed here honestly.

While I wouldn’t blame RazorPay for being yet another scared Indian company that obeys (perceived) authority immediately for any request from any government entity, it doesn’t bode well that no Indian started company stands up to law enforcement or the government. Only some multinational companies seem to have the guts to question unreasonable requests.

Indian laws are overly broad and sometimes it seems like the whole system can be simplified into a few sentences that allows government authorities in any department to request or takeover anything and cite “national security” or “public law and order” as the reasons. /s

Seriously though, the “largest democracy” tag doesn’t go well with the laws and the legal system. It’s a disappointment and a shame.

Re: Tell HN: Razorpay a YC company shared donor data under a Section 91 order

#170

While I have no sympathy for razorpay but I'd just like to point out that laws in India are much more heavy handed than a country like US. People are thrown in jail for social media posts and sometimes just for liking a social media post(1) Twitter has been having a very hard time operating in India too(2) and routinely censoring stuff so while IANAL just remember that things are very different in different parts of…

India is weird. It's not really called authoritarian (rankings don't classify it as such), but there are many similar stories of government dysfunction and overreach. Maybe someone else has a word for them?

I think hate speech laws in India are overboard - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hate_speech_laws_in_India and although not enacted by current govt. it can be easily abused by police and that is what is happening in many instances.

These laws are vague to a fault and govt. has given themselves too much power (and I do not see it changing anytime soon, who wants to give up power?). It is easy to selectively apply these laws and that in itself can promote enmity that these laws were designed to protect from.

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