Misuse of E-mail Address is at all times rise. If you have recently incorporated a Company/ LLP, you would find that your registered email on MCA have landed many promotional and marketing emails that spam your mailbox. At times, it is disturbing to receive such junk mails.

With the increasing volume of data being collected and stored, ensuring the security and privacy of sensitive information is imperative. One of the crucial aspect of data protection is the masking of sensitive information, such as Email IDs, on Master Data of the Companies/ LLPs.

Well; there is good news for you because the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) has taken the bold step to mask the email address registered on the MCA Master Data on V3 as data privacy and security are at its supreme stage for organizations. This big step has been taken by the MCA to enhance the privacy and security of Companies and LLPs.

As per the Compliance Calendar research wing, email address masking on MCA Master Data got operational from Feb 15, 2024; however as per the latest update, there is no official communication in this regard.

MCA MASTER DATA V3

Master Data available at https://www.mca.gov.in/content/mca/global/en/mca/master-data/MDS.html is the core essence of the company where the basic information about the company displays such as its Name, Corporate Identification No., Date of Incorporation, Registered Address, Authorized and Paid-up capital, Category and Status of the company, Email ID, Signatory details, etc.

WHAT IS EMAIL MASKING?

Email masking means putting ***** in the beginning part of the email addresses to hide the complete email address. Typically, a masked email address is difficult to guess and therefore can't be easily depicted in the full form other than its owners.

IS IT ONLY MCA PORTAL OR OTHER GOVT WEBSITE ALSO USE EMAIL MASKING

Not just MCA, Trademark Registry also uses the masking of email addresses already and anyone can not view the full email to safeguard the applicant/ attorney from misuse of it. Visit https://ipindiaservices.gov.in/eregister/eregister.aspx and feed the Trademark Application for checking the same.

EMAIL ADDRESS IN MCA MONTHLY DATA ON INCORPORATION

To make sure there is no misuse, anyone who downloads monthly incorporation list from the MCA Website, they will also not be able to get the email address on the Microsoft Excel as MCA has not provided the email address for the respective Company/ LLP.

BENEFITS OF MASKING OF EMAIL ID

It helps in protecting the privacy of Companies/ LLPs by concealing their actual email addresses from unauthorized access.
It helps to reduce the risk of Companies/ LLPs receiving unsolicited emails or spam, as the masked addresses are less likely to be employed by spammers.
It improves the security of the Company/ LLP data by preventing it for the exposure of sensitive information in the event of a data breach.
It helps Companies/ LLPs to comply with the data protection regulations and industry standards by ensuring that sensitive information is adequately protected.
It helps in maintaining the integrity of the Company/ LLP data by ensuring that sensitive information is only accessible to authorized persons from the Govt Officials.
It can facilitate secure communication within and outside the organization, protecting the confidentiality of email exchanges.

MCA CHALLENGES IN EXECUTION

There could be several challenges in Email ID masking due to the following reasons:

Maintaining consistency in masked email IDs across different databases and systems where other Govt Authorities would want to access it.
Safeguarding masked email IDs from potential breaches or unauthorized access as robots and AI can still predict it.
Managing access permissions for other stakeholders like Banks/ NBFCs who need to view or interact with masked email IDs.
Ensuring the accuracy and completeness of masked email IDs to avoid communication errors.
Communicating and managing changes effectively to stakeholders affected by the masking implementation.
Mitigating any negative impact on applications or processes reliant on email IDs.
Integrating masking mechanisms with existing data management systems without disrupting operations.

CONCLUDING REMARKS

The implementation of email ID masking for Companies/ LLPs in MCA Master Data V3 can present challenge for many who use it for good reasons. At one end where the Government aims to enhance data privacy and security, this is a huge step taken by MCA in the benefit of country for the business ecosystem. Now, next time, you wish to have email address of any Company/ LLP, it may be a challenge if they do not have a website. However, the best part is that it will be difficult for spammers to send you promotional emails. In fact, if you are a professional, you would feel a sigh of relief that your clients would not get solicited through bulk marketing of online portals who sells legal, tax and compliance services in the form of packages and ultimately putting the company’s corporate governance at risk.

What do you think about this step of masking email address by MCA? Do let us know by emailing us at info@ccoffice.in and our team will be happy to discuss it with you.