"If at all the government reads your e-mails, or taps your phone, that will be done for a good reason. It is not invading your privacy, it is protecting you and your country," he said.
I feel reassured, thank you. On Thu, Jun 20, 2013 at 8:53 PM, Eugen Leitl <[email protected]> wrote: > > > http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/tech/enterprise-it/security/India-sets-up-nationwide-snooping-programme-to-tap-your-emails-phones/articleshow/20678562.cms > > India sets up nationwide snooping programme to tap your emails, phones > > Reuters | Jun 20, 2013, 12.32 PM IST > > India has launched a wide-ranging surveillance program that will give its > security agencies and even income tax officials the ability to tap directly > into e-mails and phone calls. > > Hackers try to break into NIC serversStudy reveals data breach costs for > Indian companiesMalicious or criminal attacks cause 37% of data breaches > > NEW DELHI: India has launched a wide-ranging surveillance program that will > give its security agencies and even income tax officials the ability to tap > directly into e-mails and phone calls without oversight by courts or > parliament, several sources said. > > The expanded surveillance in the world's most populous democracy, which the > government says will help safeguard national security, has alarmed privacy > advocates at a time when allegations of massive US digital snooping beyond > American shores has set off a global furor. > > "If India doesn't want to look like an authoritarian regime, it needs to be > transparent about who will be authorized to collect data, what data will be > collected, how it will be used, and how the right to privacy will be > protected," said Cynthia Wong, an Internet researcher at New York-based > Human > Rights Watch. > > The Central Monitoring System (CMS) was announced in 2011 but there has > been > no public debate and the government has said little about how it will work > or > how it will ensure that the system is not abused. > > The government started to quietly roll the system out state by state in > April > this year, according to government officials. Eventually it will be able to > target any of India's 900 million landline and mobile phone subscribers and > 120 million Internet users. > > Interior ministry spokesman KS Dhatwalia said he did not have details of > CMS > and therefore could not comment on the privacy concerns. A spokeswoman for > the telecommunications ministry, which will oversee CMS, did not respond to > queries. > > Indian officials said making details of the project public would limit its > effectiveness as a clandestine intelligence-gathering tool. > > "Security of the country is very important. All countries have these > surveillance programs," said a senior telecommunications ministry official, > defending the need for a large-scale eavesdropping system like CMS. > > "You can see terrorists getting caught, you see crimes being stopped. You > need surveillance. This is to protect you and your country," said the > official, who is directly involved in setting up the project. He did not > want > to be identified because of the sensitivity of the subject. > > No independent oversight > > The new system will allow the government to listen to and tape phone > conversations, read e-mails and text messages, monitor posts on Facebook, > Twitter or LinkedIn and track searches on Google of selected targets, > according to interviews with two other officials involved in setting up the > new surveillance program, human rights activists and cyber experts. > > In 2012, India sent in 4,750 requests to Google for user data, the highest > in > the world after the United States. > > Security agencies will no longer need to seek a court order for > surveillance > or depend, as they do now, on internet or telephone service providers to > give > them the data, the government officials said. > > Government intercept data servers are being built on the premises of > private > telecommunications firms. These will allow the government to tap into > communications at will without telling the service providers, according to > the officials and public documents. > > The top bureaucrat in the federal interior ministry and his state-level > deputies will have the power to approve requests for surveillance of > specific > phone numbers, e-mails or social media accounts, the government officials > said. > > While it is not unusual for governments to have equipment at > telecommunication companies and service providers, they are usually > required > to submit warrants or be subject to other forms of independent oversight. > > "Bypassing courts is really very dangerous and can be easily misused," said > Pawan Sinha, who teaches human rights at Delhi University. In most > countries > in Europe and in the United States, security agencies were obliged to seek > court approval or had to function with legal oversight, he said. > > The senior telecommunications ministry official dismissed suggestions that > India's system could be open to abuse. > > "The home secretary has to have some substantial intelligence input to > approve any kind of call tapping or call monitoring. He is not going to > randomly decide to tape anybody's phone calls," he said. > > "If at all the government reads your e-mails, or taps your phone, that will > be done for a good reason. It is not invading your privacy, it is > protecting > you and your country," he said. > > The government has arrested people in the past for critical social media > posts although there have been no prosecutions. > > In 2010, India's Outlook news magazine accused intelligence officials of > tapping telephone calls of several politicians, including a government > minister. The accusations were never proven, but led to a political uproar. > > No privacy law "The many abuses of phone tapping make clear that that is > not > a good way to organize the system of checks and balances," said Anja > Kovacs, > a fellow at the New Delhi-based Centre for Internet and Society. > > "When similar rules are used for even more extensive monitoring and > surveillance, as seems to be the case with CMS, the dangers of abuse and > their implications for individuals are even bigger." > > Nine government agencies will be authorized to make intercept requests, > including the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), India's elite policy > agency, the Intelligence Bureau (IB), the domestic spy agency, and the > income > tax department. > > India does not have a formal privacy law and the new surveillance system > will > operate under the Indian Telegraph Act - a law formulated by the British in > 1885 - which gives the government freedom to monitor private conversations. > > "We are obligated by law to give access to our networks to every legal > enforcement agency," said Rajan Mathews, director general of the Cellular > Operators Association of India. > > Telecommunications companies Bharti Airtel, Vodafone's India unit, Idea > Cellular, Tata Communications and state-run MTNL did not respond to > requests > for comment. > > India has a long history of violence by separatist groups and other > militants > within its borders. More than one third of India's 670 districts are > affected > by such violence, according to the South Asia Terrorism Portal. > > The government has escalated efforts to monitor the activities of militant > groups since a Pakistan-based militant squad rampaged through Mumbai in > 2008, > killing 166 people. Monitoring of telephones and the Internet are part of > the > surveillance. > > India's junior minister for information technology, Milind Deora, said the > new data collection system would actually improve citizens' privacy because > telecommunications companies would no longer be directly involved in the > surveillance - only government officials would. > > "The mobile company will have no knowledge about whose phone conversation > is > being intercepted", Deora told a Google Hangout, an online forum, earlier > this month. > >
