Order Reveals 10 Agencies Can Snoop on Any Computer; Nothing New, Says Government

[The AchieVer]

The Ministry of Home Affairs has issued a notification giving sweeping powers to 10 government agencies to snoop on any computer in the country. In the order dated Thursday, December 20, the ministry has enabled Intelligence Bureau, Narcotics Control Bureau, Enforcement Directorate, Central Board of Direct Taxes, Directorate of Revenue Intelligence, Central Bureau of Investigation, National Investigation Agency, Cabinet Secretariat, Directorate of Signal Intelligence, and Delhi Commissioner of Police to monitor, decrypt, and intercept “any information generated, transmitted, received or stored in any computer.”

After outrage on social media and elsewhere on Friday, the government moved to clarify that the order is not new and it merely reiterates the powers that were already available to these agencies since 2009. “No new powers have been conferred to any of the security or law enforcement agencies,” the government noted in a statement. It also stated that all requests to monitor, intercept, and decrypt any computer's data have to be approved by the competent authority. The Union Home Secretary is such an authority for the central government and the Chief Secretary for the state government.

Signed by Home Secretary Rajiv Gauba, the order not just allows these agencies to track your digital life but also mandates full cooperation from the citizens to help the agencies access your data. According to the notification, the subscriber or service provider or any person in charge of the computer resource is bound to extend all facilities and technical assistance to the agencies. Failing this, they can face seven years in jail and a fine.

The new order greatly expands the powers of these agencies, which were earlier only allowed to intercept calls or data. Essentially, the government agencies can now tap your calls, read your online communication, access data stored on your computer whether or not it is connected to the Internet as well as intercept any digital information that you share with others and vice versa.

 

"For the first time, powers of scanning data at rest have been given to various agencies. Earlier, only data in motion could be intercepted. But now data revived, stored and generated can also be intercepted as powers of seizure have been given," a senior bureaucrat explained to NDTV.

According to a home ministry official, the order extends the powers of the law enforcement agencies to match the needs of the present day.

The government order has drawn sharp condemnation from politicians and citizens online.

“Why is every Indian being treated like a criminal? This order by a government wanting to snoop on every citizen is unconstitutional and in breach of the telephone tapping guidelines, the Privacy Judgement and the Aadhaar judgement," CPM leader Sitaram Yechury tweeted.

Organisations like the Internet Freedom Foundation have also criticised the order.

 

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[nir]

Indian government to intercept, monitor, and decrypt citizens’ computers

 

The Indian government has authorized 10 central agencies to intercept, monitor, and decrypt data on any computer, sending a shock wave through citizens and privacy watchdogs.

 

Narendra Modi’s government late Thursday broadened the scope of Section 69 of the nation’s IT Act, 2000 to require a subscriber, service provider, or any person in charge of a computer to “extend all facilities and technical assistance to the agencies.” Failure to comply with the agencies could result in seven years of imprisonment and an unspecified fine.

 

In a clarification posted today, the Ministry of Home Affairs said each case of interception, monitoring, and decryption is to be approved by the competent authority, which is the Union Home Secretary.

 

The agencies that have been authorized with this new power are the Intelligence Bureau, Narcotics Control Bureau, Enforcement Directorate, Central Board of Direct Taxes, Directorate of Revenue Intelligence, Central Bureau of Investigation, National Investigation Agency, Research and Analysis Wing, Directorate of Signal Intelligence (in service areas of J-K, North East, and Assam), and Delhi Police.

 

Explaining the rationale behind the order, India’s IT minister, Ravi Shankar Prasad, said the measure was undertaken in the interests of national security. He added that some form of “tapping” has already been going on in the country for a number of years and that the new order would help bring structure to that process. “Always remember one thing,” he said in a televised interview. “Even in the case of a particular individual, the interception order shall not be effective unless affirmed by the Home Secretary.”

Apprehension among citizens

The Internet Freedom Foundation, a nonprofit organization that protects the online rights of citizens in India, cautioned that the order goes beyond telephone tapping. It includes looking at content streams and might even involve breaking encryption in some cases. “Imagine your search queries on Google over [a number of] years being demanded — mixed with your WhatsApp metadata, who you talk to, when, and how much [and add] layers of data streams from emails + Facebook,”  the group said.

 

“To us, this order is unconstitutional and in breach of the telephone tapping guidelines, the Privacy Judgement, and the Aadhaar Judgement,” it asserted, adding that it was working with volunteers and lawyers to further scrutinize the order.

 

Opposition political parties also expressed concern about the order. “From Modi sarkar [Hindi for government] to stalker sarkar, clearly the string of losses has left the BJP government desperate for information,” the Congress political party said.  Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram added, “If anybody is going to monitor the computer, including your computer, that is the Orwellian state. George Orwell is around the corner. It is condemnable.”

 

IT Minister Prasad lashed out at the opposition, asking whether they believe the government should not do anything to halt the proliferation of terrorist activities, which he alleged are being conducted on the internet.

 

VentureBeat has reached out to Apple, Google, Facebook, and Amazon for comment and will update if we hear back. Microsoft declined to comment.

Global issue

This move by the Indian government comes days after the Australian government, in a global first, took a stricter approach to the way communications service are handled within its borders. Earlier this month, the Australian parliament passed laws giving police and security agencies in the nation the power to access messages on encrypted platforms. The government said it is taking this step in an effort to combat terrorism and other crime.

 

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[Nik]

Fuck Modi & BJP Government in 2019 Election or They gonna Fuck Country...👿👿👿

[straycat19]

About time other countries started catching up with the U.S. on suppressing illegal activities on the internet.