The Ministry of Home Affairs for the first time gave sweeping powers to 10 central agencies to snoop on any computer. It would practically entail interception and monitoring of data transmitted, received or stored, not just emails or calls. This move may give many people jittery feelings though, and turn India into some kind of a “Surveillance State”.
These central agencies include 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 (RAW), Directorate of Signal Intelligence (for service areas of Jammu & Kashmir, North-East and Assam only), and Commissioner of Police Delhi.
Apparently, the Home Ministry thinks this is the right thing to do, at a time when certain ex-Russian spies are claiming that uncontrolled social media is the reason that the United States is losing, with reference to two new reports about Russia’s efforts to influence the 2016 presidential election.
The government has shown that it has the wherewithal to act swiftly whenever it deems necessary even if it means sacrificing on people’s right to privacy or bestowing astounding powers on its agencies, as reflected in this particular order that was issued under Section 69(1) of the Information Technology Act, 2000. As per the new orders, the central government can now direct any of these 10 agencies to intercept and monitor information in the “interest of the sovereignty or integrity of India, defence of India, security of the state, friendly relations with foreign states or public order or for preventing incitement to the commission of any cognizable offence relating to above or for investigation of any offence” . It is another matter though that it greatly enhances the probabilities of power misuse.
The right of an individual to privacy visibly pales in the face of national security or interest of the nation. China is a glaring example in support of this idea. The recent episode of “how Google took on China – and lost” is a testimony to this. However, equating India with China might not suffice as the latter’s idea of progress contrasts with other countries’ including India’s despite increasingly vocal demands for less state control.
Meanwhile, the United States has, because it’s an approach to dealing with freedom of the internet and security is one of striking a balance, seemingly landed itself in a vulnerable state of affairs, in particular, considering how social media networks offer a fertile terrain to spread propaganda. The US could also be tempted to curb the free-for-all nature of the internet or clamp down on online communication and access. The all-important barrier, however, is that this approach goes against US values. Especially, in the wake of reports of Russia meddling in US 2016 presidential election, positive steps on this front can be said to be forthcoming. Even now US authorities have taken control of specific internet domains and filed charges against defendants who ran those platforms and it goes on to say that they have robust mechanisms to deal with cyber crimes.
While the intent is important, the approach is critical here. Evidently, India still does not have holistic data protection policies in place given the fact that over 22,000 Indian websites, including 114 government portals were hacked between April 2017 and January 2018. Hence, this move of the Ministry of Home Affairs does not really inspire confidence as these central agencies with powers to snoop on people’s private data too are prone to hacking. While the priority must be to protect people’s privacy and freedom, there has to be a way to first provide credible fear determinations before prying into people’s privacy in the interest of the nation or for the sake of national security.