With various types of state-of-the-art communication systems and gadgets pouring into the market, the government is flexing its muscle to monitor them in the "interest" of national security. Besides telephonic conversation, tapping - or interception in bureaucratese - extends to monitoring of email, chat and other online activities.
In India, telephone tapping is allowed under the general provisions of Section 5 of the Indian Telegraphic Act and can be done only in the interest of public safety. Nine different government agencies including Intelligence Bureau, Enforcement Directorate, State Police, CBI, Directorate of Revenue Intelligence, Central Economic Intelligence Bureau and Narcotics Control Bureau are involved in tapping.
A request for interception can come from any of these agencies. The state police is said to be the most prolific user of the interception machinery, though others do not seem to be way behind. The request to tap lobbyist Nira Radia's phone, which eventually led to the recording of her conversation with IT and Communications minister A Raja, came from the Income Tax department.
Interceptions are subject to clear government guidelines. Requests have to be usually approved by union or state home secretary. But during emergencies an officer of the rank of Inspector General of Police can request interception for seven days, which can be extended up to 60 days if approved by the Home Secretary. Suspects can be intercepted for a maximum period of six months.
The licensing agreement enables security agencies to intercept communications carried out through various telecom operators. Telephones are intercepted to check various activities such as tax evasion, corruption, anti-national conspiracies, lobbying, money laundering and drug trafficking.
While all operators are said to be fully cooperating with the government, Research in Motion (RIM), the makers of popular BlackBerry phones, is yet to give authorities access to all of its services. The latest government deadline to RIM to provide access expires by end of January, 2011.
However, RIM, which has got two reprieves since August 2010 is not willing to compromise on the privacy of its encrypted service. Last Thursday RIM said unscrambling encrypted email on its devices is simply not ''technologically feasible.''
It also said India's demand for installing servers in the country is meaningless as all data remain encrypted at all times through all points of transfer between the BlackBerry enterprise server and client smart phones. In contrast to RIM, Nokia, which offers push-mail service in India, has already agreed to set up a server in India.
New law in the offing
The government is exploring ways to strengthen its legal claim to intercept. The Department of Telecom (DOT) is planning a new law, on the lines of America's Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA), to make it mandatory for all telecom operators to give access to all of their services. The new law is expected to come up before Parliament in 2011.
At present, the government taps around 6,000 cell phones and land lines all over India, including those operated by private telecom companies. Government officials expect a steep rise in the number of intercepted phones. Sources say DOT wants to intercept around one per cent of the total phones in the country. At present, India has 742 million phone connections of which 706 million are mobile handsets.
After the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, the government has increasingly felt the need to step up monitoring of online activities. The terrorists, who attacked Mumbai, are said to have used Skype. The Home Ministry has found that the data travelling through Google, Skype, VPN and few other networks is not accessible to security agencies. Hence, the government wants these service providers to set up their servers in India and provide access to encrypted data.
Many have expressed concern that tapping invades privacy and is prone to misuse. Civil rights advocates say the present authorisation procedures make interceptions an internal affair of bureaucracy. As interceptions are carried out outside judicial or any other independent supervision, they are prone to abuse by rogue cops, they say.
But Home Secretary G K Pillai has made it clear that there is no going back on surveillance as nation's security demands it. "People who operate communication services in India should set up servers here and provide access to whatever communication that passes through the telecommunication network in India," he has said.
The Centre is also upgrading the interception machinery by spending Rs 850 crore to set up a centralised phone and data monitoring centre. The centre would ensure better co-ordination between various agencies authorised to tap phones.
All small towns and cities across the country would be connected to their state capital. All state capitals in turn would be connected to the centralised monitoring centre in Delhi.
If IB sleuths want to tap a phone in Hoskote near Bangalore, they would soon be able to do it, sitting in Delhi.
No surveillance, no security
The technology behind tapping