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India To Intercept, Monitor, and Decrypt Citizens' Computers (venturebeat.com)
Several readers have shared a report: 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.
Explaining the rationale behind the order, India's IT minister, Ravi Shankar Prasad, said that 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."
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," it said. "To us this order is unconstitutional and in breach of the telephone tapping guidelines, the Privacy Judgement and the Aadhaar Judgement," it asserted.
Explaining the rationale behind the order, India's IT minister, Ravi Shankar Prasad, said that 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."
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," it said. "To us this order is unconstitutional and in breach of the telephone tapping guidelines, the Privacy Judgement and the Aadhaar Judgement," it asserted.
Considering how many Microsoft tech support centers they have in India.
sounds like we need a renaissance in stegography. Nope not encrypted, nope no data there,
This is standard practice now. Its amazing that people once thought it was wrong that Stasi collected information about the citizens social interactions.
IANAL, but is the burden of proof on the government to prove the existence of a:
"competent authority" /s
On the other hand, a "secure", cloud based backup/restore service that leaves no trace on a "rental" laptop except the latest blank OS, would seem to be a great investment opportunity.
... don't mind our overlords showing their true colours.
Go on, show the world you utterly hate and fear your own citizenry and will stoop to any depth at all to fuck over your own citizens. A biometric card to track everyone and snoop in everyone's data for no reason? Why yes, mister wallet inspector, do show us what you're made of.
what the what now?
basically, this is a case of "do you own a 'computer'?, if so then we open up and read anything in what we deem to be a 'computer' any time we like"
I'm going back to floppy disks. or I would. except anything unreadable or not formatted to 1.44meg could be construed as "encrypted", and therefore if I don't hand over the "decryption keys" to a corrupt floppy disk, it's tantamount to 7 years jail time.
good job guys. shall we all start carrying round a little tube of anal lube as part of being a trusted citizen?
maybe do something useful with it like finding those scam call centres?
Comment removed based on user account deletion
Yesterday, we learned that China will be publicly shaming j-walkers using facial recognition. NPR asked if this was the beginning of an era where no transgression against the law would go unnoticed and unpunished. Now we see a country with a huge citizenry demanding access to (effectively) all personal information without protection of privacy. This is one of today's announcements in an unending chain of events ratcheting up tyranny around the globe.
.. a forced way to think, with tools to root out all transgressions to the prescribed ways, as this policy in India does - I am fearful for the future of liberty, and even just democracy.
What made, and to the extent we still have it, Makes America Great, is and always has been a promise of true liberty and freedom, however well fulfilled, to be your own person, to think your own private thoughts, to fulfill your own dreams, to seek happiness. This dream brings people to our nation who are beaten on suspicion of thinking thoughts deemed improper. When America champions this idea around the world, it gives ALL people (who can hear it) hope that one day they will live in a place that allows them to express themselves personally as they really are.
Every time I read about technology enabling oppression, suppression, tyranny, and conformity
We should be looking at these actions as examples of what NOT to do.. and yet they are increasingly harbingers of what our leadership WILL do here in America. We watch what happens abroad with horror, and then watch while people embrace and defend these horrors at home. I am baffled.
Troll On! my people.
Well, Australia already had this terrible idea and turned it into law. Why not do it everywhere and citizens privacy be damned, globally.
The network is so bad, it is easier to transfer a file by mailing the computer.
It's just saying if an agency has a warrant then they can search your computer or intercept it's communications and you will need to provide a means for them to search it, punishable by law. It's about the same as in the US give or take. The change he is making is it's now requiring a warrant and codifying the penanty for non compliance. Previously this was all being done ad hoc. Now it's regulated and law.
Some drink at the fountain of knowledge. Others just gargle.
Blaming all the problems of the world on one segment of the population based on race, gender, sexual orientation, culture, etc, is a teltale sign of a simple and weak mind. Such minds simply cannot comprehend the complexity of the world we live in. They want the world to be simple enough to understand it, so they are hell-bent on making it simple.
But it's not. OK ? It's not. The world is what it is, not what you want it to be.
Would-be tyrants love simpletons though. Simpletons are easily scared by things that a simple mind can identify immediately: Race, religion, culture, etc.
And scared people are easy to control, because they will believe anything that will aleviate their fears.