Indian Government In Talks With Interpol To Monitor Electronic Communications

While America is doing its bit to censor the internet with the SOPA law, India seems to be equally ambitious about monitoring electronic communications in the country. Though IT minister Kapil Sibal's breach that the government was planning to screen social media provoked an uproar, the Government has not relaxed its stand a bit. Instead, The Department Of Telecommunication is busy devising ways to get access to communication over Skype, BlackBerry and similar services.

India’s independent intelligence agency, the Research & Analysis Wing (R&AW) has already been granted untethered access to intercept electronic communications as they see fit, awarding  them the power granted to the likes of international spy agencies in other countries. This is the first time that R&AW's has been allowed to intrude the privacy of people since its establishment in 1967.

#-Link-Snipped-#

Sources report that the Department Of Telecommunication is asking for help from the Interpol to gain access to encrypted data. Members from the DoT are in talks with Ronald K Noble, Interpol Secretary-General, for providing technical support so as to successfully and regularly tap into Skype, BlackBerry etc. It seems like government needing Interpol's support is because they don't have the technical capabilities to decrypt secure communication or as an alternate move may have to work with R&AW to bypass RIM, Google, Microsoft.

Not far behind is the CBI, India’s Central Bureau of Investigation who apparently have reached an understanding with Interpol on working together against cyber crime. The partnership aims to avoid any bureaucratic disasters while dealing with other countries.

Seems like the Government is not backing down, so you might as well forget the privacy talk to hold. Welcome to 1984.

Source: #-Link-Snipped-# Image Credit: #-Link-Snipped-#