National Intelligence Grid (Natgrid) Project Of India

National Intelligence Grid (NATGRID) Project of India is one of the most ambitious Intelligence Gathering Project of India. It has been launched at a time when the Intelligence Infrastructure of India is in a bad shape.

The recent decision of a Government Panel rejecting the proposal to ban Encryption Service Providers like Blackberry, Gmail, Skype, etc has further made the task of Intelligence Agencies of India more tedious. Since the E-Surveillance option has gone now they have to acquire Techno Legal Intelligence Gathering Skills to deal with sophisticated and encrypted communications.

Meanwhile, the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) has also given only “Partial In Principle Approval” to NATGRID Project. Since NATGRID Project is not supported by any Legal Framework and Parliamentary Oversight, the “Crucial Stages” of NATGRID Project has not yet been approved by the CCS. Thus, NATGRID Project of India is still in troubled waters as lack of Privacy Laws and Data Protection Laws has put it in doldrums.

Meanwhile similar Security and E-Surveillance Projects have also been launched by Indian Government. These include Projects like Central Monitoring System of India (CMS), Centre for Communication Security Research and Monitoring (CCSRM), Aadhar Project of India, Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems (CCTNS), National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC), etc. Once again, all these Projects are without any Legal Framework and Parliamentary Oversight.

To make the matter worst, the Law Enforcement Agencies and Intelligence Agencies of India are also practically not governed by any Legal Framework and Parliamentary Oversight. Whether it is Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) or Intelligence Agencies of India, none of them are presently “Accountable” to Parliament of India.

It is only now that the Draft Central Bureau Of Investigation Act, 2010 and the Intelligence Services (Powers and Regulation) Bill, 2011 have been proposed. They have still to be made “Applicable Laws” in India by Parliament of India. In other words, there is no Legal Framework and Parliamentary Oversight for our Law Enforcement Agencies and Intelligence Agencies as on the date.

In this background, we have to “Proceed With” Projects like NATGRID, CCTNS, CMS, CCSRM, Aadhar Project of India, etc. As far as NATGRID Project is concerned, it is still not within the limits of “Constitutionality”.

NATGRID Project is an essential requirement for robust and effective Intelligence Agencies and Law Enforcement functions in India. The urgent requirement is to ensure that its “Abuses” can be anticipated, prevented and remedied. Further, Natgrid Project of India must also be supported by a Legal Framework and Parliamentary Oversight.

The aim of NATGRID is to ensure a readily available and real time information sharing platform between Intelligence Agencies, Law Enforcement Agencies, etc of India. Information gathering and its timely distribution is also an essential part of Cyber Crisis Management Plan of India. While the NATGRID system is a must for India, yet India has to make it sure that it is not abused for “Political Purposes” and in a manner that goes against the provisions of the Constitution of India.

The scope for misuse is tremendous as NATGRID is planning to link 21 categories of databases maintained by different public and private agencies for ready access by the country’s Intelligence Agencies. There must be “Mechanism” to ensure that this wonderful system may not be abused and nothing is better than Parliamentary Oversight.

Right To Privacy In India In Pipeline

Privacy law in India is the need of the hour. This is more so where privacy rights in India are frequently violated through various e-surveillance projects of Indian government. India has no dedicated privacy law. The Supreme Court of India interpreted it by expanding the scope of Article 21 of the Constitution.

Meanwhile, Indian government launched projects like Aadhar, National Intelligence Grid (NATGRID), Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems (CCTNS), National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC), Central Monitoring System (CMS), Centre for Communication Security Research and Monitoring (CCSRM), etc. None of them are governed by any Legal Framework and none of them are under Parliamentary Scrutiny.

These projects have also raised serious privacy violations issues as well that have still not been redressed by Indian government.

Realising that this may cause problems in future, the Law Ministry of India is working on a proposal to make right to privacy a fundamental right in the Indian Constitution. This is the right approach as without privacy safeguards all the recently launched projects of Indian government are “unconstitutional”.

We are working on making right to privacy a fundamental right. It is likely to be tabled in the monsoon session of Parliament. However, it's difficult to commit the timeframe, law minister Veerappa Moily said.

The right to privacy would include the right to confidentiality of communication, confidentiality of private or family life, protection of his honour and good name, protection from search, detention or exposure of lawful communication between individuals, privacy from surveillance, confidentiality of banking, financial, medical and legal information, protection from identity theft of various kinds, protection of use of a person's photographs, fingerprints, DNA samples and other samples taken at police stations and other places and protection of data relating to individual.

Many of these are already observed at a practical level. For example, it's a part of professional ethics of a lawyer or a doctor not to reveal details about clients or patients. The same applies for the banking sector. Apart from strengthening norms for interception of communication, the proposed Act will guarantee an individual's right to privacy. It's similar in the way the Constitution guarantees existing fundamental rights like right to equality, right to freedom of expression etc," explained a senior law ministry official.

The proposed legislation must be enacted keeping in mind the techno legal aspects. Technology would create serious challenges before Indian government and necessary provisions must be incorporated to deal with the same in future.

Call Data Records Storage Policy Of India

India is not very good at law making. This is more so regarding technology related laws. For instance, consider the cyber law of India incorporated in the information technology act 2000 (IT Act 2000). IT Act 2000 is a classical example of bad drafting that has created more problems than solutions. This is the reason why experts have been suggesting that it should be repealed.

Similarly, we have no lawful interception law in India. Even phone tapping in India is not done in a constitutional manner and illegal phone tapping in India is under scrutiny. There is no e-surveillance policy in India. India does not bother to maintain a balance between national security and fundamental rights of Indians.

India has launched projects like Aadhar, National Intelligence Grid (NATGRID), Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems (CCTNS), National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC), Central Monitoring System (CMS), Centre for Communication Security Research and Monitoring (CCSRM), etc. None of them are governed by any Legal Framework and none of them are under Parliamentary Scrutiny.

In this background, the news that Intelligence Bureau (IB) wants all mobile phone companies to store call data records, or details of all phone calls made by their customers, for a period of five years is really surprising. Indian law enforcement agencies and intelligence agencies are practically governed by no law. In fact, intelligence infrastructure of India is in big mess and India is not at all ready for projects like CCTNS, Natgrid, NCTC, etc.

It is no surprise that the central bureau of India (CBI) is also not governed by any law and it is operating in India without any law. It is only now that the central bureau of investigation act 2010 was drafted. Till now it is a mere draft and has not become an enforceable law. Even the constitutional validity of the national investigation agency act 2008 is doubtful. The recent circulation of the draft Intelligence Services (Powers and Regulations) Bill, 2011 (Draft Intelligence Bill 2011) in the Lok Sabha shows how our Parliament of India took the matter very casually.

We must start formulating the call data storage policy of India as soon as possible. The one suggested by IB is neither feasible nor desirable. Issues like increased costs to operators, privacy safeguards, legal framework requirements, etc cannot be ignored the way they have been ignored so far. Presently, an inter-ministerial group is looking into monitoring of both internet services and networks in the country. This matter may also be refereed to the same. However, in all probability, this demand would be refused.