NEW DELHI: India has authorised 10 federal government agencies to intercept and monitor information from any computer, a move opposition parties said on Friday risked creating a “surveillance state”.
According to Ministry of Home Affairs, all the computers will now come under the monitoring of a few agencies directed by the ministry in India.
However, the notification merely lists powers already available to the authorities in the Information Technology Act, 2000.
The order was released by the Home Ministry on Thursday and on Friday opposition parties opposed to the order saying it is unconstitutional and against fundamental rights.
The Congress, the CPI(M), the Samajwadi Party, the Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Trinamool Congress spoke out against the order, which they said was issued on Thursday.
Former Union Home Minister P Chidambaram said the order would destroy the structure of a free society. Congress leader Anand Sharma said the order was against the right to privacy, which was a fundamental right.
The Act provides a jail term of seven years for anyone who refuses to cooperate with the agencies.The notification does not mean that the agencies can take over computers without basis.
A separate authorisation by the competent authority, in this case the Union Home Ministry, may be essential for any attempt to access a computer in a particular case.
The agencies performing the task of surveillance will be:
- The 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)
- Commissioner of Police, Delhi.
The agencies will be taking up the task of monitoring, intercepting and decrypting data(generated, transmitted, received) stored in the computers.
