From time to time media has reported that
intelligence agencies around the world are using backdoor access to
computers, servers and telecom infrastructures. Special equipments
and arrangements have been made to grant intelligence agencies direct
access to various infrastructures so that they can indulge in
e-surveillance at will.
The Central
Monitoring System (CMS) Project of India and Internet
Spy System Network and Traffic Analysis System (NETRA) of India
are the Indian versions of this practice. This is possible as we have
no dedicated privacy
laws in India. There is also no need to get a court order or
warrant to tap telephone in India as it is purely an “executive
act”. This result in illegal phone tapping and e-surveillance
activities at mass scale in India that cannot be reported or
ascertained due to limitations placed under various Indian laws.
We need to repeal the laws like Information
Technology Act, 2000 (IT Act 2000), Indian
Telegraph Act, 1885, etc and come up with better laws so they
remain Constitutional. These laws have become an instrumentality to
violate Civil
Liberties in Cyberspace of Indian Citizens by both our
politicians and intelligence agencies of India. Further, there is an
urgent need to maintain a “balance”
between law enforcement requirements and civil liberties protection
in India.
In United States (U.S.), James Clapper had confirmed
that NSA has been targeting foreign citizens for surveillance. Radio
waves and Malware have also been used by NSA for world wide
e-surveillance. Malware like FinFisher
are increasingly being used for global electronic spying,
e-surveillance and eavesdropping. Further, GCHQ and NSA have
intercepted and stored webcam
images of millions of innocent Internet users.
While the White House has limited
options in this regard yet courts
in different States of U.S. have shown their sensitivity towards
e-surveillance and privacy
violation issues. In fact, U.S. government has been seeking
an order from FISA court for extended storage of telephone
metadata and call records.
Although this practice of intelligence agencies of
various nations was well known yet no company or individual came
forward for long to expose the same. Edward
Snowden came forward with the largest disclosures about illegal
e-surveillance by intelligence agencies around the world. Now
Vodafone has made some disclosures about the dark side of
e-surveillance by intelligence agencies.
Vodafone, one of the world’s largest mobile phone
groups, has revealed
the existence of secret wires that allow government agencies to
listen to all conversations on its networks, saying they are widely
used in some of the 29 countries in which it operates in Europe and
beyond. The company has broken its silence on government surveillance
in order to push back against the increasingly widespread use of
phone and broadband networks to spy on citizens, and will publish its
first Law Enforcement Disclosure Report on Friday. At 40,000 words,
it is the most comprehensive survey yet of how governments monitor
the conversations and whereabouts of their people. The company said
wires had been connected directly to its network and those of other
telecoms groups, allowing agencies to listen to or record live
conversations and, in certain cases, track the whereabouts of a
customer. Privacy campaigners said the revelations were a “nightmare
scenario” that confirmed their worst fears on the extent of
snooping.
Direct-access systems do not require warrants, and
companies have no information about the identity or the number of
customers targeted. Mass surveillance can happen on any telecoms
network without agencies having to justify their intrusion to the
companies involved. Industry sources say that in some cases, the
direct-access wire, or pipe, is essentially equipment in a locked
room in a network’s central data centre or in one of its local
exchanges or “switches”. Government agencies can also intercept
traffic on its way into a data centre, combing through conversations
before routing them on to the operator.
Vodafone’s group privacy officer, Stephen Deadman,
said: “These pipes exist, the direct access model exists. “We are
making a call to end direct access as a means of government agencies
obtaining people’s communication data. Without an official warrant,
there is no external visibility. If we receive a demand we can push
back against the agency. The fact that a government has to issue a
piece of paper is an important constraint on how powers are used”.
Source: Cyber
Law In India.
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