India Rolls Out Central Monitoring System To Snoop On All Communications 87
hypnosec tipped us to news that India is rolling out a new intrusive monitoring system, using the authority of a 2000 telecom law. Quoting The Times of India: "However, Pavan Duggal, a Supreme Court advocate specialising in cyberlaw, said the government has given itself unprecedented powers to monitor private Internet records of citizens. 'This system is capable of abuse,' he said. The Central Monitoring System, being set up by the Centre for Development of Telematics, plugs into telecom gear and gives central and state investigative agencies a single point of access to call records, text messages, and emails as well as the geographical location of individuals."
Privacy advocates are worried about abuse, partially because India has no effective privacy legislation, and the "...Indian government under PM Manmohan Singh has taken an increasingly uncompromising stance when it comes to online freedoms, with the stated aim usually to preserve social order and national security or fight 'harmful' defamation."
Stole our secrets (Score:5, Funny)
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We've always been at war with Eurasia.
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more specificly Air Strip One.
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Well at least... (Score:1)
Well at least India is open about spying on their own citizens.
Re:Well at least... (Score:5, Interesting)
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Re: Well at least... (Score:2)
India Rolls Out Monitoring To Snoop Communications (Score:3, Informative)
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U.S. Marshall ... does not believe in conspiracy theories. But is pissed at the direction this government is going.
The Bill of Rights. How quaintly old school. What nonsense did they teach about that back when he was in school?
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So do you mean India does officially what the US does unofficially [slashdot.org]?
No. The US government doesn't do that, the article you linked to is a bunch of bullshit fearmongering by people with no knowledge or insight into how the communications industry works.
Specifically, the US has the capability to sniff International communications only. When it comes to domestic communications, the only way they can get access is either to submit a warrant for a CALEA tap, which mirrors specific phone numbers over a trunk to a local LE facility, or submit a subpoena to have the Telco/ISP turn
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Re:This is necessary to defeat terrorists. (Score:4, Insightful)
Did you miss the bit where proper controls and judicial oversight aren't in place?
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Bah, details!
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"Is it legal"
"I will make it legal"
Legality is the cloak of tyranny. It always becomes legal, that which tyrants need to rule. And before some leftwing nut quotes this, I'll do it for you.“They’ll warn that tyranny is always lurking just around the corner. You should reject these voices.” -Says the man trying to remove the restraints against tyranny.
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call center employees
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As long as proper encrypted communication protocols and communications tools with source code available for peer review are in place, there really is no problem with this.
There, fixed that for ya'.
Comment removed (Score:5, Insightful)
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And the best part is people who still complain after relentless snooping becomes de rigueur just vanish from public discourse.
Isn't that great!
Re:as an american (Score:5, Insightful)
That is one of the most depressing things I've read in a while.
It's pretty accurate, but it's depressing as hell.
Ah, those primitives (Score:2, Insightful)
Ahahahaha, I love it when some shithole 3rd world insolvent country rolls out a new method to keep control of its teeming masses.
Maybe instead of trying to watch everyone all the time like a giant prison ward, they'd be more successful at preventing sedition by I dunno, maybe making their country a better place to live so people wouldn't be so angry all the time?
They could start by - instead of their parliament and grand poobah (or whatever they're both called) wasting their efforts on trivial political poi
Google (Score:3)
The government is inefficient, that's why, here in the US, we've privatized it!
Progress? (Score:4, Insightful)
Meanwhile 600 million Indians still have to schlep down to the nearest river or railway to take a dump in the morning because there aren't enough toilets for everyone. But I'm glad they've got their priorities straight.
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Because if the people clamoring for basic amenities like clean water are silenced, no one will know that they don't have clean water.
Repressive much? (Score:2)
The internet is an open resource and it should stay that way, just because you can find offensive content doesn't mean it should be blocked. What offends you won't always offend
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I know in actual fact that the US and Canada aren't much better for tracking communications but at least the governments don't come right out and say it.
I think it's better if they do come right out and say it. Then there is no doubt that the government is suppressing freedom of speech, instead of getting mired in endless debates about whether they are or it's just a conspiracy theory.
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So now all tech support calls are monitored? (Score:5, Insightful)
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So now every tech support call in the world is monitored by the indian government? If I defame their leaders while on the phone with Dell, will their be consequences?
"Hello, this is Steve at Dell 'Support' in not-Bangalore, I'm afraid that the replacement motherboard for your system has been accused of injuring religious feelings and offenses against public order. We will provide you with new tracking number when they are finished 'refurbishing' it in the basement of the interior ministry."
This is a priority? (Score:2)
Of all the things India needs to spend money on right now I'd put this near the bottom of the list.
Social Order (Score:2)
That's a buzzword from back in India's socialist days. I guess the free market, democracy talk is just all a bunch of bullshit.
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I just came here to say this sounds a lot like China's "Social Harmony."
Could be a good thing (Score:3)
Maybe we'll actually start to see implementation the end-to-end encryption that should have been there on everything from the beginning*.
*Admittedly, it wasn't really practical in the beginning but those days are long past
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I will respond to this obvious troll since there is an informational opportunity. I went for gratis Internet classes in 1996 (gopher, veronica, archie - remember them?). The cybercafes were in full force by 1998.
Cheapest unlimited & WiFi Internet access now is $5/month. Rural areas get cheaper rates. Smartphone Internet plans are at $4/month. In India, even a poor man on a bicycle can afford a mobile phone. I know people in huts who have 3 of them (no, they are not being spendy). Unlike US, there actual
Power and control (Score:1)
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Duuuude. I am assuming you are a Pakistani who still gets fed this propaganda, because nobody in India cares about Khalistan anymore. After that dark period of violence, the Sikhs have been well integrated. We cannot imagine India without them. Of all the states, they now have the most popular culture. Mine does not even register. We love everything about them. Get over it.
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I had a Sikh roommate for 3 years and many Sikh classmates at the university. They were about as religious as non-Sikhs (my roommate was more religious), respectful and never bothered women. I am sorry to hear that your experiences fared worse. Alcohol? My roommate did not want to be in the room if I used a bouillon sachet with chicken extract that I had to stop. Neither of us ever touched liquors (not for religious reasons in my case).
So what if some Sikh youths are not religious and are hedonistic. Is thi
Selling data to foreign secret services (Score:1)
IP and Outsourcing (Score:2)
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Why? There are tons of companies that already outsource products to China, and they don't seem to be worried about it. Proprietary information and trade secrets? Not anymore thanks to the plethora of hackers out there itching to get their fingers on it and give it to their bosses for a pat on the back. The only difference I see is that the Indian government is being forthright about their monitoring, while other countries throw up the "No we're not! You can't prove it!" excuse.
Placation 101, crosslisted as Dictatorship 101 (Score:1)
> with thestated aim usually to preserve social order
I do believe this is the reason dictators give.
>and national security
Hmmm. Maybe it's about memes to placate sufficient quantities of the masses.
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> with thestated aim usually to preserve social order
I do believe this is the reason dictators give.
While I am not convinced that central snooping is necessary for that, we have to admit that it may be a real challenge to keep social order in a country with multiple languages, religions and ethnic groups, and huge wealth differences. In fact I always admired that India managed to remain a democratic nation, given the challenges it faces.
And (Score:1)
99% Indians are living off the grid