When it comes to surveillance, who will watch the watchman ?
Extract :
The
government is in a last mile huddle with security and intelligence agencies to
find ways to either exempt them from the Personal Data Protection Bill or put in place a
special dispensation to regulate their public scrutiny.
Some
of these agencies, sources said, have suggested a blanket exemption as in Section 24 of
the Right to Information Act
Some
others have pointed to the model followed in the IT Act under which 10 agencies
were recently designated as authorities empowered to intercept digital traffic through a laid out
approval process
Another
view being explored was to have an oversight mechanism to prevent misuse by intelligence
agencies.
The
proposed Personal Data Protection Bill requires entities to obtain consent of individuals before accessing their
personal data, which intelligence agencies argue is counterproductive to
their mandate of monitoring activity for security purposes
=========================================================
In my view, a
compromise solution is possible , which :
# Does NOT require those intelligence agencies to take
any PRIOR PERMISSION
of the
individual concerned
# At the same time, ensures that there is “ NO MISUSE “ by those
intelligence agencies
Here is how :
In my proposed portal ( www.IndiaDataCustodian.gov.in ), provide following sections :
{ for understanding the working of this proposed portal , read :
Only Answer : a Statutory Warning [
10 Nov 2018 ] }
# SURVEILLANCE REQUEST
SECTION
Any agency wanting to conduct
surveillance of online / offline activities of an Indian
Citizen , shall submit its’ requirement in this section
This shall contain details such as :
·
Name
of the agency
·
What activity
of the citizen is proposed to be
surveyed and for how
long
[ Multiple selection from the following ] :
# Visits and postings on Social Media web sites
# Visits and searches on E Commerce web sites
# Searches on Search Engines / All digital traffic (
including thru Alexa / Google
Home type devices )
# Messages sent / received
on Messaging Apps /
E Mail services
# Records of Digital Payment
Transactions on Banking
/ FinTech Network
# Audio logs from Landline
and Mobile Service Providers for telephonic talks…etc
Agency will also
need to specify the PURPOSE of the proposed surveillance , by selecting one or more of
the following suspected reasons ( list is not comprehensive ) :
·
Tax
Evasion / Money Laundering
·
Criminal Activity
/ Militancy
·
Fraud /
Breach of Trust
·
Anti-National
Activity / Sedition
/ Treason
·
Fake
News / Pornographic content posting
·
Speeches / articles likely
to create enmity among people
Such a request shall need Online Authorization of , all of the following officers :
# Chief of Agency concerned
# Secretary ( Cyber Security ) – Ministry of
Information Technology
# Data Protection Regulator
As soon as such a request is “ Approved / Authorised “ , an email
ALERT will go out automatically ( without any human intervention ) to the
citizen concerned that she is “ under surveillance “ .
This will ensure that there is NO SECRET surveillance !
Copies of this E Mail ALERT will also get sent to all other
Intelligence Agencies for a coordinated effort and for avoiding duplication
# SURVEILLANCE HISTORY
SECTION
At
any time of his choice , concerned citizen can login at this section and see WHICH
Agency surveyed her and for how long
#
But the citizen concerned will NOT be able to see following entries by the Agency
:
# What
was the PURPOSE / REASON for the
surveillance
# WHAT DATA got
collected
# FINDINGS
and proposed COURSE of ACTION ,
if any
This
part will be visible to all other Intelligence Agencies , who will have
facility to add
their own information / data about the concerned citizen which is in their
possession , in order to compile a COMPREHENSIVE DOSSIER about that citizen .
However,
these other Agencies will NOT be able to EDIT any ENTRIES / FINDINGS of any other agencies
Although these
ENTRIES are NOT accessible to the concerned citizen in a normal course , the same shall be made available to
her in case any government agency relies upon these during a Court Case against
that citizen , arising from such surveillance
My proposal,
# Gives a free hand to the Agencies to proceed with their
investigations, without needing
PRIOR PERMISSION,
And
# Ensure total TRANSPARENCY of their surveillance activities to the
persons being
investigated
This will assure the ordinary citizens (– and also “ vulnerable
“ citizens such as politicians belonging to opposition parties ? )– that they
are not being snooped upon secretly !
=========================================================
Dear
Shri Ravi Shankar Prasadji,
I urge you to incorporate my suggestion in the proposed
DATA PROTECTION
BILL , to ensure that it meets with the full support of all the
parties
Another, benefit of my suggestion is that the Political
Leaders belonging to all parties , will rush to be the very first to REGISTER
on ,
This will set an example to the remaining 500 million
Indians who use Social Media regularly
=================================================
13 Jan 2019
Rsvp :
hcp@RecruitGuru.com
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