Dear Shri Gaurav Mitraji,
( Vice President – IAMAI / gaurav@iamai.in ) :
Whereas
IAMAI request to the Central
Government, is absolutely fair and justified, it would help the concerned
Government Officers ( in charge of framing / drafting revised SOP ), to quickly
announce the SOP, if IAMAI request were to be SHARP and SPECIFIC , as outlined
below
As
far as the importance of SPECIFICS is concerned, no one is better aware than our
new IT Minister, Shri Ashwini Vaishnawji (av.odisha@sansad.nic.in )
with
regards,
hemen
parekh /
hcp@RecruitGuru.com / 22 July 2021
==================================================
Context :
Govt likely to issue clarifications on India IT
rules, officials say / Eco
Times /
22 July 2021
My Take :
Some 30 MONTHS ago, I had suggested some SOP ( Standard Operating Procedure ) in this regard. Following is a comparison
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Topic |
My Suggestion as per : Who watches the Watchmen ?
[ 12 Jan 2019 ]
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As reported in above news report of Eco Times ( 22 July 21 ) |
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Portal |
In my
proposed portal ( www.IndiaDataCustodian.gov.in ), provide
following sections : # SURVEILLANCE REQUEST SECTION # SURVEILLANCE HISTORY SECTION |
The Social Media and tech industry has requested the Government to
institute a CENTRAL PORTAL or establish, a COMMON E-MAIL ADDRESS, through which official requests
for content takedown, or FURTHER
INFORMATION can be sent |
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Compromise
Solution |
# 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 |
SOPs are to help industry comply with the IT
rules, will not change key provisions Will define PROCEDURE for Law Enforcement Agencies to, # Get access to Information OR, # Ask for content takedown from Social Media platforms |
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Submission of Request in 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 |
The Standard Operating Procedure ( SOP ) being discussed will provide: # Details on the procedure to issue notices # WHO can issue ( notices ) and HOW ( it ) will be implemented The SOP will explain the PROCEDURE to be followed for getting information or
cooperation from the INTERMEDIARY Technology executives have decried the lack of a FORMAL PROCEDURE in place for Law Agencies to send Takedown Requests |
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Reason
for the proposed surveillance |
Requester to select 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 |
In a representation to the government in April, the Internet and Mobile Association of India ( IAMAI ) said : “ We recommend that State Governments should NOT be able to compel
content takedowns, and similar
compliance obligations under the IT Act This power should rest solely with the CENTRAL GOVERNMENT as
contemplated in the IT Act “ |
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Online Authorization |
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 |
IAMAI – whose
members include large technology corporations and social intermediary
platforms – had also requested, # a detailed SOP
to be published , and # to be adopted by Law Enforcement Agencies It had sought ; # the definition of OPERATIONAL PROCESSES # the various POINTS of CONTACTS # the expectation from the social media intermediaries in terms of responses “ Until such time a SOP is in place, any operational changes by the
intermediaries, may not be possible “ , it had noted |
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Alerting Person being surveyed |
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 |
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Rights of person being surveyed |
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 |
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If a court-case gets filed by the Govt against the person surveyed,
his “ right to access evidence “ |
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 |
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Advantages of 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 ! |
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