FW: STATE SURVEILLANCE ? OPPOSITION PARTIES TOO WILL LOVE THIS COMPROMISE

From: Hemen Parekh [mailto:hcp@recruitguru.com]
Sent: Sunday, January 13, 2019 11:33 AM
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Subject: STATE SURVEILLANCE ? OPPOSITION PARTIES TOO WILL LOVE THIS COMPROMISE

Government has a very delicate job of balancing the opposing requirements of :

# Surveillance of Citizens for National Security ( Internal + External )

# Protecting citizen Privacy

# Transparency in the operations of its Intelligence Agencies

# Avoidance of Arbitrariness in the Executive decisions in such matters

Neither the proposed DATA PROTECTION LAW , nor the recent amendments to the IT Act , are able to guarantee this balancing

- Which , my following suggestion does

Who watches the Watchmen  ?

When it comes to surveillance, who will watch the watchman ?

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/government-exploring-ways-to-exempt-security-agencies-from-data-protection-bill/articleshow/67413173.cms 

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 ,

www.IndiaDataCustodian.gov.in

This will set an example to the remaining 500 million Indians who use Social Media regularly

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13  Jan  2019

Rsvp :  hcp@RecruitGuru.com