Govt. mechanism to intercept phone calls, web data to be operational soon
The new mechanism will allow the government to remove possible loopholes in legal phone interception by the official agencies.
The government’s Central Monitoring System (CMS) meant to monitor phone calls and Internet data in the country is reportedly start functioning in a limited manner by April this year.
According to reports, the mechanism will help the authorities end all manual intervention during tapping exercises and also lessen the risk of leaking. It will also help reduce dependency on the telecom operators for phone interception.
The technical paraphernalia for the mechanism is expected to be announced by August 2013, but a pilot run will begin next month.
The government had decided to set up the Central Monitoring System after the much-talked about Niira Radia phone tapping case, which involved conversation of the political lobbyist Radia with journalists, politicians and corporate houses.
The CMS costs about Rs. 4 billion that will be connected with Telephone Call Interception System (TCIS) setup to monitor voice calls, SMS and MMS, GPRS, Fax Communications on landlines, CDMA, GSM and 3G networks, and video calls.
The mechanism’s man hub will be established in New Delhi and will have direct electronic provisioning of target telephone numbers by government agencies. Other than its main New Delhi base, the system will have four hi-tech regional hubs.
The agencies that will have access to this system include Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW), Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), National Investigation Agency (NIA), Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), Narcotics Control Bureau, and the Enforcement Directorate (ED).
“Once fully operational, all phone taps will be put on auto surveillance mode,” an official is quoted as saying. “Even the records will be destroyed automatically after a fixed period of time so that it may not be misused by compromising privacy of individuals.”
The government is already facing flak over BJP leader Arun Jaitley phone tapping case.
Source: Times of India