Govt. ignored industry calls for phone surveillance safeguards, says RTI reply , Pg9

Key Highlights:

• The Union government did not include industry requests for increased accountability and judicial review in its phone and internet surveillance regulations.
• Lawful interception in India is authorized by senior government officials without judicial oversight.
• The Telecommunications (Procedures and Safeguards for Lawful Interception of Messages) Rules, 2024 were notified in December following the Telecommunications Act, 2023.
• Industry feedback on the draft rules, obtained via RTI, reveals that many proposed safeguards were not adopted.

Detailed Insights:

• The Telecommunications Act, 2023 replaced the previous Telegraph Act from the 19th century.
• Vodafone Idea Ltd (VIL) suggested clearly defining the geographical jurisdiction of authorized agencies issuing interception orders, which was not incorporated.
• Extreme Infocomm Ltd. and PRS Legislative proposed independent judicial or parliamentary review of interception orders, but this was also rejected.
• The lack of clarity regarding the authority of state-level officials to request intercepts from other states remains ambiguous.

Key Concepts Involved:

• Lawful Interception: The technical term for tapping phone and internet connections for calls and data.
• Right to Information (RTI) Act: Legislation that provides citizens access to government-held information.
• Telecommunications Act, 2023: The new parent law for telecommunications, replacing the Telegraph Act.