Rights group flays India’s net, phone-tapping system

International independent watchdog Human Rights Watch today described India's centralised phone and internet tapping system, the parliament-approved Central Monitoring System, as ''chilling'', saying it could well be used irresponsibly.

India should enact clear laws to ensure that increased surveillance of phones and the internet did not undermine rights to privacy and free expression, the international human rights body said.

''The centralised monitoring is chilling, given its (the government's) reckless and irresponsible use of the sedition and internet laws,'' said Cynthia Wong, the senior internet researcher at HRW.

The Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government introduced the CMS bill in parliament in 2012, and the system began to be rolled out in April this year. It would provide government agencies centralised access to the telecommunications network and facilitate direct monitoring of phone calls, text messages, and internet use, bypassing service providers.

While India claims that CMS will be a secure system, HRW says the government has released very little information about what agencies will have access to the system, who will authorise surveillance, and what legal standards must be met to intercept various kinds of data or communications.

''Surveillance tools are often used by governments and bureaucrats for political reasons instead of security purposes, and often in a covert way that violates human rights,'' Wong said.

The NGO also said that India has a poor record of protecting free expression on the internet. Section 66A of the Information Technology A– has been used repeatedly to arrest critics of the government – in recent times, most notoriously in West Bengal and Maharashtra.

Indian activists too have raised concerns that the CMS will inhibit them from expressing their opinions and sharing information.