New telecom security policy seeks to protect privacy

New Delhi: India is working on a policy on telecom security that seeks to walk the fine line between an individual’s privacy, the needs of law enforcers, and the concerns of telecom equipment makers and service providers.

The first draft of the national telecom security policy says the government will enact laws to enable enforcement and security agencies to get legal access to information on a real-time basis. Mint has seen a copy of the draft.

At the same time, the systems, processes and regulations should ensure “that privacy of individual is not transgressed without valid reasons provided in the law and development needs of the country are not hampered”, says the draft, which has been circulated to various ministers for comments.

A policy on telecom security needs to be reasonable and have adequate checks and balances in place, according to Aditya Sondhi, a lawyer who has filed a petition in the Karnataka high court questioning the extra-constitutional status of the Intelligence Bureau, and seeking a legal regime to govern and regulate it.

“Firstly, the policy itself is a draft and is yet to receive approval of the government of India. In any case, it contemplates the enactment of appropriate laws for the purpose of surveillance,” Sondhi said. “Once such laws are enacted, the laws would need to pass the test of reasonableness and also contain sufficient checks and balances so that any such information is obtained only in specific cases of national interest, and that there is no undue violation of the privacy of the citizens.”

Privacy and security concerns over voice and data carried on telecom networks have received increased attention in India in recent years.

The government has had differences with Blackberry phone maker Research In Motion Ltd over the encrypted message and email services the firm provides to customers.

The government, fearing that such encrypted services can be used to plan and execute terrorist strikes, threatened to ban the providers of such services if they failed to accommodate the legitimate demands of law enforcement agencies. The government was planning to have rules for encryption data access, Mint had reported on 12 January.

It now seems to have softened its stand. “If a technical solution exists for a problem, it should generally get precedence over regulatory framework,” the draft policy says.

Concerns over privacy also came under the spotlight when tapped telephone conversations between corporate lobbyist Niira Radia, politicians, executives and journalists were leaked.

The government had also started drafting a telecom security policy after the home ministry and the Prime Minister’s Office in 2010 expressed concerns over the import of telecom equipment from China. The government feared that equipment from China might have embedded spyware that could send back sensitive information to the source.

India largely depends on other countries for telecom equipment.

Demand for telecom equipment in India is expected to be worth $70-100 billion in 2015, according to a 2011 report by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry and consultancy firm Ernst and Young.

The market for wireless infrastructure equipment is estimated to be $8-10 billion and equipment worth ₹ 190 billion were imported in 2009, it said.

The latest policy draft says that without the involvement of the private sector, which serves to more than 80% of the people, it is difficult to secure network data and information. “Private players will be involved fully, unless there is an element which cannot be shared with them,” it says.

India has the second largest telecom network in the world and ranks only after China in the total number of phones.

The draft put the onus on enterprises to secure their networks.

“It seems that the draft policy has covered all aspects and tried to balance everything. But it is to be seen how the final version of the policy is implemented,” said Jaideep Ghosh, a partner with consultancy firm KPMG. “While the national telecom policy is directionally appropriate in many ways, specific issues such as spectrum availability, (and the) suggested base price for auction are leading to a challenging situation for the industry.”

sahil.m@livemint.com