In a breather to the likes of BlackBerry makers and 3G operators, the Department of Telecom has taken a view that the onus of intercepting data transmitted through telecom networks and devices should be on security agencies and not on the service provider.
At a recently held meeting headed by Advisor (Technology), DoT, a view emerged that the solution to deal with encrypted data was to build the capabilities of the security agencies to intercept communication through telecom networks with minimal involvement of the operators, according to an internal DoT note. “It was discussed that even by locating servers in India, the problem will not be resolved because the users can still create their accounts through the servers located abroad. The ultimate solution to deal with the problem of intercepting the encrypted communication which uses Internet is that the security agencies build their capabilities of decrypting the intercepted communication,” the note said. And if the security agencies cannot do so on their own then the Ministry of Home affairs should take a decision to either ban the service or live with it, the note said.
“The committee members concluded that the telecom service providers cannot provide much help in decrypting the message. In fact, the service providers are not supposed to introduce any encryption on their own and are not supposed to know the content of the message,” it added.
Backdrop
This comes even as the Ministry of Home Affairs has been insisting that telecom operators, vendors and device makers be held responsible for allowing security agencies to snoop into data flowing through communication networks.
For example, the security agencies have been asking Research In Motion (RIM), the maker of BlackBerry devices to either give decryption codes to corporate emails or set up a server so that law enforcing agencies can intercept data emanating from any user.
RIM has been saying that the security agencies can get access to data from servers installed by the various corporates.
The Home Ministry has also asked 3G operators to give access to video calls on their networks.
“It was discussed that in most countries the decryption is done by the security agencies themselves and the responsibility of the telecom service providers is to provide the feedback,” the note said.
The DoT will take a final decision on the matter after a technical committee under Deputy Director General (Telecom Engineering Centre) submits its report after comprehensively looking into all types of services which uses high encryption.