Recently the proposal to establish national intelligence grid (NATGRID) in India was considered by Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) of India. However, the CCS was advised in advanced by techno-legal experts like Praveen Dalal regarding the possible political misuse and violation of civil liberties of the Indian citizens. As a result, the CCS withheld its nod and asked the Home Ministry to come back after further consultation with all stakeholders.In the past Praveen Dalal has suggested that NATGRID is an essential requirement for robust and effective intelligence agencies and law enforcement functions in India. The only requirement is to ensure that its abuses can be anticipated, prevented and remedied.
The Home Ministry of India would now start fresh discussions with various stakeholders to ensure that NATGRID may not be abused in future. The task is difficult and it would be beneficial to consult good techno-legal experts in this regard.
The most important aspect that must be kept in mind by the government of India is that it must reconcile the national security aspects of India with human rights protection in cyberspace. This is a difficult task especially in the absence of a dedicate privacy law and data protection law in India, says Praveen Dalal.
A “dedicated resource” in this regard has been launched by Perry4Law [http://perry4law.com/hr/index.html] in this regard that may be helpful for the Indian government while implementing projects like Crime and Criminal Tracking Network & Systems (CCTNS) Project (CCTNS Project), National Intelligence Grid (NATGRID), Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC) of India, E-Surveillance under the Information Technology Act 2000 (IT Act 2000) and other laws, etc.
SOURCE: MYNEWS
