The Indian government said Tuesday that new rules allowing it to access personal information available with Internet companies have inherent checks and balances against misuse.
The rules under section 43A of the Information Technology Act were enacted last month and reflect the government's perception that security threats to the country can be countered by better access to online information.
The country is, for example, locked in a dispute with Research In Motion, demanding access to e-mails and other communications on RIM's corporate service, called BlackBerry Enterprise Server.
Privacy groups and lawyers have described the rules as draconian and said they infringe Indians' fundamental rights. "These are arbitrary powers that are being given to government, without any checks and balances," said Pavan Duggal, a cyberlaw consultant and advocate in India's Supreme Court.
The rules place controls on the gathering and use of personal data by Internet companies, including requiring permission from the provider of information for sharing such data. But the rules cite the government as an exception in this regard.
The purpose of the rules is to protect sensitive personal data and information, and government agencies cannot be made an exception to this, Duggal said.
The government now holds that by limiting access to personal information to government agencies that are mandated under the law to collect such information, it has provided the required checks and balances against misuse, according to a statement issued by Ministry of Communications & Information Technology.
Besides sending a request in writing to companies, stating the purpose for seeking personal information, government agencies have to also give an undertaking that the information obtained will not be published or shared with any other person, the ministry added.
Police need a search warrant to enter a home, but in the digital world the government appears to be giving itself the power of entry and search without a warrant, Duggal said.
The government is not required to follow due process of law, and is only required to send a request for information in writing, Duggal said. There is no adjudication of the purpose for which the information is required and there is no competent authority or court to rule on the requirement, he added.
The new rules have also drawn criticism for conditions relating to content posted on websites and blogs.
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