SC asks govt to respond on recent orders that allow personal computer surveillance

The Supreme Court on Monday asked the government to respond in six weeks on pleas challenging a recent home ministry order that allowed some agencies to monitor personal computers of citizens. Last month, the home ministry had issued an order authorising 10 federal government agencies to intercept and monitor information from any computer, a move opposition parties said would risk creating a “surveillance state”. MHA: Competent authority hereby authorizes the following security and intelligence agencies for purposes of interception, monitoring and decryption of any information generated, transmitted, received or stored in any computer resource under the said act pic.twitter.com/3oH9e7vv6T — ANI December 21, 2018 According to the order, the person who the computer belongs to will have to provide access and technical assistance to the aforementioned agencies. The agencies that have been granted the permission are — The Intelligence Bureau, Narcotics Control Bureau, National Investigation Agency, Enforcement Directorate, Central Board of Direct Taxes, Directorate of Revenue Intelligence, Central Bureau of Investigation.