New Delhi, 4 December 2010

Phone-Tapping Storm

HELLO, WHAT & WHOSE PRIVACY?

By Poonam I Kaushish

Making a mountain out of a molehill? Or a molehill out of a mountain? Two questions which continue to exercise India and have paralyzed the winter session of Parliament over the last month. All over the scandalous loot of Rs 1,76000 crore in the 2G spectrum scam along-with the infamous lobbyist Nira Radia tapes encompassing industrialists, media, netagan, babudom et al. Notwithstanding, the protagonists crying foul, either which way one looks at it, indeed there is something rotten in the State of Denmark!

How else should one look at the tapes which only corroborate the CAG findings over the loot of public money in the telecom scandal. That gives us a peep into the murky world of sleazy deals, sordid arrangements and media muscle. There are no rules of the game. Morality and ethics no longer matter. Everything is ‘fair’ in a political war. Having crossed the limits of all maryada, why beat around the bush! Haramzadigi, if I say so, is the new name of the game.

Notwithstanding, a red-faced hurting Tata moved the Supreme Court contending that the leakage of the tapes have infringed upon his Fundamental Right to Life and sought direction for fixing the responsibility for the alleged leakage of the tapes.

True, in a narrow political sense, Tata can take umbrage that it invades his privacy and his Fundamental right to freedom of speech, enshrined in the Constitution. But the issue goes far beyond this. Does India’s numero uno industrialist have a leg to stand on? Why is Tata silent on the unexplained advances of Rs.1800 crores to a real estate firm which was one of the beneficiaries of Raja’s largesse? What about the letter of appreciation he wrote to Raja? What does he have to say about the Opposition demand for a Joint Parliamentary Committee to go into the bottom of the 2G scam?

The moot point is:  Does the humongous loot of over Rs.1,76000 crore in the telecom scam justify the tapping of phones to get to the bottom of the issue? Isn’t the country entitled to know who doled out money-for-favours to Raja? Who were the Telecom Minister’s accomplices? A big yes.

Clearly, the privacy issue that Tata has raised viz the Radia tapes seems more like a damage control exercise, akin to crying foul after the horse has bolted! Given that in the face of the disclosures of interests of several parties in the telecom scam he stands exposed.

Importantly, the phone tapping disclosures have given an added impetus to the corruption issue. Wiretapping is regulated under the Telegraph Act of 1885.  Officially, only the Union Home Secretary, or his counterparts in the States can issue an order for phone tapping, and the police are allowed to tap phones of a person receiving threatening calls. The Government is also required to show that the information sought cannot to be obtained through any other means. Tapping has to be done with the assistance of the telecommunications department.

For instance, the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) is known to possess computers that can catch a key word in a conversation and then record the entire conversation. The computer is fed with the name of the wanted person and any conversation where that person's name is used gets recorded. Recently, two Lashkar-e-Toiba terrorists were gunned down by the Delhi police on the basis of their cell phone records. The cricket scandal of match fixing was also exposed thanks to the tapping of phones of the bookies and the former South African captain, Hansie Cronje in 2000.

Not many are aware that it is quite easy for anyone to tap the telephone as it does not require much skill. All it takes is the right equipment and the bank account to support the investment. According to detectives, if one pays a little money to the linesman, who is sitting near the telephone exchange, a parallel connection can be arranged and the conversation easily tapped. Another way to eavesdrop is to place a transmitter, one-fourth the size of a matchbox, between the telephone exchange and the phones.

Not only that. With computer-based portable interception devices that not only record conversation and SMS remotely but organise it neatly in a database for future reference, tapping into cell phone is becoming child's play. Easy to operate with the push of a few buttons, these devices come in user-friendly packaging and can be operated on car cigarette lighters. Cellular phone company computers can record millions of movements going back to more than a year and therefore the location of a user at any given time or date can be traced to within a few hundred meters of the exact spot.

Security agencies are now understood to be actively making what are called "plotter's charts" in their terminology. The cell phone of a person visiting the national capital can be locked in their beams by sleuths and even if he does not discuss confidential issues, the signals can track his movements. Though there are methods to prevent tapping, not many use these. This involves the use of debugging instrument and scramblers. While abroad people use scrambles which are superior to debugging, its price keeps many away.

In addition, sporadic tapping is necessary to track money launderers. All decisions, however, are subject to review by an oversight committee headed by the Cabinet Secretary. In Radia’s case, her phone calls were lawfully intercepted by the CBDT with due authorisation from the Union Home Secretary. Importantly, the disclosures are an eye opener on the corruption cesspool in our country and could go a long way in ensuring a corruption-free democracy. 

Besides, there is no denying that phone-tapping is undertaken the world over for reasons of national security or serious crimes. In the US the National Security Agency is authorized by a Presidential order to monitor, without search warrants, phone calls, e-mails, Internet activity, text messaging, and other communication involving any party believed by the NSA to be outside the U.S without referral to the courts.

In the UK bugging is usually carried out by MI5, MI6, GCHQ and the police and most people are targeted on suspicion of terrorism or serious crime. Also, a total of 653 State bodies, including 474 Councils, have the power to intercept private communications. Several countries have grappled unsuccessfully with the issue of phone-tapping and privacy. In some countries, independent bodies have been appointed to adjudicate disputes. In Canada, there is a privacy commissioner for the task. In New Zealand, an ombudsman plays the role while in the UK, a Data Protection Tribunal has been appointed for this purpose.

In sum, in a milieu where secrecy and paranoia is the hallmark of governance, both at the Central and State level, access to tapes, records and information held by our polity and bureaucrats would provide urgent much-needed enlightenment and entitlement to the aam aadmi to not only fight corruption but also have public money being properly utilized in development and improvement of the country.

Right to know and being informed are the vital components of strengthening the very root of the society and democratizing the system at the grass root level. An effort made to reveal truth is never wrong. No longer should our leaders, industrialists and decision makers be allowed to hide behind the veil of privacy. Time for them to change their mindset and part with information. A corruption-free India and its democracy come first. Can anyone argue with this? ----- INFA

(Copyright, India News and Feature Alliance)