Now these 10 agencies can spy on your computers, you will get 7 yrs jail for refusal

New Delhi – The 10 central agencies of the country have got the right to spy on your computer. Now the agencies can monitor, intercept or send, send, receive, or intercept the received or stored information from your computer.

The Union Home Ministry has issued this order on December 20. The agencies which have been given this right include Intelligence Bureau (IB), Narcotics Control Bureau, Enforcement Directorate, Central Board of Director Taxes, Directorate of Revenue Intelligence, CBI, NIA, Cabinet Secretariat (RAW), Directorate of Signal Intelligence (Jammu-Kashmir, North-East and Assam) and Commissioner of Delhi Police.

According to the order of the Home Ministry, if a subscriber, service provider or computer owner refuses to provide information to the investigating agencies then he can be jailed for 7 years in addition to the fine. According to Section 69 (1) of the IT Act, Cyber ​​Security and Information Department of the Home Ministry has ordered the 10 agencies of the country to search any computer data of anyone.

The MHA has clarified : –

• Rule 4 of the IT (Procedure and Safeguards for Interception, Monitoring and Decryption of Information) Rules 2009 provides that ‘the competent authority may authorise an agency of the Government to intercept, monitor or decrypt information generated, transmitted, received or stored in any computer resource for the purposespecified in sub-section (1) of Section 69 of the Act’.
• The Statutory order (S.O.) dated 20.12.2018 has been issued in accordance with rules framed in year 2009 and in vogue since then.
• No new powers have been conferred to any of the security or law enforcement agencies by the S.O. dated 20.12.2018.
• Notification has been issued to notify the ISPs, TSPs, Intermediaries etc. to codify the existing orders.
• Each case of interception, monitoring, decryption is to be approved by the competent authority i.e. Union Home secretary. These powers are also available to the competent authority in the State governments as per IT (Procedure and Safeguards for Interception, Monitoring and Decryption of Information) Rules 2009.
• As per rule 22 of the IT (Procedure and Safeguards for Interception, Monitoring and Decryption of Information) Rules 2009, all such cases of interception or monitoring or decryption are to be placed before the review committee headed by Cabinet Secretary, which shall meet at least once in two months to review such cases. In case of State governments, such cases are reviewed by a committee headed by the Chief Secretary concerned.
• S.O dated 20.12.2018 will help in following ways:

1. To ensure that any interception, monitoring or decryption of any information through any computer resource is done as per due process of law.
2. Notification about the agencies authorized to exercise these powers and preventing any unauthorized use of these powers by any agency, individual or intermediary.
3. The above notification will ensure that provisions of law relating to lawful interception or monitoring of computer resource are followed and if any interception, monitoring or decryption is required for purposes specified in Section 69 of the IT Act, the same is done as per due process of law and approval of competent authority i.e. Union Home Secretary.