Internet Access Is A Human Right But Is It Useful?

Civil liberties are essential for the sustainable growth of human beings. A country that does not respect civil liberties cannot be a democratic and civilised nation. This is the reason why we have human rights that are protected by United Nations and respective country.

However, civil liberties protections in cyberspace are still ignored for unknown reasons. It may be due to lack of knowledge and expertise regarding cyberspace or because nations do not wish to extend the human rights protection to the same.

Fortunately some good steps in this regard have been taken by international community especially the European Council. The European Council is stressing upon protecting human rights in cyberspace and civil liberties protection in cyberspace. The European Council has also issued a resolution in this regard that deals with prohibition of abuse of state secrecy and national security for violating civil liberties. It has also expressed concerns regarding cyber attacks and political pressures upon cyber dissidents.

The United Nations must also work in the direction of defending human rights in cyberspace. Recently, UN declared that access to Internet is a basic human right. This is a good step in right direction. However, the efforts of United Nations regarding cyber laws and human rights in cyberspace need to be further expedited as they are slow in nature. An international cyber law treaty must be formulated by UN that must address the issues like freedom of speech and expression, Internet censorship, websites blocking, Internet kill switch, access to Internet, etc.

At the national level, India is desperate to control information technology. It has been forcing Internet intermediaries like Google and Facebook to pre screen and censor users contents. Blogs are manipulated in India to suppress critical issues that have been reported by few. The mainstream media is already not covering sensitive and controversial topics and even if some bold bloggers dare to do so they face censorship and penalties by various social media platforms like Google and Facebook. Manual action censorship by Google is very common regarding controversial posts and blogs that disappear instantly. Similarly, blocking of accounts by Facebook is also very common.

If access to Internet has been declared a human right by UN there is no sense in limiting it to mere access. What is the purpose of such Internet access if Internet censorship and websites blocking are deployed by states? If a citizen has access to Internet but her posts are deleted or censored the whole purpose is defeated. It seems UN has failed to consider this aspect of Internet access that has defeated the protection it has extended.

Microsoft And Skype Are Playing Lawful Interception Card

World over Lawful Interception Laws are cited as the reason for E-Surveillance and Eavesdropping. However, almost all of these so called Lawful Interception Laws are themselves “Unconstitutional”.

Take the example of Indian Cyber Law the Information Technology Act 2000 (IT Act 2000) that carries many draconian E-Surveillance provisions without any “Procedural Safeguards”. These provisions and laws are pressed to further the causes of e-surveillance and eavesdropping.

Research in Motion’s (RIM) Blackberry has already allowed a backdoor entry to Indian Intelligence Agencies for its cloud based Messenger Services. Now it has been reported that Skype and Microsoft have build a backdoor into the VOIP application. It is called Lawful Interception and is part of a new patent which Microsoft filed back in 2009, but is now preparing to unleash itself into our world due to its recent approval.

The US law set by CALEA (Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act) states that all telecommunications operators must enable their hardware and software for surveillance tracking. What is hard to understand is why Microsoft is so willing to open up its software for backdoor exploits. This creates a situation which welcomes exploits and willingly turns your computer into a revolving door for hackers.

While following a Law is not per se wrong but following an “Unconstitutional Law” is definitely wrong. Similarly following a Constitutional Law is the “Duty” of all people but following draconian, Unconstitutional and Inhumane Laws is definitely not required.

Let see who would win the battle between E-Surveillance and Human Rights Protection in Cyberspace. However, with the growing e-surveillance and eavesdropping, Self Defence Measures in Cyberspace would definitely increase in future.

Techno Legal Decryption Solutions By PTLB

A Government Panel has recently given its opinion that Encrypted Services in India would not be banned even if the Intelligence agencies cannot “Intercept” these Encrypted Communications. This would not be pleasant news for Home Ministry of India and Intelligence Agencies of India who now have to acquire Techno Legal Intelligence Gathering Skills to deal with Encrypted Communications.

Home Ministry of India and Intelligence Agencies never understood the point that E-Surveillance can never be a “Substitute” for Intelligence Gathering Skill and Cyber Skills. Now the message has been delivered, they must start working in the direction of acquiring good Techno Legal Intelligence Gathering Skills.

The Intelligence Infrastructure of India is in bad shape. The same needs an “Urgent Rejuvenation”. Projects like National Intelligence Grid (NATGRID), Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and System (CCTNS), Central Monitoring System (CMS), Centre for Communication Security Research and Monitoring (CCSRM), National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC), etc cannot be “Outsourced” to Private Companies as far as their “Core Functions” are concerned. Otherwise, the whole purpose of such Projects would be defeated. In order to perform the Core Functions of these projects, Intelligence Agencies and Law Enforcement Agencies of India must develop necessary Skills in this regard.

To start with we must formulate the Encryption Policy of India. Till now we have neither an Encryption Policy of India nor do we have Encryption Laws and Regulations in India. The second step must be to enter into Public Private Partnerships (PPP) with IT Experts who can help the Home Ministry in successfully completing its various Projects. The next step must to provide Techno Legal Trainings to Intelligence Agencies and Law Enforcement Agencies of India.

Indian Government must develop solutions “Independent of E-Surveillance” so that Intelligence Agencies can decrypt secure and highly encrypted data and voice and written communication transferred across secure networks via Internet.

At Perry4Law Techno Legal Base (PTLB) we can assist the Indian Government and its agencies to establish Techno Legal Intelligence Infrastructure of India. The same would include using both Technical as well as Legal Mechanisms to deal with Encryption and Decryption issues.

Our Techno Legal Solutions are “Specifically Designed” to cater the needs of Human Rights Protection in Cyberspace. Since access to Internet is now a Human Right as per United Nations, Indian Government must implement all its Projects keeping in mind Human Rights and Fundamental Rights as enshrined in the Constitution of India.