Government to directly check BBM and other IM services

The Indian government has been trying to intercept the BlackBerry Messaging service for quite some time. The talks are going back and forth but with no real outcome regarding the same. This may not be any news as it has been floating around from 2010. As per a report by Indian Express, it seems the government may be close to finding a solution for the same as they plan on setting up a dedicated server in India which can intercept these texts without the need to send requests to Research in Motion.

The government setting up a server in Mumbai

The report states that the Department of Telecom (DoT) has found the solution provided by Research in Motion to them regarding accessing the BBMs as satisfactory and the Ministry of Home Affairs is working out a mode in which they can intercept these messages without the need to send requests to RIM for surveillance. Towards the end of December, DoT informed Home Secretary R K Singh, “The server has been inspected by a team of officers and permission for direct linkage for lawful interception was expected to be issued shortly.” The report states, “It said that RIM has installed a dedicated server at Mumbai and a similar arrangement would be prescribed to Nokia for intercepting its Pushmail. “

The report goes on to add, “The MHA had preferred an arrangement where probe agencies could decode messages themselves so that they could conduct surveillance without disclosing the names of suspects to RIM.” After finding a solution for accessing BBM, the MHA plans on intercepting other instant messaging services such as Yahoo, Hushmail, and Gmail. The Ministry of Home Affairs have told DoT to ensure service providers make sure that all emails that have been accessed from India are passed through servers located in the country itself.

The Department of Telecom went on to state that since Skype was planning to set up an Indian-centric software, the conversations through this VoIP service could be intercepted. They said, “This would address the current concerns significantly.”