NEW DELHI: An Indian government order authorizing some federal investigating agencies to intercept any information stored on computers triggered a strong protest Friday in Parliament, with opposition lawmakers describing it as an assault on privacy rights.
The opposition parties demanded an immediate withdrawal of the Home Ministry order issued a day earlier. They fear it would give unlimited powers to 10 government agencies to intercept, monitor and decrypt any information generated, transmitted, received or stored on any computer.
Ravi Shankar Prasad, India’s minister for law and justice and information technology, rejected the allegation and said there are adequate safeguards to prevent its misuse. Prasad said using the order would require authorization from the ministry’s top bureaucrat.
Congress party chief Rahul Gandhi said on Twitter: “The order would convert India into a police state.”
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said the law already provides the power to intercept data in the interest of national security and public order. The new order just identifies investigating agencies authorized to do so, Jaitley said.
“How else will terrorists who use technology extensively be traced? Otherwise, the terrorists will use IT (information technology), but the intelligence and investigative agencies will be crippled,” Jaitley said.
Pawan Duggal, a cyber expert and a Supreme Court lawyer, said the opposition concerns appeared to be genuine and the government needed to have stringent checks and balances to prevent misuse of the new order.
Duggal also said India’s Supreme Court recognized last year that privacy is a fundamental right and it could not be tampered with.
Indian opposition slams order on intercepting computer data
Indian opposition slams order on intercepting computer data
- The opposition parties demanded an immediate withdrawal of the Home Ministry order issued a day earlier
- India’s minister for law and justice and information technology, rejected the allegation and said there are adequate safeguards to prevent its misuse
France, Algeria to resume security cooperation: minister
- Algeria plays a key role in the latter, sharing borders with junta-led Niger and Mali, both gripped by terrorist violence
ALGIERS: France and Algeria agreed on Tuesday to restart security cooperation during a visit to Algiers by French Interior Minister Laurent Nunez, marking the first sign of a thaw in diplomatic ties.
After meeting with President Abdelmadjid Tebboune, Nunez said both sides had agreed to “reactivate a high-level security cooperation mechanism.”
The visit took place against a backdrop of thorny relations between France and its former colony, frayed since Paris in 2024 officially backed Moroccan sovereignty over the disputed Western Sahara region, where Algeria supports the pro-independence Polisario Front.
Nunez said Monday had been devoted to working sessions aimed at “restoring normal security relations,” including cooperation in judicial matters, policing and intelligence.
He thanked the Algerian president for instructing his services to work with French authorities to “improve cooperation on readmissions.” Algeria has for months refused to take back its nationals living irregularly in France.
The renewed cooperation is expected to take effect “as quickly as possible” and continue “at a very high level,” Nunez confirmed.
According to images released by Algerian authorities, the talks brought together senior security officials from both countries, including France’s domestic intelligence chief and Algeria’s head of internal security.
Invited by his counterpart Said Sayoud, Nunez’s trip had been planned for months but repeatedly delayed.
Both sides have a backlog of issues to tackle. Before traveling, Nunez said he intended to raise “all security issues,” including drug trafficking and counterterrorism.
Algeria plays a key role in the latter, sharing borders with junta-led Niger and Mali, both gripped by terrorist violence.
Ahead of the trip, Nunez had also mentioned the case of Christophe Gleizes, a French sports journalist serving a seven-year sentence for “glorifying terrorism.”
It is unclear whether the matter was discussed with Tebboune, from whom the journalist’s family has requested a pardon.
