India's intelligence officials have long complained that
they are unable to decipher encrypted data sent on BlackBerry handsets, made by
Canadian firm Research In Motion, or intercept calls on Skype.
The government has threatened to ban or block BlackBerry and
Skype services if the companies fail to adhere to a 15-day deadline to make
data available in formats that can be monitored, The Economic Times newspaper
said.
Google has been asked to ensure e-mails on its Gmail service
can be deciphered, though no deadline has been issued, the paper said. A Google
spokesperson said that no communication on this subject has been received from
the government so far. “We will comment if and when we get any letter from the
Department of Telecommunications,” the spokesperson said.
"The latest development indicates that security
agencies are again finding it difficult to intercept or decipher messages sent
through BlackBerry phones," the paper said.
Concerns have also been raised about the data services being
offered by Tata Teleservices and Reliance Communications as security agencies
are not able to snoop into these networks.
The Indian Telecommunications Ministry was unable to comment
when contacted by Agence France Presse.
The federal government has also decided to amend IT laws to
make it mandatory for foreign companies that do not require a local license to
provide all the data required by Indian law enforcement agencies. Such a law
would force companies such as Skype to give complete access to their networks
or set up a local server in India to allow security agencies to track content.
These decisions were taken at a recent joint meeting of
officials from the Home (interior) Ministry, the Intelligence Bureau, the
Department of Telecommunications and the National Technical Research
Organization.
India, which faces a strengthening home-grown Maoist
insurgency and constant threats from religious groups, is highly sensitive
about the potential risks of technology. The government has been restricting
imports from Chinese telecom equipment manufacturers because of Indian intelligence
agency fears that "spyware" could be embedded in the equipment.
It has also restricted the use of mobile phones in
violence-wracked Indian-ruled Kashmir, where pay-as-you-go phones and the use
of text messages have been curtailed. The area is a hotbed of anti-India
activity.