hi bloggers....
I'm sure you must have come across the BlackBerry encryption/Indian government issue in the past. As of now, BlackBerry maker RIM has till January 31, 2011 to hand over the encryption keys to intelligence agencies - keys that protect the content (like e-mail or chat) of millions of BlackBerry users in the country.
It seems that the Indian Government is training its eyes on all other forms of electronic communication that cannot pass through their radar. Google's popular e-mail service - Gmail - happens to be one of these. But as The Economic Times reports, Google's already given its verdict on the matter even before the government asking them anything. Google Inc. will not share the encryption keys of its email service with the Indian security agency, for reasons of compromising the privacy of millions of Gmail users worldwide. Google India chief Vinay Goel was speaking on the matter, "If requested, it would be impossible to offer real-time access since the Gmail service is governed by US laws. When users entrust their data with us, we are expected to protect it, which is why, user privacy is very important for Google".
I'm sure you must have come across the BlackBerry encryption/Indian government issue in the past. As of now, BlackBerry maker RIM has till January 31, 2011 to hand over the encryption keys to intelligence agencies - keys that protect the content (like e-mail or chat) of millions of BlackBerry users in the country.
It seems that the Indian Government is training its eyes on all other forms of electronic communication that cannot pass through their radar. Google's popular e-mail service - Gmail - happens to be one of these. But as The Economic Times reports, Google's already given its verdict on the matter even before the government asking them anything. Google Inc. will not share the encryption keys of its email service with the Indian security agency, for reasons of compromising the privacy of millions of Gmail users worldwide. Google India chief Vinay Goel was speaking on the matter, "If requested, it would be impossible to offer real-time access since the Gmail service is governed by US laws. When users entrust their data with us, we are expected to protect it, which is why, user privacy is very important for Google".
But it isn't like Google is going to be completely turning a deaf ear for the call of the nation's security. Vinay said that they're open to offering the Indian government access if there's a large-scale risk to human life and property. But it makes me wonder whether the government would find this arrangement acceptable, since such a situation is not going to invite itself before coming, thus needing the government to monitor it all the time.
So, why is the government having such a hard time with security? As the ET write-up suggests, they don't have the technical resources to intercept communication on the internet that is protected by high levels of encryption. It also sounds pretty strange that the government actually asked Indian ISPs to tone down their encryption levels for them to monitor systems in the country.
This seems like a rather complex problem where you have companies that aren't willing to compromise on the privacy of their users that they swear to protect, versus the need for monitoring all possible forms of communication that some might use against the safety of the nation. What if the government does ask Google for access to their encryption keys for Gmail? Will they ban the popular mail service if they don't comply?
So, why is the government having such a hard time with security? As the ET write-up suggests, they don't have the technical resources to intercept communication on the internet that is protected by high levels of encryption. It also sounds pretty strange that the government actually asked Indian ISPs to tone down their encryption levels for them to monitor systems in the country.
This seems like a rather complex problem where you have companies that aren't willing to compromise on the privacy of their users that they swear to protect, versus the need for monitoring all possible forms of communication that some might use against the safety of the nation. What if the government does ask Google for access to their encryption keys for Gmail? Will they ban the popular mail service if they don't comply?
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