The
recent exposure in the media of the US National Security Agency (NSA)
mining internet and telephone data for intelligence purposes violates
the sovereignty of nations and the privacy of individuals who use such
internet services. The media revelations indicate that major telecom
companies such as Verizon, AT&T and internet companies such as
Google, Microsoft, Yahoo, Apple and Facebook have, in effect, become
tools of the US government under the PRISM project. They also intercept
cable lines for this purpose.
It is significant that
India is a major target of such intelligence gathering. It is the fifth
largest target of such snooping, even ahead of countries such as China
and Russia. The US official defense, including President Obama’s own
response, is that the NSA was spying only on “foreigners”; no US
citizens’s privacy was violated and no US laws were broken; and this was
being done in the US national interest.
It is now clear
that the current control of internet and its global governance under a
US Department of Commerce contract means that the US government controls
the internet. With the increase of internet’s importance to global
communications, the dangers of such untrammeled control for other
countries and the rights of its citizens are now clear. India must
immediately protest on such violation of its citizen’s rights and
violation of its sovereignty.
Not only should the
government of India protest against the intrusive intelligence
gathering by the US with the help of companies such as Microsoft,
Google, Yahoo and Facebook etc, but India should also join hands with
other countries to make these companies accountable to people who use
their services across the globe. India must also press for an immediate
initiative to democratize internet governance and ensure that the US
intelligence agencies do not override the sovereignty of countries and
the rights of individuals.
