The central
monitoring system (CMS) project of India is one of the
most controversial projects about to be launched by Indian
government. It the CMS
project of India is attached with other controversial
projects like Aadhaar; this would be a serious civil
liberty fiasco. The Aadhaar project is already questioned
in the Indian courts and the CMS project would also face similar
fate.
We have been maintaining that the ministry of
communication and information technology (MCIT) must be put PMO
scrutiny. In fact, the MCIT must be put under the direct
control of PMO to make it more transparent and
accountable. Although the PMO took some
interest in the technology related issues in the past yet
they were never sufficient.
Now it has been reported that the PMO questioned
the preferential market access (PMA) policy of MCIT. The PMO must
also question the CMS project as it has serious civil liberties
issues. Human
rights protection in cyberspace must also be kept in mind
by the PMO.
The CMS
project and telephone tapping issues are also
interrelated. Although the standing committee on home affairs
recommended
safeguards for phone tapping of politicians yet no such
safeguards have been prescribed for ordinary citizens. We still do
not have a lawful
interception law in India to govern phone tapping and
e-surveillance issues. The fact is that India must reconcile
civil liberties and national security requirements
immediately.
The CMS project has also created waves at the
international level as well. For instance, see the Reddit,
Pastebin,
Pastebay,
bedtime
e-post, etc in this regard.
According to Praveen Dalal, managing partner of New
Delhi based ICT law firm Perry4Law
and leading techno legal expert of Asia, The CMS Project of India is
a good and ambitious project that is required to manage National
Security and Law Enforcement requirements of the country. However,
adequate “Procedural Safeguards” must also be established in the
System so that it is not abused for political and personal reasons,
warns Dalal.
It is clear that the time for CMS project of India
has still not come. Of course, if Indian government is still willing
to waste tremendous public money on illegal and unconstitutional
projects like Aadhaar, it is free to go ahead with CMS project as
well. But keeping in mind the forthcoming elections and the attitude
of PMO this seems to be a distant possibility.
