Private detectives forge relations with policemen and unsuspecting people in telecom companies, as they have access to call data, says Sahil Makkar.....
The Private Detective Regulations Bill (2007), introduced in the Rajya Sabha to rein in rogue detectors, is yet to see the light of day. Also, India lacks privacy laws that provide protection against snooping. In the absence of such laws, private detectives have mushroomed in all nooks and corners of the country; while some are fly-by-night operators, some work out of departmental stores.
"After this incident, Delhi Police has become more cautious. Now, an officer of the rank of Deputy Commissioner of Police, the immediate senior of an ACP, is authorised to get call details. The DCP will face serious action for any negligence on his part," said a senior officer. "Now, we have started to minutely monitor such request every month."
As this problem was spread across the country, the Union government had decided to set up a National Intelligence Grid (Natgrid) at an estimated cost of Rs 4,000-5,000 crore. In June 2011, it cleared the controversial project to electronically connect police forces and intelligence agencies with the databases of telecom service providers.
"It would have cut all such possibilities of leaking of call details. But Natgrid is struggling to take off, despite so much money being infused," said a senior government official.
Fresh arrests in a case relating to Bharatiya Janata Party leader Arun Jaitley's call records being compromised have re-instilled fears on the snooping front. The case highlighted how private detectives were increasingly prying on personal details.
The only difference between these detectives and government sleuths is the issue of legality. Under law, only police or central investigating agencies can seek call details records from telecom service providers by sending an email, a registered post or a policeman personally delivering a written request.The Private Detective Regulations Bill (2007), introduced in the Rajya Sabha to rein in rogue detectors, is yet to see the light of day. Also, India lacks privacy laws that provide protection against snooping. In the absence of such laws, private detectives have mushroomed in all nooks and corners of the country; while some are fly-by-night operators, some work out of departmental stores.
"After this incident, Delhi Police has become more cautious. Now, an officer of the rank of Deputy Commissioner of Police, the immediate senior of an ACP, is authorised to get call details. The DCP will face serious action for any negligence on his part," said a senior officer. "Now, we have started to minutely monitor such request every month."
As this problem was spread across the country, the Union government had decided to set up a National Intelligence Grid (Natgrid) at an estimated cost of Rs 4,000-5,000 crore. In June 2011, it cleared the controversial project to electronically connect police forces and intelligence agencies with the databases of telecom service providers.
"It would have cut all such possibilities of leaking of call details. But Natgrid is struggling to take off, despite so much money being infused," said a senior government official.
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