A public outcry ensued when news broke over NSA monitoring actions. Americans everywhere objected to the blatant violation of privacy, yet the rights of the Department of Defense tend to trump those of the individual. For VoIP users in India, oversight may soon be in place as the government seeks to keep tabs on service providers.
According to a recent Business-Standard article, India is following in the footsteps of the Chinese government as it seeks to keep tabs on business VoIP providers by way of the Intelligence Bureau of the Ministry of Home Affairs. The MHA recently suggested that such providers who are planning to offer VoIP in India should also provide Indianized versions of the software.
Services such as Yahoo Messenger, Skype, Google (News - Alert) Talk and Fring and more are likely to be affected by this move. The MHA believes it is essential to allow the government to monitor or even intercept services that are currently outside of their capabilities. Business VoIP providers aren’t likely to simply turn over information or welcome monitoring voluntarily. In anticipation, the MHA has turned to the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) for help. The DoT has been asked to block any VoIP service that cannot be intercepted or monitored in a viewable or audible format.
The immediate implementation of monitoring capabilities may be difficult to achieve. To offset this delay, the MHA has asked the DoT to modify license terms so that all business VoIP service providers will have to deliver their solution in a format that is viewable and audible. Until this is possible, the DoT is considering blocking unsolicited sites using an “authentication failed” message.
For sites such as Skype (News - Alert), which function with the use of available or unused computer resources, a large honey pot of servers may need to be installed. This approach enables maximum data flow through the servers and allows for the study of all technical and statistical information. The honey pot approach is often used as a trap so the unauthorized use of information systems is detected and then deflected.
Social media sites will also be under scrutiny. The Intelligence Bureau is taking the stance that these sites need to be monitored, as many will be accessed with VoIP – such as Facebook (News - Alert) enabling voice calls. Will that deter inappropriate use or behavior in the eyes of the MHA? At the same time, will companies be able to effectively use these channels to connect with customers?
Such activities are likely to limit business VoIP providers and the capabilities they offer to the corporate environment. This could limit the number of vendors interested in doing business there, which will limit consumer choice in the long-run.
Edited by Rachel Ramsey