Government to Take Over Web Privacy Through ‘Netra’

Shocking news for Web users! There is no way people can find privacy now on the web. The government is ready to compromise our privacy even more with this new mechanism to spy on all Internet traffic. All your voice calls on Google Talk and Skype, plus tweets, SMS, messaging transcripts, blogs and status updates will be watched by government sleuths. The internet surveillance system ‘Netra’ is being developed by the Defence Ministry Lab. Beware! Don’t use words like terror, bomb, blast, kill and so on. Such kind of words will be detected in a few seconds and the cops may knock on your door. Your future and past communications will be put under surveillance in case they find something suspicious on your account. The system is currently under testing.

It was developed by Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics (CAIR) based in Bangalore to strictly prevent mishaps by tracking the Internet use. The surveillance system is accessible by all national intelligence and security agencies. Intelligence Bureau and Cabinet Secretariat are testing the system ‘Netra’ to capture suspicious voice traffic in Skype or Google Talk. The system will be handled by security agencies. Words like ‘attack’, ‘blast’or ‘kill’ in tweets, emails, status updates, instant messaging transcripts, blogs, internet calls, forums will be tracked in no time. The Government will soon be launching ‘Netra’ after the tests conducted by the agencies.

Technology has improved immensely and till now we have noticed the negative impact it has on people. Indian Government deserves a salute for taking a step towards securing India. The system is being developed by the Defence Research, Development Establishment (R&DE), Development Organisation’s Research and IdeaForge, a Mumbai-based private firm. Hope everything they are planning to do works out for the best, but there will obviously be some opposition regarding the loss of privacy. What do you think about this? Is privacy more important than safety?