India Sets Sights On Google, Skype After BlackBerry

If they weren’t already doing so, Google’s lawyers should start paying attention to the BlackBerry encryption proceedings. It turns out that India’s government intends to target Google (and Skype) once it’s finished trying to gain access to messages sent courtesy of RIM.

Joe Leahy and David Gelles somehow got their hands on the minutes of a meeting between the security wing of India’s Department of Telecommunications and a few operator organizations. The news isn’t encouraging.

"There was consensus that there [is] more than one type of service for which solutions are to be explored," according to the minutes. "Some of them are BlackBerry, Skype, Google etc. It was decided first to undertake the issue of BlackBerry and then the other services."

So it looks like Google might once again have to try balancing a government’s demands against its users’ privacy and free speech rights, and we’ve seen how ugly that can get for the search giant. Human rights organizations and politicians could push the company hard to keep everything private.

At the same time, in the Indian government’s defense, it’s not trying to suppress dissent in the same manner China does, but instead fight terrorism.

We should give things a chance to play out between RIM and India first, though. If RIM’s able to stand up to the Indian government, or at least tie up the matter in courts for a few years, Google’s lawyers won’t need to formulate their approach for a while.

There are 5 Comments. Add Yours.

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Guest
August 13, 2010 at 5:37 pm

I think Google is in a very different position from RIM or Skype. RIM and Skype products do not work without encryption, while Google offers non-encrypted (http://) versions and encrypted (https://) versions of most of its services. Thus, even if a government were to act unilaterally and block https:// traffic to Google services, the services would still be accessible in their unencrypted versions. Some governments already block Google’s encrypted versions. However, India would need to get public support and technological systems in place to do so. If the government thinks it can do this, let it try.

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freelance seo
August 15, 2010 at 10:44 am

India is under threat from terrorists and day by day it becomes worse. It is Government duty to protect the country from cyber-spying and attacks planned over the Internet. I think There will be some amicable solution before 31st Aug 2010.

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RenoSwede
August 15, 2010 at 4:49 pm

While postal authorities can and do open mail, why is it these countries insist that they have the right to read all email? I doubt they open and read every single envelope that goes through their postal systems.

Snail mail’s slower, and more difficult to trace if there’s no return address, so maybe the terrorists will resort to using ordinary mail again. Or courier? Or pigeon?

One has to remember that the easiest way to win over mass opposition to government spying is to create a sense of fear in the population.

Yes, terrorists create fear but governments multiply that fear a thousand fold to their own ends.

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Guest
August 15, 2010 at 6:25 pm

Who has the right to read my emails? I dont give the govt the right to do that and nor should I. I have no interest in terrorism but still want to keep my emails private. The more power the Government has to pry the more power it thinks it has. I say keep encryption.

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denijane
August 16, 2010 at 4:22 am

Even if they got to spy on every possible communication, they cannot physically interpret all the information! That’s impossible. If you need someone to listen to every conversation, you’ll need just as much people working for you as there are calls/mails.
Not to mention the supercomputer option – even if it’s able to alert you when someone uses a “dangerous word” – why would terrorists use such words in the first place if they know all the calls/emails are spied at? It doesn’t make sense at all.
It’s so simple to avoid those systems, I don’t see how they could eventually help to stop terrorism. Maybe only the least organized one. Which is hardly enough to justify the compromised privacy.

The only reason why governments might want such information is espionage (national/international/corporative/political). And I don’t see why companies should feel sympathetic to their needs. Or why we should feel sympathetic at all.

Note how nowhere in those news the word court order is mentioned. In normal countries the authorities shouldn’t be allowed to spy on your emails/calls/mail unless they get a COURT ORDER. Whatever counts as normal these days, since Obama wants the FBI to be able to check your email “context” on their whim (“White House Seeks to Clarify F.B.I. Powers vis-