PANAJI
Amid growing reliance on digital surveillance tools for policing, the Goa government has authorised the Inspector General of Police (IGP), to intercept, monitor and decrypt electronic information in emergency situations.
The notification, issued by the Department of Home, speaks about powers under Section 69(1) of the Information Technology Act, 2000, read with Rule 3 of the Information Technology (Procedure and Safeguards for Interception, Monitoring and Decryption of Information) Rules, 2009 for this move.
“...the Government of Goa hereby authorizes the Inspector General of Police, Goa Police Department for the purposes of interception, monitoring and decryption of any information generated, transmitted, received or stored in any computer resource under the said Act, in case of emergencies only,” reads the notification.
The government has, however, prescribed procedural safeguards. All instances of interception, monitoring or decryption carried out in emergency situations must be reported in writing to the Home Secretary to the Government of Goa within three working days. Approval of the Home Secretary is required to be obtained within seven working days of such action.
The notification further states that if approval is not secured within the stipulated period, the interception, monitoring or decryption shall cease forthwith. In such cases, the information cannot be intercepted, monitored or decrypted thereafter without prior approval of the Home Secretary.
