From: Arun Mehta <amehta@giasdl01.vsnl.net.in>
Date: Thu, 8 Aug 1996 00:05:40 +0800
To: cypherpunks@toad.com
Subject: Phone tapping in India
Message-ID: <1.5.4.32.19960807114112.002e8fa4@giasdl01.vsnl.net.in>
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"The Pioneer" headlined on August 6, 96:
"CBI can tap at whim -- Agency has 6 bugging machines"

(The CBI is effectively the Indian equivalent of the FBI)

Apparently, these machines costing Rs. 7.5 million = $200,000 each, 
can each tap 7 phones in a 25-km radius, and were bought from a 
Hyderabad-based company, Fidelity Systems. Apparently, all that is 
needed to tap a phone is for the sleuths to dial the number through
 the machine, which then automatically starts and stops recording
all conversations carried out with that number, as well the numbers 
dialled by the target.

As it is, the law on wiretapping is draconian in India: on the occurrence
 of an emergency, or for "public safety", a designated government 
officer can direct that "any message or class of messages to or from
 any person or class of persons, or relating to any particular subject, 
brought for transmission by or transmitted or received by any telegraph,
 shall not be transmitted, or shall be intercepted or detained or shall be 
disclosed to the government." (This is from the Indian Telegraph Act 
of 1885(!), and applies to e-mail and BBSes as well). But with these 
new machines,  even this designated officer can be bypassed.

Under a box titled "Beware of blank calls", the newspaper mentions that 
when the sleuths ring your number to start tapping, you get a "blank" call 
(which one is quite used to here -- if that were enough evidence, the whole 
of India is being tapped!)

What technology is this? If it indeed works this way, what is to prevent any
large company or rich person from procuring the same hardware?

Apparently, the purchase was authorised by former prime minister Rao,
who is now complaining that his own phone is being tapped (serves him right).

Arun Mehta Phone +91-11-6841172, 6849103 amehta@cpsr.org
http://www.cerfnet.com/~amehta/  finger amehta@cerfnet.com for public key