Data Privacy and Government Intrusion

The recent incident of a contractor from NSA (National Security Agency) of the U.S. almost defecting to Hong Kong / China throws open a very relevant and rather interesting topic: the intrusion into the privacy of citizens by “Big Brother” or the Government.

There are arguments (mostly) against and for the government oversight affecting the privacy of millions of citizens and other nation states. How can one government (though the most powerful in the world) intrude into the private lives of other countries’ citizens and most clearly, into other governments’ secrets ? Under what laws of the land are these actions being taken ? Does it mean that the U.S. is not respecting the other countries’ laws on privacy, though often claiming to be the torch bearer of freedom and democracy, often accusing other countries of trampling on their citizens’ rights ?

Many, many questions and the blogosphere and the traditional / electronic media are full of such types of questions and interviews with prominent folks from society and government.

Let us look at this matter very objectively.

First, is anyone around the world so naive that he or she can assume that nobody is watching the goings on in the society in which they live, given all the terrorist attacks around the world ? Is it not the responsibility of the government of the day and law enforcement agencies to track what is going on ? How can anyone assume that all is hunky dory in their own society ? That is rather stupid, to say the least.

Second, look at examples of how criminals and terrorists are getting caught via data crunching of emails and webcam / video camera images, without even shedding a drop of blood in some cases ? Are we not reading newspapers and the electronic media to take note of the enhanced intelligence of law enforcement agencies ?

Third, the NSA mainframes and arrays of computers don’t “see or hear” anything – they just simply analyze the petabytes of data collected from a million sources and derive nuggets of actionable information, which can then be studied and actions taken. Who is listening to your conversation, or reading your emails – think about it for a minute. If you are not a targeted individual, why would a government waste thousands of dollars of computing time and analyst time on you ? You have no name in the computer !

Fourthly, if the U.S. Congress bans domestic eavesdropping by NSA (very unlikely), then NSA and FBI would have to move to conventional means of tapping phones which would then potentially “target” anyone – even the normal guy – around. Think about it – do you wish to return to the Cold War days ? Surely not.

There are many other reasons why the NSA mechanism is a better way of analysing the “Big Data” collected from various sources than the older ways of James Bond days.

Let us not raise a hue and cry. This is what has been happening for the past 7 years by NSA and several decades before that as well. If you have nothing to worry, then you will have nothing to worry, right ?

Let the criminals and terrorists worry, right ?

Cheers,

Vijay Srinivasan
15th June 2013

Not to be Trusted

The Indian Government took all the nonsense of Pakistan’s arguments against the official involvement of their spy agency and military in the 26/11 carnage in Mumbai. Despite all the proof, Pakistan still resists in extending full and unfettered cooperation.

Now, another example has come up: despite all their protestations to the contrary, 13 Indians are still being held in Pakistan jails – and look at this: they are Prisoners of War from the 1971 Indo-Pak war, which Pakistan lost so handsomely if you would recall, leading to the formation of Bangladesh from the erstwhile East Pakistan. Even after their prison terms were long over, the Indians are being held in Karachi’s jails.

What does this discovery shows ?

That we are stupid to believe our neighbours on their claims of innocence, on their protests that they are never involved officially in terror plots against India, that they are truly committed to developing a cordial relationship with India. That we are ignorant of their aims to eventually separate Kashmir from India. That they would attack us one day with their nuclear-armed missiles. That they would continue to taunt us in international forums on the Kashmir issue. That they would collaborate more with China to strangle India.

That they can never be fully trusted.

Unless…….

Unless and until, they have a fully democratic government, not controlled by their military.

Which is definitely not the case.

Are they ever going to realize that India is too big and actually stronger than ever to fight two wars at the same time ? If not today, in a couple of years time, India would mount an impenetrable shield to protect our borders from missile attacks. India would have a much stronger collaboration with the U.S. and Israel to counter Pakistan’s insidious aims to destroy our peace.

Instead of formulating an overarching strategy to counter Pakistan, we seem to be entertaining Mr Musharraf in Delhi, who goes up on stage and accuses India. This is nothing short of ridiculous. Freedom of speech has certain responsibilities and limits. Mr Musharraf is singularly responsible for the 1999 Kargil War in which India lost many soldiers and a good deal of self-respect. He is a persona non grata in his own country – Pakistan !

While olive branches are good as a show case of peace efforts on both sides – especially on the business side – we have to be very cautious about the nefarious intent of the military and spy agency of Pakistan who celebrated the 26/11 attacks in Mumbai, which exposed India’s weaknesses. We can never forget the loss of 166 innocent lives. We can never forgive Pakistan for its intransigence in cooperating with India.

Let us not trust blindingly. Even our culture does not condone it. The nation’s security cannot take second place to our need to shake hands.

Cheers,

Vijay Srinivasan
25th November 2012
Mumbai

Security in Maximum City

There has been a rapid deterioration in the security situation in Mumbai over the past 3 years or so.

I am not referring to the 26/11 terrorist attack or its aftermath.

I am referring simply to the cases of attack on innocent people by their own security guards. I have no bandwidth right now to write about the other aspects of the safety situation in the city, such as road accidents involving school buses for example, but I will eventually write about that aspect as well.

It appears that Mumbai has learnt the bad aspects of Delhi life. Delhi still steals the thunder when it comes to the reputation ranking of the worst biggest city in India wherein women are not safe, but it appears that Mumbai is fast catching up. Mumbai, incidentally, had (and sometimes has) the reputation for the safest big city in India, but is fast losing that.

The recent attacks on women staying alone in apartments by the building society’s own security guards are to be severely condemned. I did not see the government stepping up to the challenges. One simple thing to do is to disenfranchise all private security agencies in the city who are not “security-cleared” by the police.

We are endangering our people in two different ways – the private security agencies are not truly certified to do their work and the guards are not pre-approved or pre-registered to ensure quality, consistency and safety. This is like letting the cow graze its own backyard freely with no controls or safety checks.

Unfortunately, in India (like in almost everything), we tend to blame the government for all the ills of the society, and this case is no different. But the least that we can do is to ensure that the agencies we appoint in out own building societies are pre-cleared with the police, and there are adequate monitoring mechanisms provided so that the guards do not tinker with the automated security apparatus. The guards should never have access to the electricity supply to the apartment – it is not their job. The latest murder case in the city couple of days ago shows that such basic principles were violated. If the building society or the builder is lax in such areas, we have to be prepared otherwise to expect trouble.

Further, there is a feeling in Mumbai that it is indeed a safe city – many people have told me that it is far better than Delhi. This is a false feeling and should be discarded forthwith. In any place which has a wide disparity of incomes and living styles, there is bound to be jealousy and hunger for something better. While we cannot condone criminal actions based on that, we need to be adequately prepared for any consequences. People come to Mumbai from all over the country looking for jobs, and that cannot be stopped in a free country. The least we can do is to ensure our own safety and security by insisting on certain mechanisms for which we are paying our hard earned money in any case. Why not insist on quality ?

So, let us not forget safety and security in our own maximum city.

Cheers,

Vijay Srinivasan
11th August 2012
Mumbai

Home Guards

There must be at least 10 to 15 “watchmen” or home guards in the condo complex that I live in at Mumbai. In India, they call the security folks as watchmen in the home environment. In corporate environments, they are called security guards. It is a bit funny sounding as “watchmen” but that is the way it is.

Most of them know me and I am sure they know most of the folks living in the complex. While they are strict, they also show respect while sometimes diluting their watch if someone comes in a big car as “bigness” matters a lot in India. They always note the vehicle numbers entering and leaving the complex – the ones that do not have a permit to use their car parking facility.

The purpose of this post is to mention how little we care about these important folks who guard our homes and offices. While this may not be as important in the Western world, in the Indian security situation, the security guards are probably the most important people in ensuring the safety and security of the people, but are also the lowest paid and poorly trained in most cases.

So, I make it a point to wish them every time I see them, reinforcing the familiarity quotient and conveying respect for the important work that they are delivering, day in and day out.

I meet the same security guard or “watchman” in uniform every morning (almost religiously, while in town and not travelling) who opens the gym for me before 6 AM. He warmly wishes me “Good Morning, Sir” without a frown on his face though I go before the gym opening time every day. And, I smile and wish him back.

I also notice that most people do not wish the guards or smile at them. Not that such behaviour is going to affect their personal safety in any way, but it is clearly important to wish others who play a key role in ensuring our well-being and safety.

I was indeed touched a bit this morning when I went to the gym at the same time, and found the same security guard at the lobby of the gym. When I wished him and then signed in, he remarked “Sir, we were wondering why you did not come yesterday, worried what happened to you”. I smiled and told him that I was busy (though I did work out yesterday in the evening time and he was not the designated guard at that time, having gone through a shift change). He smiled back.

One thing we have to learn from the Western countries is how to show respect to all below our social status and treat them as almost equals or at least warmly every day. It might look funny when one wishes a newspaper vendor or a milkman or a security guard in India, but that is normal practice in the West. There is no difference based on religion, caste, race, social status or colour in the West. But we Indians still pay attention to all these outdated social customs and continue to suffer ostracism, whether we are up or down in the pecking order. We cannot claim to be one of the oldest and most polished civilizations if we still do not even attempt to fix this greatest anomaly in our lives.

Let us smile and wish everyone who we come across every day in our lives. It is not only important, it is required practice and it would make everyone feel good. I do this to the lift operator in my office and feel good when I see the smile and glow in his face, because no one else does it to him.

Cheers,

Vijay Srinivasan
11th December 2011
Mumbai

Choice for the United States

Today is 9/11, the 11th of September, marking the tenth anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks on the U.S. by airborne terrorists.

That eventful and unfortunate day marked only the second time of an attack on U.S. soil, since the U.S. was hit after the Pearl Harbour attack almost seven decades ago by Japan.

In the last one decade, the U.S. has become more insular and security-conscious than any other large country in the world. It has probably spent USD 3 to 4 trillion dollars on the wars it has waged in Iraq, Afghanistan and West Pakistan, as well as in enhanced security protection by creating the Department of Homeland Security and other measures. It is another matter that when it has to create a jobs plan for Americans at some USD 447B, the government faces stiff opposition !

While the U.S. has successfully avoided any fresh terrorist attacks, India has endured more than a dozen acts of terrorist activities leading to significant loss of life. It shows the differing approaches in securing the security of citizens, some of the U.S. actions might have sacrificed the individual privacy of its citizens but such actions were required. India is still caught in a political quagmire, unable to execute a well thought-out security strategy which would take no prisoners. At the end of the day, it is the unrequited anguish of common people which will bring down the Indian Government, not enemy gunfire, and it is very surprising to see a government which does not realize this, or is refusing to learn from its own past failures and global examples.

The idea of this piece of writing is to point out the inevitable merger in the philosophies and practices of the world’s most powerful and its most populous democracies, which ought to have been a natural phenomenon all these years. Unfortunately the U.S. and India never saw eye to eye on most matters over the past six decades. Only after India aligned with the U.S. quickly in the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, and pledged its total support, did the U.S. figure out that is is only prudent to develop closer relationship with a tough, noisy, quarreling, yet dependable partner in India.

Over the past decade, the U.S. and India have come a long way, despite changes in government in India as well as in the U.S., though I would again state unambiguously that President Obama is not as focused on forging an even tighter relationship with India as did President George W Bush. Nevertheless, the point is that we are clearly set on an irreversible path of ever closer partnership with the Americans, and ultimately this partnership might lead to a strong military alliance, though the Indian Government will never get voluntarily drawn into such a discussion. I think it makes a lot of sense to formulate a straight U.S. – India alliance to safeguard the Indian Ocean and deepen the strengths of both in future-proofing the South Asian region. I would not advocate an extension of this partnership to include Japan or Australia, as that would be regarded warily by other countries in the neighbouring regions.

What is important is that the U.S. pledges its military support to India, like it has done with the NATO countries, to ensure democracy thrives in the region and peace and stability resulting from such an alliance would lead to increased business for all and prosperity for more than 2 billion people. It is critical to make intentions clear in this complex world of diplomacy, strategy, and mind-boggling Machiavellian manipulated political science, so that the potential adversaries take the new equation into their plans before launching inadvertent actions against India.

For the U.S. the choice should be clear – it should work on drawing India into its sphere of closer partnership, share technologies which would enhance the lives and security of 1.2 billion people, work on neutralizing the terrorists in collaboration with India, formulating a mutual security partnership and driving mutual business prospects for both nations into the 21st Century.

I would say that this is inevitable actually. Only time will tell. This requires the “open” thinking that Condoleeza Rice and President Bush brought to the table, and the leadership shown by Prime Minister Vajpayee in 2001.

Cheers,
Vijay Srinivasan
11th Sept 2011
Mumbai

Caught in a Tangled Bind

It is absolutely clear to everyone that the Government of India is caught in a bind that cannot be unshackled in the near future.

Corruption was the major issue for the last few months, and I believe it will continue to be in the limelight for the foreseeable future, at least until the Lokpal Bill is passed by the Indian Parliament. The campaign against governmental corruption by civil society will sustain its momentum, irrespective of any government crackdown. The Government is so much more weakened today, that it would be difficult for them to repeat the wrongful action of detaining peaceful protesters. I may not totally agree with the protests as I have written earlier, but nevertheless a popular people movement which is nonviolent cannot be shot down by a democratic government.

And, now the main issue is Terrorism. I was in Delhi on the day the bomb blast happened outside the Delhi High Court, and I did not know till later in the day. It was heart-rending to see the television pictures of ordinary people who had lost their lives and many who had lost their limbs, destroying their livelihood. Government is solely responsible for the safety and security of its citizens, this is because an ordinary citizen cannot protect himself/herself from terrorist attacks perpetrated by determined terrorists who potentially have organizational support from a terrorist setup. The Government of India completely failed again to protect the citizens, with 13 lives lost and nearly 100 citizens with serious injuries inflicted by the bomb blast.

It was evident from the analysis conducted by the media that the Government defaulted in providing CCTV coverage for the area around Gate No. 5 of the Delhi High Court, where the bomb blast took place on the 7th Sept. The procurement of the cameras was in a limbo for nearly 3 years – this is nothing but gross negligence. Apart from this, the government did not provide enough security forces to safeguard key government installations.

Whose fault is this ? The Ministry of Home Affairs, of course. The Minister concerned should resign. Last time, the Minister holding that portfolio was made to resign when the 26/11 attacks happened in Mumbai. During the tenure of the current home minister, we have had six terrorist attacks around the country, should he not voluntarily resign ?

If the qualification for being appointed as a minister is just the ability to look efficient, speak vocally, and protect the government in the Parliament, then I am afraid that would not even be adequate to protect the citizens of this country. We are looking for competency, firm action, speedy approvals for more police and equipment, and quick delivery. The minister cannot hide behind the fact that the actual execution is with Delhi or State Governments. That is nothing short of passing the buck.

Well, the government is not learning and is completely paralyzed as of now. No actions. Empty promises. A weak voice from a weak Prime Minister. No firm actions anywhere in anything. Total depression.

What do you think will happen ? Make a guess.

Cheers,
Vijay Srinivasan
10th Sept 2011
Mumbai

Airport Touch and Probe

I go through airport security every week in India.

Of late, I am noticing that the touch by the security officer is very firm and probing, even if the metal detector does not detect any metal (or whatever it is supposed to detect). I saw a Westerner squirming ahead of me when he was firmly touched all over his body to find if anything is hidden inside his pant pockets and shirt pockets, and on the back of his shirt and pant. Well, I have stopped squirming and getting ticklish. Just go through the process. After all it is for the security of the passengers ! Nothing can be done to change the process, as Indian Security checks at airports is based mostly on X-ray scanning of your hand baggage and physical frisking of your body (parts) ! That is the way it is, and nothing much can be done about it.

It will take a long time before the full-body scanner which you see in the U.S. airports to arrive in Indian airports. First, that costs much more money than the physical frisker. Second it is expensive to monitor and maintain. So, for the foreseeable future, you are going to be physically frisked in Indian airports, and frankly I believe it is a better way to ensure higher level of security for passengers.

The security officer even opens your wallet and business card holder, and fells your back and moves the metal detector aggressively over your body, sometimes hitting some body parts ! Well, we have to tolerate all that, there is no choice, because any one of us could be trouble makers on a particular flight, and the only way to ensure that the trouble is minimized to the maximum extent is to frisk thoroughly. And, also to use old-fashioned baggage tags on hand baggage which carries a stamp by the X-ray scanners, which will be checked atleast twice manually before you get to board your flight.

Al this helps. There may be loop holes, I don’t know, but things look much more organized in airports these days. They check the boarding pass or the e-ticket against your personal identification before they let you into the airport, I do not know of any country which does this – it provides an additional step in ensuring security. Then at the airline check-in counters, often they ask for identification again, before they issue the boarding pass or stamp the boarding pass that you brought. The baggage is then put on the conveyor belt, well yes it has not been checked till this stage – previously they insisted on sending your check-in bags through an X-ray scanner at the entrance to the check-in area.

Then comes the security check and the physical frisking. All this is good and expected of the security these days. I saw once the El Al airlines staff asking tough questions to passengers destined for Tel Aviv. May be they have already profiled each one of them and just verifying some data. I think such measures are required of passengers travelling to troubled countries.

But many passengers have still not learnt their lessons – they still carry water bottles in their hand baggage, they carry prohibited substances which delays the security queue, and are not aware of many rules which have been put in place – some printed and verbal education is desirable.

So, for people new to India, get ready for the constant “touch and probe” at airport security. To ensure your own security in these tough times !

Cheers,

Vijay Srinivasan
13th August 2011
Mumbai

Mumbai Under Attack – Again !

The latest terrorist strikes at the heart of Mumbai again shows how vulnerable India is, specifically how vulnerable and porous Mumbai is……..

What India needs is a better and high-quality of intelligence gathering, not state-of-the-art equipment and technology only. India needs to infiltrate terror networks, both within India and abroad. India has traditionally been weak in infiltration and spying, with politics playing its dirty hand even in that area which should have been treated as sacrosanct and left untouched without unnecessary meddling by vested interests. Alas, in India it is not the case.

If we invest our scarce rupees on intelligence operatives, pay them well, pay our spies well instead of hoarding our money in Swiss Banks, we might be able to tackle the scourge of terrorist attacks. While it is easier to believe that the U.S. stopped many publicly unknown terror strikes post 9/11, it is difficult to believe that India got its act together and stopped 99% of the attacks post 26/11 (the November 26 attacks on Mumbai in 2008). We have allowed families of known terrorists with Interpol red corner notice on their heads, roam free in Mumbai. We have the technology to intercept all communications coming from known terrorist havens, what have we done ?

I am sure that even on these latest terror attacks on Zaveri Bazaar and Opera House, the government should have had warning from the U.S., who apply technology and make use of their extensive intelligence gathering in a much better way than we do. And, remember, the U.S. does this all over the world, not just in their own country ! But, we can’t even monitor what happens in Mumbai, just one city of our country !!

Yes, it is a given that we have over 16 million people in Mumbai. But, government cannot and should not absolve itself of its duty-bound responsibility with statements such as “we have done a much better job this time” and “Mumbai people are resilient and they will fight back” and such nonsense. Just articulate engagements with the media are not enough, we have to look for real actions on the ground. The only positive factor was that the Home Minister of India and the Chief Minister of Maharashtra were quick to take charge of matters. But again, just speeches are not enough.

Let us all do our duty and things will be taken care of. It is absolutely clear to any layman that the government and security forces and intelligence agencies have not done their job even this time around. And the result is scores of people dead on the streets and hundreds injured. Is this a trial run for something bigger to happen ?

It is time we challenge the notion that people will go on taking such attacks in their stride. Yes, there is no option but to eat, work and sleep. But that does not mean people condone acts of omission. People now want action from the government.

Will the government measure up, atleast now ? Can Mumbai take one more massive attack by terrorists who do not have any conscience ?

Time to wake up.

Cheers,

Vijay Srinivasan
16th July 2011
Mumbai

Online Security

With the rapid proliferation of mobile internet devices such as advanced smartphones and tablets, it is now not uncommon to see people browsing the web using these devices in public places. Earlier it was just the laptop-toting executives accessing their emails and the internet using high-speed data cards. While those folks still abound in airport lounges, even amongst them there is a distinct movement towards mobile devices. Probably the move is happening faster in India and other emerging countries, which are not having an economic growth problem currently.

But now, the general population, especially the well-to-do teenagers are making a huge impact on the mobile internet space in India. Huge number of people are going for these devices, and the Apple iPAD has taken off like a rocket as the price is not much different from an advanced smartphone.

With the proliferation of these devices, everyone seems to be giving a miss towards paying attention to online security. There has been a series of cyber attacks on government institutions around the world, and the hackers seem to be thriving. Cyber attacks seem able to bring down the operations of a government agency or a company or a bank quite easily, as the defences are not perfect and always fall behind the advances made by hackers. More software implementations by the organization to defend themselves seem to excite the hacking community as they probably laugh at the weak efforts !

Given such a situation, it is best not to use public Wi-Fi Hotspots for accessing one’s personal information. I strictly limit myself to accessing public information such as news media online using hotspots, but I have stopped even that as I find that unscrupulous elements might gain access to my device or laptop by means unknown to me (I will never know as that is not my specialty anyway). I dread to imagine what would happen if we all shift to online payments from a mobile device which is slowly but surely becoming a reality in India with the support of the banking regulator.

While I am not against the mobile device becoming an “alternative” to the wallet or for ensuring that one stays constantly on his/her social network, I believe that we should use common sense wherever there is a reasonable chance of account penetration. Most Wi-Fi hotspots are not secure, as the owners such as coffee shops can hardly bother to spend more money securing their “public” free-use networks. May be airport networks are secure. But not all networks. I have secured my home network from day 1, and now I have added more security so that the nearby teenage hackers (I seriously doubt if there is any one around my place) would have to do hard work to even figure out what I have done. While I cannot challenge the global hackers for sure, it is critical to invest in protecting one’s own online activities. A little money will go a long way, though it cannot fully eliminate the threat. While even the U.S. government appears to be struggling and battling the online threats, how can any other person do it on his/her own ?

So, my conclusion at this point in time is to avoid doing online what you wouldn’t do in public off-line anyway. Think ! Let the systems develop more and let the guinea pigs try out the safety for the next couple of years ! Then we will see !! In the meanwhile, the home laptop with the secured access to the internet is the best way to conduct online activities in the personal space.

Cheers,

Vijay Srinivasan
2nd July 2011
Mumbai

God’s Anger at Man’s Stupidity

The worst accident at the Sabarimala Hills yesterday causing the death of over 100 pilgrims due to a stampede reflects on the poor preparedness of the State Government and the law enforcement authorities. Even during the best of times, the citizens cannot expect much from any government, but the complete apathy towards what is a human tragedy of such proportions can only be termed callousness.

The government of the day anywhere in the world enjoys its position due to the support of the citizens to get elected in the first place. The safety, security and well-being of the citizens should be the first priority of any government, and these criteria should take absolute priority in the government’s reckoning.

But, alas, this is not the case in India.

Any law enforcement authority would strictly regulate access to a place of national religious importance, and ensure that the pilgrims follow a certain route up and down the hill. There should be more than adequate security provided during the months of heavy pilgrim influx, which is the case now. Having a few policemen loitering around when there were nearly 2 Lacs pilgrims on top of the Sabarimala Hill can only be termed as gross negligence of duties on the part of the government.

Presuming nothing much is going to happen as this is a holy place or some such logic would have played on the minds of the law enforcement authorities. But there are obviously several factors at play when you have such a huge crowd – on the one hand, people have to navigate a narrow hilly path through a forest, and tensions could flare up between any two persons leading to a scuffle ; on the other hand, the same path is used by vehicles and any mishap between two vehicles can easily cause a serious accident. Both these occurrences seemed to have happened last night.

One can only regret the consequences. Imagine the plight of thousands of people caught in a stampede ? Can we dismiss this as an inevitable result of India’s humongous population ? Or, should we accept the fact that a few policemen could not obviously control so many thousands of people ? Who should be blamed for this tragedy ?

Accidents are avoidable in almost all situations. Government is to be held solely responsible, as it always has had the regulatory authority to control the situation and the outcome, irrespective of numbers. It did not exercise that power in this situation, and it does not do so in many other valid situations crying for governmental intervention.

Well, God is angry at men and their stupidity for having elected governments who do not perform their duties.

When is man going to change and mend his ways ?

Sincere Regret at what happened to man last evening at Sabarimala,and heartfelt condolences,

Vijay Srinivasan
15th January 2011
Mumbai