Govt moots center to monitor mobile calls

NEW DELHI, INDIA: Even as the controversy over the security threats surrounding BlackBerry service in India is raging, the government today announced its plan to set up a Center for Communication Security Research and Monitoring (CCSRM) to enable security agencies to intercept and analyze call details.

Minister of state for IT and Communication Jyotiraditya Scindia said that the center will authorize law enforcement officials to monitor, intercept and analyze activities of required customers with the help of call data records.

The minister’s announcement is seen in consequential to the controversy over the BlackBerry wireless service, used to send and receive emails through handheld devices.

Security agencies sounded alarm over the BlackBerry service in India as the data transmitted cannot be tracked as it is passed through servers in Canada.

Authorities want BlackBerry maker Research in Motion (RIM) to give them access to algorithms needed to decrypt messages or shift the server from Canada to India. BlackBerry has an estimated 400,000 subscribers in India.