Electronic surveillance

India: Opponents say Modi creating surveillance state

Several Indian government agencies have been armed with sweeping powers to intercept, monitor and decrypt information from any computer in the country, a move that critics say aims to make Indiathe next "Big Brother state".

After India's Home Ministry issued a notification on Thursday authorising 10 agencies with the power to tap, intercept and decrypt all personal data on computers and networks in India, opposition parties said the government is attempting to create a "surveillance state".

Among the agencies that are now enabled to exercise these snooping powers are the Research and Analysis Wing, the main foreign-intelligence gathering body, and the Intelligence Bureau report directly to the Prime Minister's Office.

Congress party chief Rahul Gandhi said this move showed Prime Minister Narendra Modi is "an insecure dictator".