Rapid Fire
Centre Amends IT Rules for Interception Record Destruction
- 16 Mar 2024
- 1 min read
The government has amended the Information Technology (IT) rules to allow for the Home Secretary or other bureaucrats in the Centre to issue directions to destroy digital records of interception or decrypt information.
- So far, the power lies with security agencies, such as law enforcement bodies.
- The amendment, outlined in a gazette notification by the IT Ministry, involves a modification to Section 23 of the Information Technology (Procedure and Safeguards for Interception, Monitoring, and Decryption of Information) Rules, 2009.
- Specifically, the term "security agency" has been replaced with "competent authority and the security agency," granting the Centre broader powers to issue directives for the destruction of digital evidence.
- Rule 23 of the law mandates that all records, including electronic ones related to interception, monitoring, or decryption of information, must be destroyed by security agencies every six months, unless deemed necessary for functional purposes.
Read more: New IT Rules
