Govt mandates storage of ISD, satphone, conference calls, message details, for 2 years
Why in news:
- The government has mandated storage of international calls, satellite phone calls, conference calls and messages made over normal networks as well as on the internet for a period of at least two years.
- The move follows an amendment made in the unified licence (UL) in December by the Department of Telecom (DoT) which extended storage of call data records as well as internet logs to two years from earlier provision of one year.
Ministry involved:
- Department of telecom is under ministry of communications
- Minister of communications – Ashwini Vaishnaw
About amenedment:
- UL holders are telecom companies like Bharti Airtel, Reliance Jio, Vodafone Idea, BSNL for providing all kinds of telecom services, except satellite phone services.
- The licensee shall maintain all commercial records, call data record, exchange detail record, IP detail record with regard to the communications exchanged on the network.
- Such records shall be archived for at least two years for scrutiny by the licensor for security reasons and may be destroyed thereafter unless directed otherwise directed by the licensor,
- The amendment applies to companies like Tata Communications, Cisco’s Webex, AT&T Global Network, etc. who have subscribed to these licences.
- The DoT made amendments in ILD licence on January 25 which besides extending an additional one year for maintaining call detail records includes provision for storing details of international communications made using internet protocol.
- A similar amendment has been issued for licence issued to BSNL for providing satellite phone calls and data services as well as for VSAT licence holders who provide satellite based services on January 24 mandating them to maintain call data and internet communications records for at least two years.
- Before the new amendment, In India, mobile companies and telecom providers were store the records for six months or 180 days.
- These call records can only be accessed through particular mobile companies. No one else has the right to inquire or pass information about an individual’s call records without a legal order from the court.
Why is it important for telecom companies to keep call records?
- It is mandatory for telecom companies to secure call records for a specified period as these can prove instrumental in legal proceedings and court cases. Not only this, they can also be beneficial in tracing lost mobile phones, stolen phones, trail necessary information, and for solving criminal and non-criminal cases.
- The stored records contain crucial information, including:
- How many calls an individual has made
- Calls have been made to which all numbers
- The time and duration of the calls
- Which mobile network or tower is received while making a particular call
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