WhatsApp, Others Under TRAI Lens for ‘Lawful Interception’

Once recommendations are in place, WhatsApp and other OTT platforms will have to allow lawful interception.

Telecom regulator is seeking to regulate OTT platforms

(Photo: The Quint)

With global pressure mounting on service providers for access to ‘encrypted’ messages, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) is working on recommendations for Department of Telecommunications to regulate WhatsApp, Facebook, Google and other OTT platforms in the country.

Most service providers claim that communication on their platform is ‘encrypted’ and they themselves do not have access to them. 

According to a report in The Indian Express, once the TRAI recommendations are accepted by DoT, WhatsApp and other OTT service providers will have to register themselves, and potentially allow “lawful interception” of communication sent or received through their platforms.

The move comes in the backdrop of tech giant Facebook moving Supreme Court for the hearing of a case related to WhatApp’s message encryption originally filed in the Madras High Court.

The petition sought order against WhatsApp to declare the linking of a mandatory identity proof for obtaining user account to curb the menace of fake news and unregulated users. 

WhatsApp in its defence is arguing that interception will threaten the privacy policy of the company.

The top court has sought a report from the IT ministry on the rules being prepared in this regard as the next hearing in the case is scheduled on 22 October.

At the world level, US Department of Justice is also making fresh case for access to encrypted communication.