Effort to stop Snowden-type situation.
By Deepak Chitnis
WASHINGTON, DC: In an effort to prevent the leaking of sensitive information and ensure stronger cyber security, the Indian government is expected to begin ordering employees to stop using popular email client “Gmail” for personal communiqués.
A high-level official with the Indian Ministry of Communications and Information Technology stated that a notification will be sent to about half a million government employees that will effectively ban the usage of Gmail, the e-mail service launched by Google in 2004 and made public in 2007.
The announcement is supposedly in response to the recent drama in the US over Eric Snowden, the former National Security Agency (NSA) contractor who blew the whistle on alleged spying practices being carried out by the Obama Administration. He left behind his roughly $200,000-salaried job and fled to Hong Kong for some weeks, then to Moscow, where he was a refugee in an international airport there before being granted asylum in the city.
Because Gmail servers are located in countries other than India, the government fears the data transmitted via the email client can be accessed by parties that have no business looking at it. The ease with which a Gmail account can be created is another cause of concern, since creating a government email account requires going through an entire vetting process before being granted one. The supposed ban would also come with new rules, such as government employees stationed abroad being required to access emails via NIC servers that are based in India.
A Google India spokesperson denied knowing anything about the alleged upcoming ban, calling it speculation, media report said. There is also no proof that any sensitive information has been sent or accessed through Gmail. This is seen – if it ends up being true, that is – as simply a precautionary measure to make sure that a Snowden-type situation does not erupt in India.