Government decides to tighten process of accessing phone call record
Officer no less than the rank of SP or above to be authorised to seek details from telecom ops.
New Delhi: Tightening the process of obtaining telephone call data records (CDRs), the Centre has decided that an officer no less than the rank of Superintendent of Police or above will be authorised to seek such details from telecom operators.
The move comes days after three Delhi Police personnel and as many private detectives were arrested for allegedly obtaining call detail records of several prominent persons, including BJP leader Arun Jaitley.
A fresh set of guidelines detailing the process of accessing the CDRs by security agencies will be issued soon, official sources said on Tuesday.
Henceforth, only an officer of the rank of Superintendent of Police and above can request for CDRs and proper logs of CDRs accessed has to be maintained and subject to audit.
The SP, after maintaining the logs of CDRs, has to give a mandatory declaration to the concerned District Magistrate about the CDRs obtained every month.
The SP will also have to mention the reasons for accessing the CDR of a particular individual and ensure that data does not fall into wrong hands.
The DMs will forward the information to the concerned Chief Secretary for maintaining a state-wide record.
The guidelines will be issued by the Department of Telecommunications in consultations with Ministry of Home Affairs.