These permit real-time surveillance of phone calls, emails, and
social media to be used and abused and to contravene the right to
privacy. Legal justification in India for surveillance mostly draws
its force from enactments such as the Indian Telegraph Act, 1885,
and the Information Technology Act, 2000. Section 69 of the IT Act
allows the government to intercept, monitor, and decrypt any
information based on grounds of sovereignty, security, and public
order. This, however, has been criticized on account of inadequate
safeguards or judicial oversight and transparency, thereby making
the provisions vulnerable to exercise of misuse.
Information Technology Act, 2000
The IT Act 2000, and subsequent amendments to the act, form the
overriding legislation governing electronic communication in India.
Section 69 of the Act gives government wide powers to intercept,
monitor, and decrypt information whenever it deems necessary for
the safety of the nation, for public order,
