Fin min says no to Natgrid spying on bank account-holders -Governance Now

Fin min says no to Natgrid spying on bank account-holders

Says that it could shake citizens' faith on banks

GN Bureau | September 27, 2010

Even as the government plans to pry into your bank details - passing the espionage off as anti-terror measures - it is now facing some serious heat from heavyweights within over the proposed move. Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee has decried the move as one that could shake citizens' faith on the banking system.

"Intrusion into privacy of the bank depositors is just not acceptable as it will discredit the banking system and the people will start using other modes for securing their funds and carry on transactions," Mukherjee has warned in a handwritten note.

He conveyed his reservations to National Intelligence Grid (NatGrid) CEO Raghu Raman who has been pitching for 'instructions' to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to allow his organisation access to individual savings accounts through the district magistrates to detect 'terror money trail'.

Natgrid - working under the National Counter Terrorism Centre - will create a multi-level database on individuals that can be available real time to the intelligence, security and enforcement agencies.

Raghu Raman has made a sounding board of home minister P Chidambaram over the issue. However, sources said that Mukherjee is not impressed with Raman's submission that the database will not be leaked and privacy will be maintained, allowing only 11 specified agencies to have the access for the sole purpose of tracking the money flow into terrorism and other very serious crimes impinging the national security.

The database that NatGrid intends to collect and collate will include account withdrawals and deposits as well as other details like land records, income tax returns and insurance cover.

Raman, a defence expert from the private sector appointed as NatGrid's first CEO about a year ago, is working on finalising Natgrid's operations as the new organisation is supposed to start from next May. It will require networking of 21 databases to ensure quick, seamless and secure access of desired information by the intelligence and enforcement agencies.

The home ministry has already set a deadline of 24 months for all databases to be ready with the network for sharing in place, preferring a delivery in 18 months.

Though Raman has not been able to convince Mukherjee to drop his concern about the privacy of the bank account holders, he has succeeded in persuading the RBI to convene a meeting of chiefs of the commercial banks in Mumbai on October 1 to discuss how they can share information on heavy deposits and withdrawals of money at their banks with the designated senior government officials.

Raman will try to convince the bank executives that the information so gathered will not be locally disseminated, eliminating all possibilities of leakage that may amount to the breach of privacy clause by which banks are bound with their customers.

Though the proposal is to collect information through the district magistrates, a direct link between NatGrid and the banks has might also be mooted given that banks have aggressively pursued computerisation. High value transactions by individuals can thus be immediately noted and forwarded to NatGrid - eliminating physical collection of data which is susceptible to leaks.

A letter sent out by the RBI at the instance of Raman to the bank chiefs says that the meeting will discuss the mechanism the banks will use to share data on individuals with NatGrid.

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