Christopher Soghoian is a well-respected digital security researcher, with particular focus on privacy and surveillance in the digital age. Currently, he is touring India. This is one of the first observations he made on his Twitter account after arriving in India early this month.

“It’s a police state here in Delhi. Just finding a place with public Wi-Fi is a serious effort, and then they copy my passport.”

Yes, indeed it is a police state.

This blog is all about technology and, I usually stick to my domain in public discourse. But I do have a strong opinion on the way the Indian government and the Indian society demonize an individual, making even something as basic as accessing the web a Herculean task for the common man. Let me illustrate it with a few examples.

Accessing web in Delhi

Look beyond the offices and the homes. If you don’t have the internet at home or at the office, you are going to access it through a cyber café and that is going to be major hassle.

First you require an ID card. This is a police requirement that is supposed to track terrorists. Unfortunately, we are yet to see a case where this requirement has managed to stop a terror attack in India. But it sure leads to a lot of harassment of genuine customers. Why? Because every café owner has his own idea of an ID.

Some want only a government-issued ID. Some insist upon an ID with a photograph. And there are some who have a fascination for your passport or driving licence – nothing else will do. I mean, just to check a mail, which will take 5 minutes, you have to fill in a form (particulars in a register) and submit a copy of a “proper” ID.

Getting a prepaid number

Once again, this is a security measure. And I feel it is quite appropriate. But most free countries, even countries that suffer due to terror, don’t require documentation from their own citizens. Tourists may be required to provide passport or visa copies. And I am sure there are better ways to it. After all, in India we even need to file an FIR and submit a copy of it to get a new SIM if the earlier one had been stolen. Totally ridiculous!

Photocopy issues

In Delhi, it is almost impossible to get a colour photocopy of a document. Apparently, photocopy shopowners have been asked, from what I am told, by the police not to give out a colour photocopy of ID cards and marksheets, etc. This is aimed at discouraging fraudsters. But, obviously, it turns out to be a major hassle for the common man.

Not only are the rules retarded, there is an ambiguity about them, so no one really knows what the rules are and in most cases is at the mercy of the shopkeepers. In one case I was even refused printouts of my bank statement and salary slip. The files were in my pen drive and the shopkeeper said that because people could modify these files, he would not give the printouts.

Can’t courier half of the items

Recently, I tried sending a packet (around 9kg) to some acquaintances in Hardwar. First of all, courier companies in India open any package you are sending. This is a security requirement. But it is also a privacy issue. If security is so paramount why can’t these companies put x-ray scanners, the way they do in other countries? Maybe because in India neither police nor governments give a damn to privacy.

Cut to the chase, I went to a DHL courier in Connaught Place. The courier guys opened the packet and then grandly declared that I couldn’t send dry fruits (around 1.5kg), a tiny bottle of perfume (around 10ml) and Sevai (around 2kg) through a courier service. All of these items are non-perishable and I could not fathom the logic of the DHL guys – why wouldn’t they send them. The courier guy first mumbled about some company policy and then told me it is a security requirement – apparently, these items were a security risk! Incredible India! I am beginning to believe in this slogan.

In contrast, BlueDart, a group company of DHL, had no problem with the items. But it wanted me to fill a few forms for ‘security’ reasons. It also took a copy of my ID card.

Can’t get a hotel room in Delhi

Apparently, hotels in Delhi, except the major ones like the Oberois and the Mauryas, were directed not to rent out room to people who live in Delhi. This again was a ‘security’ measure! When a national daily reported it on its front page, Delhi Police disowned the directive and said it would ask hotel owners to allow locals to stay in hotels.

Yes, there are some more examples:

— Half of the Delhi shuts down on I-Day, R-Day or whenever one of our high and mighty politicians wants to take a tour of the city

— Cops now feel that India Gate area, used by families poor and rich for their weekend picnics, is too open. They don’t want too many people around it.

— Tenant verification: This is another security measure that I feel is required but implementation can be a lot more better. For example, my colleague Krishna Mangalam tells me the odds he faced when he rented a flat in north Delhi. He was called for verification to the local police station and when he told cops that he didn’t have a permanent address — his family belongs to Andhra Pradesh and his father neither claimed his ancestral property nor built a house of his own — he was berated, “To aap kya sadak par rahte hain” (So, do you stay on the streets). Needless to say, his form was rejected as incomplete and he is in breach of the law as he has not completed the formality of the mandatory police verification for tenants. Is this how the State harasses and humiliates a citizen who does not have the means to buy a property? I am sure that Mr Mangalam is not the only person in Delhi without a permanent address.

— Getting a bank account is another major hassle. You need people who can vouch for you. You need specific documents (like bank statement from a nationalized bank) for address proof. And no, rent agreement as proof of residence doesn’t work. How then does one give a proof of residence when the electricity and water bills are generated in the name of the landlord, and the ID cards of private firms, bills of private telecom providers and even stamped post cards bearing the name and address of a person are not considered as proof of residence? And talking about a bank statement of a nationalized bank carrying a person’s address as a proof of residence, how can a person open a savings bank account in a nationalized bank in the first place, when all these banks have a similar requirement of furnishing proof of residence?

Across the world, different countries face different challenges. Especially, when it comes to terrorism, countries do all they can to mitigate the risk. The US is one example. But no nation does it at the cost of its own citizens. No free country harasses, and humiliates, its own citizens. Civilized nations make sensible laws that deal with the root of the problem and do not enforce mindless diktats.

In India, however, taking a problem seriously and working towards a solution is something that interests no one, least of all politicians and cops. Instead, all we get are stupid cyber café, photocopy and courier rules. These rules don’t deter terrorists or fraudsters. The country still suffers terrorist attacks and the number of crooks is arguably the highest in India. But these rules do make living life in the capital of India a hell.

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