Centre for Development of Telematics begins testing phone monitoring system

The Centre for Development of Telematics (C-DoT), a unit under the department of telecommunications (DoT), has begun technical and operational testing of its servers, linked to the servers of mobile operators. Once in operation, it would enable security agencies to tap phones, intercept and monitor calls without keeping telcos in the loop.

However, the requisite procedure for taking permission from designated authorities before any tapping is done would continue to be in place.

A senior DoT official confirmed that the process of testing may continue for over a month or two after which C-DoT will be mandated to maintain and run the CMS network. Once the CMS network is in place, government and security agencies do not have to take any support from telecom companies for phone-tapping or for interception and monitoring of communications like voice, data, SMS and internet as required by central and state-level law enforcement agencies.
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