The Ministry of Home Affairs has recently updated their guidelines, aiming to streamline the process of seeking legal assistance from foreign countries in criminal matters. This update will guide how data requests are processed during any criminal investigations. The new framework encompasses issuing directives on drafting and processing letters of request, mutual legal assistance requests, and service of summons, notices, and other judicial documents.
Accessing Data from Overseas Servers
Key social media platforms such as Facebook, WhatsApp, Google, Yahoo!, Twitter, and YouTube have their servers located outside India. As such, Indian investigation agencies need to adhere to a specific process to access the data from these servers. The updated norms come following the recent introduction of the Personal Data Protection Bill, 2019 to parliament.
Criteria for Seeking Information From Foreign Countries
Before initiating a request for information about a person’s email account hosted overseas, the investigating agencies must establish a nexus to a crime. This link is required to justify the breach of privacy inherent in accessing personal email information.
The Importance of Data Preservation
In the digital age, effective data preservation is critical in investigating cyber-offences and crimes involving digital evidence. Important records and information such as customer records, connection information, and stored data are created when accessing the internet via an ISP. These forms of evidence are crucial in establishing the guilt of the accused party. Given the fleeting nature of this type of evidence, it’s essential to ensure correct data preservation.
The G-8 24/7 Network
The G-8 24/7 Network enables law enforcement agencies to make urgent preservation requests for digital data. The request for data can be sent directly to the service provider or to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), the Indian contact point for the G-8 24/7 Network.
Time Period
The country from which data is requested must be informed about the time period for which the data is required. The transferred data should only be kept as long as necessary for the purpose it has been received and should be returned or deleted at the end of the specified period.
Table: Some facts about G-8 24/7 Network
| G-8 24/7 Network | Description |
|---|---|
| Purpose | Providing urgent assistance in investigations involving electronic evidence |
| Type of network | Point to point network |
| Contact point for India | Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) |
Understanding the G7 Summit
The Group of Seven (G7) is an annual forum for leaders from the world’s seven largest developed economies, where they discuss international economic and monetary issues. The G-7 originated from an informal meeting of finance ministers in 1973 following the oil crisis. Although Russia was added as a full-time member in 1998, making it the G-8, they were suspended in 2014 due to tensions in Ukraine and the annexation of Crimea.
The members of the G-7 are recognized as the wealthiest and most advanced nations globally and include France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Italy, the United States of America, Canada, Japan. Sometimes, the European Union is considered as an eighth member as it holds all the rights and responsibilities of full members except to chair or host the meeting.
