National Intelligence Grid (NATGRID)
Context:
The National Intelligence Grid (NATGRID) is gaining significant traction, currently receiving approximately 45,000 requests a month from investigating agencies.
At a recent conference, the Union Home Ministry directed State police forces to liberally use the platform for investigations
About NATGRID:
The National Intelligence Grid (NATGRID) is an attached office under the Ministry of Home Affairs which aims to create an online database for collating scattered pieces of information of core security agencies and putting them on one platform.
It is a secure platform that allows police and investigating agencies to access government and private databases in real-time to enhance security and intelligence capabilities.
This was conceptualized in 2009 following the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks and the platform became fully operational recently.
It eliminates the need to seek data from multiple sources individually, providing a unified platform where an FIR is not necessary to access information.
NATGRID is exempted from RTI, 2005 under sub-section (2) of section 24.
Key Features & Access:
The platform provides access to diverse datasets including driving licenses, Aadhaar registration, airline data, bank records, and details of social media accounts relevant to specific issues
Authorized Users:
Originally this was designed for 10 Central agencies like IB, R&AW, NIA, ED, NCB.
Access has now been expanded to Superintendent of Police (SP)-rank officers in States
Challenges & Security:
State police officials have reported issues such as time-consuming login procedures and delays in retrieving real-time information.
With India witnessing over 20.41 lakh cybersecurity incidents in 2024, the government is taking steps to ensure the sanctity and protection of data on the platform.