The National Investigation Agency has been tasked with creating a national database for cases related to narcotic substances, hawala, arms smuggling, fake currency, bomb blasts, terror funding, and terrorism, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said at an event commemorating 13 years of the NIA. He added that the agency has commenced its work on such a database. Shah said that a database is required to bring about a change wherein investigations are not dependent on the third degree but “ the degree of data, technology, and information” available with the agencies. "The situation in this field is not very satisfactory right now. The IB, NIA and NATGRID are working towards this goal together,” Shah revealed. He stressed that there is a need to share the database with other agencies which deal with the aforementioned issues. “It will also be helpful if we add the data collected by state agencies to it.” “If this data is maintained and analysed properly then it will be helpful to everyone including the investigation and the courts. Any data, if it is maintained in silos, is of no use,” Shah said in his address. [embed]https://twitter.com/Aakar__Patel/status/1517036640673628160[/embed] The database highlights how state surveillance is increasing in the country. The project raises concerns about privacy violations in the absence of checks and balances given that the new database will be a part of the intelligence infrastructure which is likely to exempt it from public scrutiny. Is this NATGRID? It is not clear from Amit Shah’s address if this database…
