Social media to come under surveillance
Proposal to procure devices at a cost of Tk 236 crore will be placed before the cabinet body on purchase meeting today
DEEPAK ACHARJEE
The National Telecommunication Monitoring Centre (NTMC), which tracks mobile and fixed-line phone calls to identify and locate suspected criminals, will purchase the Social Media Monitoring System (open source intelligence) and Related Service for controlling telecom operators in the country.
Under the Social Media Monitoring System, devices for remote call interception, rogue BTS identification, dark and deep web monitoring, and content blocking and filtering would be purchased from abroad at a cost of Tk. 236 crore, according to sources in the home ministry.
The Security Service Division of the home ministry has prepared a proposal and it would be placed at the meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Purchase today (Tuesday), the sources said.
Mostafa Kamal Uddin, secretary of the Security Service Division of the home ministry, said they are going to purchase the integrated lawful interception system called Social Media Monitoring System (open sources intelligence) and Related Services to control all the telecom operators to stop cyber crimes.
The NTMC will purchase the Social Media Monitoring System (open sources intelligence) and Related Services to boost the centres activities, he added.
Social media monitoring tools require less time to process data and reveal insights from social media and Internet sources. The open source intelligence (OSINT) techniques support the collection and analysis of relevant and targeted information for a variety of needs and sectors.
Earlier, the NTMC had purchased the Vehicle Mounted Data Interceptor to help combat militant activities and also beef up security for the countrys important persons.
The NTMC has been functioning directly under the home ministry as per Clause 97 (Ka) of the Bangladesh Telecommunications (amended) Act, 2006.
Earlier, the NTMC was set up comprising members of different intelligence agencies, such as the Directorate General of Forces Intelligence (DGFI), the Special Security Force (SSF), the National Security Intelligence (NSI), the Special Branch (SB) of police and the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB). Members of the NTMC are tracking phone calls of criminals, suspected war criminals, militants, political leaders and others across the country to gather knowledge about their activities.
Apart from the NTMC, all intelligence units of law enforcement agencies, such as the RAB, the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) and the SB, track phone calls.
MK
