NATGRID Surveillance
This topic is part of Daily Current Affairs – 08 January 2026
Recent reports reveal the expansion of NATGRID, including its integration with the National Population Register (NPR) and increased access for police units, raising concerns about privacy, oversight, and digital authoritarianism.
About NATGRID
Purpose: Created after the 26/11 Mumbai attacks to improve coordination among intelligence agencies.
Function: Allows 11 central agencies to access data from 21 different sources like travel, telecom, finance, and identity records.
Technology: Acts as a central data integration platform to combine scattered data for faster investigation and threat detection.
Current Status: Now fully operational and handles around 45,000 data requests every month.
Expanded Access: Use of NATGRID has widened to include state police, even at the Superintendent level.
Integration with NPR and Gandiva
NATGRID is now linked to the National Population Register (NPR), which holds data on 1.19 billion residents.
This shift moves from tracking events to mapping individuals, raising fears of mass surveillance.
Deployment of Gandiva, an advanced analytics engine, enables entity resolution — matching fragmented data to individuals.
Combined with facial recognition, this allows deep profiling using KYC and driving licence databases.
Key Concerns
Lack of Oversight: NATGRID operates without a statutory framework or independent monitoring, even by Parliament.
Risk of Bias: Algorithms may reinforce existing social prejudices (caste, religion, geography) under the guise of objectivity.
Scale of Surveillance: High volume of data queries risks turning safeguards into routine formalities.
Mission Drift: Originally meant for counter-terrorism, NATGRID is now used for routine policing.
Way Forward
Establish legal safeguards and a clear statutory framework for surveillance systems.
Ensure judicial oversight and parliamentary oversight to prevent misuse of power.
Promote transparency in intelligence operations and accountability for failures.
Limit surveillance to specific, justified cases, not mass profiling.
Strengthen data protection laws and uphold the Right to Privacy affirmed in the Puttaswamy judgment (2017).
Conclusion
NATGRID’s expansion reflects a shift from targeted intelligence to widespread surveillance. Without legal checks and democratic oversight, it risks becoming a tool of digital authoritarianism. India must balance national security with civil liberties to preserve constitutional values and public trust.
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NATGRID- FAQs
What is NATGRID and why was it created?
NATGRID was created after the 26/11 Mumbai attacks to improve coordination among intelligence agencies by enabling faster access to integrated data for counter-terrorism and security investigations.
How does NATGRID collect and use data?
NATGRID surveillance system allows 11 central agencies to access data from 21 sources such as telecom, travel, finance, and identity records for threat detection and investigations.
Why is the integration of NATGRID with NPR controversial?
The linkage of NATGRID with the National Population Register (NPR) shifts surveillance from event-based tracking to individual profiling, raising concerns of mass surveillance and privacy violations.
What are the major privacy concerns related to NATGRID?
Key privacy concerns include lack of a statutory framework, absence of parliamentary oversight, algorithmic bias, and the risk of misuse due to the large scale of routine data queries.
How does NATGRID challenge the Right to Privacy in India?
The expansion of NATGRID surveillance may conflict with the Right to Privacy upheld in the Puttaswamy judgment (2017) if surveillance is not limited, justified, and legally regulated.
