Govt doesn't maintain data about collection of call detail records: Dhotre

The government does not maintain data for the number of instances individual call detail records (CDRs) have been collected, Parliament was informed on Thursday.

Minister of State for Communications Sanjay Dhotre, in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha, said according to the Ministry of Home Affairs, Law Enforcement Agencies (LEAs) obtain CDRs under the statutory provisions contained in Section 92 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 or the Indian Telegraph Act.

As informed by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), centralised database for the number of instances of individual CDR/ tower mast dump data collection is not maintained, Dhotre said.

While CDR carries date, time, duration and phone numbers of calls made by a subscriber, the tower mast dump data has details of all mobile numbers connected to a particular mobile tower during a particular time period.

Telecom operators had raised concerns last year over the Department of Telecom (DoT) units seeking call data records in bulk.

Apex Advisory Council for Telecom in India (ACT), in a letter to Telecom Secretary Anshu Prakash, had raised concerns over CDR being sought of VVIP zones.

It claimed the DoT unit of Delhi demanded CDRs of the entire state for February 2, 3 and 4, 2020 and separately for specific routes in Delhi with residences of ministers, MPs, judges and important officials.

However, the DoT had issued a statement clarifying that it was collecting call data records without personal details of subscribers to analyse call drops and improve telecom networks.