Letter to BS: Surveillance must require authorisation from a magistrate

Should be wary of corporate surveillance - from Google, Amazon, Facebook and its associated companies

This refers to “Governance over-reach” (December 24). Your editorial drives home the point that safeguards are inadequate while balancing the needs for national security and surveillance. It is a specious argument that if you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear. On the contrary, it is an unwelcome intrusion of the state in a common man’s life. 

This comes on the heels of a recent tender floated for “sentiment analysis”, and the big tech houses have evinced interest. The timing of the order is suspect, right at the doorstep of the elections. Remarkably, the current BJP dispensation has been