Indien: Regierung will Nutzung von US-Mailprovidern in Verwaltungen verbieten (India: Government Wants to Ban Use of US Email Providers in Administration)

Die indische Regierung wird in Kürze all ihre Mitarbeiter auffordern, keine US-amerikanischen Mailprovider, allen voran Gmail, für ihre offizielle Kommunikation zu nutzen. Ziel der Regierung ist es, die Sicherheit von vertraulichen Information der Regierung zu erhöhen. Die indische Regierung sieht sich zu diesem Schritt gezwungen, nachdem die flächendeckende Überwachung des Internets durch die USA bekannt wurde, an dem auch amerikanische Unternehmen gezwungenermaßen beteiligt sind.

Wie The Times of India berichtet, gab ein leitender Beamter der indischen Regierung an, dass die Regierung plane rund 500.000 Angestellte darüber zu informieren, dass die Nutzung amerikanischer Mailprovider zur offiziellen Kommunikation nicht mehr gestattet sei. Stattdessen sollen die Angestellten zum offiziellen Mailservice des indischen National Informatics Center wechseln.

„Gmail data of Indian users resides in other countries as the servers are located outside. Currently, we are looking to address this in the government domain, where there are large amounts of critical data,“ said J Satyanarayana, secretary in the department of electronics and information technology.

Dass Angestellte der indischen Regierung und selbst Minister in Indien die Dienste von Gmail in Anspruch nehmen, statt auf Lösungen der eigenen Regierung zu setzen scheint nach Aussagen der Times of India keine Seltenheit zu sein.

Several senior government officials in India, including ministers of state for communications & IT Milind Deora and Kruparani Killi, have their Gmail IDs listed in government portals as their official email.

Ein Grund hierfür scheint die einfache und unbürokratische Anmeldung bei solchen Diensten zu sein. Wer eine offizielle Adresse der indischen Regierung haben wolle, müsse diese erst beantragen und in einem langwierigen Prozess seine tatsächliche Identität beweisen. Bei Gmail und anderen Mailprovidern hingegen sei eine Anmeldung oftmals mit wenigen Klicks durchführbar, wie ein leitender Angestellter im IT-Ministerium sagte.

Eine Pressesprecherin von Google Indien gab an, dass der Konzern bisher nicht von dem Verbot erfahren habe und es sich daher um reine Spekulation handele, auf die der Konzern nicht weiter eingehen wolle.

Erst in der letzten Woche gab der indische IT-Minister Kapil Sibal neue Richtlinien für im Ausland lebende Mitarbeiter der indischen Regierung bekannt. The Times of India berichtete:

„[…] the new policy will make it mandatory for all government officials stationed in Indian missions abroad to use only static IP addresses, virtual private networks and one-time passwords for accessing Indian government email services.“

Sibal ergänzte, dass alle Mails automatisch verschlüsselt würden und nur über indische Server des National Informatics Centers abgewickelt würden.

„All Indian missions will use NIC servers which are directly linked to a server in India and that will keep government information safe“

Sunil Abraham, Direktor des indischen Centre for Internet & Society in Bangalore nannte den Entschluss der Regierung „eine späte Reaktion“, begrüßte den Schritt aber dennoch:

„Use of official government email would also make it easier to achieve greater transparency and anti-corruption initiatives. Ministers, intelligence and law enforcement officials should not be allowed to use alternate email providers under any circumstance.“

The Indian government will soon instruct all its employees not to use US-based email providers, especially Gmail, for official communication. The government's objective is to improve the security of confidential government information. India considers this step necessary following revelations about large-scale internet surveillance conducted by the United States, in which American companies were also compelled to participate.

According to The Times of India, a senior Indian government official said that the government planned to inform around 500,000 employees that the use of American email providers for official communication would no longer be permitted. Instead, employees would be moved to the official email service operated by India's National Informatics Center.

„Gmail data of Indian users resides in other countries as the servers are located outside. Currently, we are looking to address this in the government domain, where there are large amounts of critical data,“ said J Satyanarayana, secretary in the department of electronics and information technology.

According to The Times of India, it is not uncommon for Indian government employees, and even ministers, to use Gmail services instead of relying on government-run alternatives.

Several senior government officials in India, including ministers of state for communications & IT Milind Deora and Kruparani Killi, have their Gmail IDs listed in government portals as their official email.

One reason appears to be the ease and speed of registration with such services. Anyone seeking an official Indian government email address reportedly had to apply formally and go through a lengthy process to verify their identity. By contrast, signing up for Gmail and other email providers could often be completed in just a few clicks, according to a senior employee in the IT ministry.

A spokesperson for Google India stated that the company had not yet been informed about the proposed restriction and therefore regarded the reports as speculation that the company would not comment on further.

Only a week earlier, Indian IT Minister Kapil Sibal had announced new guidelines for Indian government employees stationed abroad. The Times of India reported:

„[…] the new policy will make it mandatory for all government officials stationed in Indian missions abroad to use only static IP addresses, virtual private networks and one-time passwords for accessing Indian government email services.“

Sibal added that all emails would automatically be encrypted and routed exclusively through Indian servers operated by the National Informatics Center.

„All Indian missions will use NIC servers which are directly linked to a server in India and that will keep government information safe“

Sunil Abraham, Director of the Indian Centre for Internet & Society in Bangalore, described the government's decision as "a delayed reaction," but nevertheless welcomed the move:

„Use of official government email would also make it easier to achieve greater transparency and anti-corruption initiatives. Ministers, intelligence and law enforcement officials should not be allowed to use alternate email providers under any circumstance.“