A PR strategy for Government of India on tackling the NSA snooping.

1. Content
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The Crisis
Bare facts about NSA
The Sources
What is the issue?
Indian Embassies Snooped!
The Stake-holders
Government of India‟s Stand
Role of Media
NSA‟s Statement
Some contradictory statements
What the GoI can do
What the GoI could do (PR perspective)
PR Insights

2. The Crisis
National Security Agency‟s (NSA)
surveillance on Indian Government and
Indian Embassies in the United States.

3. Bare facts about NSA
• National Security Agency was earlier known as the Armed Forces Security
Agency, created on May 20, 1949
• NSA helps monitoring, collecting, decoding, translating and analysis of
information for the U.S decision makers and military leaders
• It is also responsible for the protection of U.S government communications
and information systems
• NSA is the main producer and manger of signal intelligence for the United
States
• The agency is authorised to accomplish its mission through bugging
electronic systems and allegedly engaging in sabotage through subversive
software

4. The Sources
Edward
Snowden
• The Whistleblower
• A NSA System
administrator
•
Former NSA
contractor, granted
political asylum in
Russia.
Glenn
Greenwald
Shobhan
Saxena
• An independent U.S.
journalist, currently
working with Britain‟s
Guardian newspaper
• An Indian journalist
• An investigative
reporter with The
Hindu
• Contacted by former
NSA contractor
Snowden to unmask US
Surveillance programs
• Co-authored with
Greenwald on NSA
spying

5. What is the issue?
• The US National Security Agency regularly collected information and
intercepted communication in India despite the friendly relationship
between the two nations, according to the documents disclosed by NSA
whistleblower Edward Snowden.
• The NSA used at least two major programs to monitor communication
in India:
 Boundless Informant:Records the number of phone calls and emails
made over a certain time span
 PRISM:
o Intercepts and collects actual data content from telecommunication
networks.
o Also collected information about certain specific issues “not related to
terrorism” through Google, Microsoft, Facebook, Yahoo, Apple,
YouTube and several other web-based services.

6. •
In March 2013, the NSA collected 6.3bn pieces of information
from internet networks and 6.2bn pieces of information from
the country's telephone networks over a period of 30 days
• India was NSA‟s fifth likeliest surveillance target in the world
after Iran, Pakistan, Jordan and Egypt
• And according to the PRISM report, much of the
communication targeted is not related to terrorism
• Instead, much of the surveillance was focused on India‟s
domestic politics and the country‟s strategic and commercial
interests
• It has also been revealed that the PRISM was used to intercept
and pick content on at least three issues related to India‟s
geopolitical and economic interests, which are-Nuclear, Space
and Politics

7. • In July, it was first reported that 38 embassies and diplomatic missions,
including the Indian Embassy in Washington, were targeted by the
NSA
• According to the 2010 Communication Intelligence document about
“Close Access SIGADs”, the offices of Indian diplomats and highranking military officials stationed at these important posts were targets
using four different kinds of electronic snooping devices (bugs):
Lifesaver : Facilitates imaging hard drives of computers
Highlands : Makes digital collection from implants
Vagrant : Collects data of open computer screens
Magnetic : Collects of digital signals
• The document about India had mentioned Politics, Space and Nuclear
as the “end products”, according to an official of India Intelligence, it
means that they have been listening in real time to what our political

8. Indian Embassies Snooped
 The office of India’s
permanent
representative to the
UN in New York,
houses:
• India‟s permanent
representative
• Deputy permanent
representative
• A minister
• A political coordinator
• Six Counselors
• A Colonel-rank
military advisor
• Several other
secretaries who look
after different areas of
India‟s engagement
with the world
 The Chancery
building of the Indian
Embassy in
Washington, DC.
which has offices of :
• The Indian ambassador
• The deputy chief of
mission
• Several ministers and
counsellors who head
political, economic,
defence and industry
sections
• Three Defence
Attachés representing
the Indian Army, Air
Force and Navy
 India maintains its
diplomatic, trade and
strategic ties with the
U.S from this building
The Embassy annex
in Washington, DC.
which has:
• The consular section
- looks after visa
services
• The commerce
department involved in a broad
range of trade issues
and negotiations
besides assisting the
Indian businesses
• An office of the
ISRO - takes care of
cooperation between
two countries in the
field of space

9. The Stake-holders
All the departments
of the GoI:
- economic,
- political,
- scientific
- diplomatic,
- military
All the citizens of India
All foes or allies of the US, who are spied
upon, incl. US citizens

10. Government of India’s Stand
• At the International Telecommunication Union
(ITU) by UN, The Obama administration, refused
to sign the International Telecom Regulations and
asserted that cybersecurity be kept out of the
treaty‟s mandate and India chose regrettably to
side with the U.S. as India‟s Central Monitoring
System (CMS) intercepts private communication
in the same vein as the NSA
• Prime Minister Manmohan Singh‟s reluctance to
protest against the NSA spying excesses during
his American trip
Continued…

11. • The Indian mission to the UN has not reacted to the reports of
snooping on foreign missions, but an Embassy officials said, “Our
government has expressed concerns over the reports of monitoring
of the Indian Embassy in Washington, D.C. by U.S. agencies, and
the Embassy in Washington D.C. has raised these concerns with the
U.S. government,” without elaborating in which meeting the issue
was raised or what was the response of American officials.
• Three possible reasons why India is holding back:
 Prime Minister Singh does not wish to tarnish the piece de
resistance in his foreign policy tab,
 GoI worries about a potential blowback in ties on technology
transfer, private investment and defence cooperation,
 The government needs to sustain its own monitoring and
intercepting of communication, for which it needs U.S. assistance

12. Role of Media
• The article about NSA surveillance first came out through an article
by Gleen Greenwald on Britain‟s Guardian newspaper
• Greenwald then co-authored with Sobhan Saxena on NSA spying in
The Hindu newspaper
• The Hindu had access to the top secret documents of the NSA
which was disclosed by Snowden
• The Hindu have been very vocal about the snooping issue since June
• Very soon other news media picked up the issue incl CNN IBN,
NDTV, TIMES NOW, ABP news.
• Media grilled the Spokes-person of the GoI about the gross
negligence of nation‟s security, its lack of aggressive persuasion, its
failure of counter-intelligence and the safety of its citizen‟s privacy

13. • Online media saw floods of negative posts and comments by
disgruntled citizens on the passive nature of the GoI on tackling this
issue
• Hundreds and thousands of tweets and FB-comments were posted
when the people came to know that the NSA snooped their online
accounts of Gmail, Yahoo, MSN, Facebook, Twitter and other web
apps.
• Media played a vital role in exposing the role of NSA in gross data
snooping of Indian citizen, prior to this even the GOI wasn‟t aware
of the NSA surveillance in their own embassies in the US
• Investigative journalism rather nation‟s counter-intelligence exposed
the breach of national security.
• It should be noted that some of the mainstream news media did not
pursue this news-bite as aggressively as expected may be due to
their allegiance to the ruling party

14. A clipping from The Hindu

15. NSA’s Statement
• U.S. President Barack Obama and other top American
officials have all claimed that the surveillance activities
were aimed exclusively at preventing terrorist attacks.
• A spokesman for the Office of the Director of National
Intelligence said: “The U.S. government will respond
through diplomatic channels to our partners and
allies. While we are not going to comment publicly
on every specific alleged intelligence activity, as a
matter of policy we have made clear that the United
States gathers foreign intelligence of the type
gathered by all nations. We value our cooperation
with all countries on issues of mutual concern.”

16. Government of India’s Statement
• “We had an issue, which was discussed when Secretary
Kerry was in India,” Indian Minister of External Affairs
Salman Khurshid said shortly after the visit. “He made a
very clear explanation that no content has been sought
or received of any email…So, I think as far as we are
concerned, there is no issue today.”
• “This is not surveillance,” Telecom & IT Minister Kapil
Sibal emphasized. “However, if we find that content and
data has or is being accessed by any other nation, we will
oppose it tooth and nail. We are not in the least
ambivalent about that.”
• Officials at the Indian Embassy claim that the premises are
safe. “Adequate measures are in place in this regard and
all steps taken to safeguard the national interest,”.

17. Some contradictory statements
• CPI leader Gurudas Dasgupta claimed that the
United States was carrying out surveillance over
India which amounted to “serious infringement”
of its political sovereignty and intrusion of
privacy.
• “Financial data of Indians is being monitored by
the U.S. agencies through its credit card
companies VISA and MasterCard … India should
also develop its own credit card system as has
been done by China which was essential for
nation‟s financial and economic security,”
asserted BJP MP Tarun Vijay

18. • U.S. State Department spokesman Patrick Ventrell stated
“While we‟re not going to comment publicly on the
specifics of alleged intelligence activities, as a matter of
policy we‟ve made clear that the U.S. gathers foreign
intelligence of the type gathered by all nations,”
• “If they could implant bugs inside communications
equipment of European Union office here and tap into their
communications cables as well, there is no reason to believe
that they didn‟t snoop on us,” said the diplomat, speaking
strictly on condition of anonymity. “We are still assessing
the damage. If they managed to copy our hard drives,
nothing is left to imagination.”
• Reacting to the reports, the Ministry of External Affairs
spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin had expressed concern at
the “disconcerting” reports and said that the government
would take up the concern with the Americans

19. What the GoI can do
• India could revive an IBSA (India-Brazil-South Africa)
proposal from 2011 and submit it again to the U.N. General
Assembly
– Set up a U.N. Committee for Internet-Related Policies (CIRP),
– It would comprise a rotating group of 50 countries serving in an
advisory capacity on Internet governance policies,
– CIRP would be positioned ideally to highlight egregious
surveillance schemes of the U.S. and other countries
• BRICS members would circulate an annual “name and shame”
list of the companies who shares users‟ data to multilateral
avenues and civil society forums across the world. The negative
publicity would do more than its fair share to make IT
companies rethink their clandestine collaboration with the U.S.

20. What the GoI can/could do (PR perspective)
• Hold a meeting with mobile and long distance operators such as
Bharti, Reliance, Tatas, BSNL, MTNL, Uninor and Vodafone to
issue a „Transparency Report‟ on all mainstream print media,
about
– the number of request by International Agencies for user data
– the necessary legal document they had to submit to access it
• Could organize a press conference and publicly call upon Google,
Microsoft, Facebook, Yahoo, Apple, YouTube and several other
web-based services to issue „Transparency Report‟ for the same to
be produced within a stipulated time frame
• Enter the digital media by uploading animated video on Youtube
and other sites about a close prototype of Indian safety measure to
counter foreign surveillance
continued…

21. • GoI could call for an internal meeting to
– Assure all the official that our intelligence agency has
taken adequate measures to make sure there is no bug
in any official lodgings and Embassies
– Indirectly warn them from issuing any statements
anonymous or otherwise that goes against the
sovereignty of the nation.
• Could endorse a press-tour for the journalists in
India‟s UN Embassy and the Embassy in
Washington D.C. to
– Explain the different levels of security that are in order
to check any form of external surveillance (without
giving away the core information about its security)
– Facilitate the flow of information from the journalist to
the media house
continued…

22. • Create pages on Social Media and reply to queries posted on
that page related specifically to the safety and security of
the citizens‟ privacy
• Announce the initiative of creating a national email client
and server and invite programmer (through ads. on
newspaper) to brainstorm on its design and module.
• Announce that when Parliament convenes for the winter
session they would table amendments to the National
Security Act and the Official Secrets Act which would
stipulate
– it is a punishable offence for Indian or India-base Internet and
telecom companies to share confidential information with
foreign governments about:
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Indian citizens,
Public-sector institutions,
Quasi-public sector
Officials.

23. PR Insights
• This is a building crisis and issues related to US surveillance on
India wont stop here.
• The GoI is not ready to take the U.S. head-on as they are obligated
to them for technology transfer, private investment and defense
cooperation.
• Transparency is lacking by the GoI, which is building up the crisis
further.
• There is a lack of aggression by the GoI, which is making them an
easy target for criticism on social media.
• There is no official assurance from GoI as such which is giving
room for official to speculate that the GoI intelligence has no idea
about the spying by NSA or they are helpless and hence
compromising the security of all the citizen.