TigerText leaves security agencies worried

At a time when the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) is struggling to find a way to satisfy Indian law enforcement agencies (LEAs) on security issues related to BlackBerry smartphone, the Union Home Ministry has asked it to ensure that no mobile operator is allowed to offer a unique mobile application – TigerText – before getting clearance from the government and security agencies.

TigerText, intended for phones powered by Android and Windows Mobile operating systems and compatible to BlackBerry and iPhone, allows a user to send text messages or photos that gets deleted automatically from both the sender's and receiver's phone after a selected period of time. “Once a sender selects the message lifespan [from 1 minute up to 30 days], expired messages not only get deleted from both phones, but are not stored on any server and they cannot be retrieved once expired,” says the website of the U.S.-based technology firm. 

“The sender can also choose other options that do not exist with current texting technology such as deleting the history of the conversation or making a text message “Delete on Read,” meaning the message will disappear 60 seconds after the recipient opens the message,” it adds.

Can't retrieve messages

It is this very feature that has left the security agencies, including the Intelligence Bureau, perplexed as there would be no way to retrieve messages or photos which could be crucial for India's security. “The use of this service [TigerText] by Indian service providers may create problem to LEAs in their operational activities…It is requested that instruction may be issued to all service providers (mobile operators) that before the launch of this service, proper arrangements for LI [legal intervention] monitoring and prior approval of LEAs is required,” the Home Ministry's Internet Security wing said in its letter to DoT.

The DoT, which is yet to resolve security issues related to BlackBerry as LEAs are still not convinced by the solutions provided by the smartphone-maker Research In Motion, has no clue as to how to deal with the monitoring of this latest application. Though no operator is currently offering TigerText, with new smartphones and applications hitting the market, it is just matter of time when this new application is available in India, a senior Home Ministry official said. 

Courtesy : The Hindu