National Intelligence Grid (NATGRID)
The National Intelligence Grid (NATGRID) is a secure platform designed for police and investigative agencies to access various government and private databases in real-time. This platform has recently been linked to the National Population Register (NPR), which contains family-wise details of approximately 119 crore residents in India.
Purpose and Development
- NATGRID aims to enhance intelligence gathering and expedite criminal investigations through secure, indigenous platforms.
- The initiative was conceptualized after the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks in 2009 and became operational last year.
Functionality and Usage
- On average, NATGRID processes around 45,000 requests per month, accessible only to security agencies.
- The platform includes upgraded tools like Gandiva, which aids in facial recognition and entity resolution.
- Gandiva allows access to NPR data for details on family members of suspects.
Data and Privacy
- NATGRID is set to have access to databases linking about 14,000 police stations.
- Requests are classified into non-sensitive, sensitive, and highly sensitive categories, with highly sensitive data including bank statements and financial transactions.
- The system logs each query to ensure oversight and maintains checks and balances to address privacy concerns.
Access and Expansion
- Currently, NATGRID access is available to officers of Superintendent of Police rank and above.
- Initially, it was restricted to ten Central agencies such as the Intelligence Bureau, Research and Analysis Wing, and others.
Government Initiatives
- The Ministry has urged States to extensively use NATGRID for accessing various datasets, including driving licenses, Aadhaar, airline data, and more.
- A proposal for the Census 2027 was approved, with the NPR set as a precursor for the National Register of Citizens (NRC).
