| | By Subhankar Kundu @ Tuesday, March 24, 2009 11:30 AM
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| | Internet user base is rapidly increasing in India. But there are security concerns related to potential misuses of traffic monitoring and interception by the internet service providers (ISPs) which cannot be ignored.
 However, informations on Indian internet users are more secured than users in the US, UK and Australia when it comes to installation of deep packet inspection (DPI).
Internet users should be aware of the deep packet inspection (DPI) to know its advantages and disadvantages. DPI has been put in place by the ISPs in Australia, the UK and US.
DPI gear is used to intercept and examine the contents of all data packets that flow over a network. The DPI technology allows ISPs to block, shape and prioritise traffic which pose a threat on users' personal information.
A Bharti Airtel technician who preferred to stay anonymous said, “There are different guidelines in different countries. ISPs install such security tools just to ensure safety on larger terms. In India, most of the ISPs ensure safety and security on users’ information. The scenario is bit different here. Any installation of such tool needs close look at users’ priorities”.
Satyam Infoway (SIFY) is one of the few companies in India that met government's mandates for intercept and traffic monitoring.
DPI providers are also targetting the growing number of carriers operating in India as it allows ISPs to create different service plans to meet business interests.
But, behavioural targeting is the biggest fear in DPI technology as it could be misused to get easy access to user information incognito and then sell them to meet commercial interests.
ISPs use DPIs to ensure their acceptable user policy is followed. For example, it can locate illegal content or abnormal bandwidth usage and also to filter traffic to remove copyrighted material.
ISPs have been trying to address entertainment industry's concerns to set up a mechanism in order to curtail illegal distribution of copyrighted content through free and paid downloads.
The internet users are not too keen on this technology either.
One such user said, “I would definitely not like ISPs to send me unnecessary ad messages using the DPI.”
Another said, “Users shouldn't only have the access to one’s inbox that contains personal information. Moreover, there is also a fear of ill elements sending even more spam mails.” X
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