During a meeting of the content blocking committee, a Tamil Nadu police officer stated that they were unable to track down the people who were sending fictitious bomb threats to schools via Proton Mail.
According to information obtained by HT, the Tamil Nadu police requested that the ministry block Proton Mail because they were unable to identify the individuals responsible for a fictitious bomb threat that was sent via the service to thirteen schools in the Chennai region last week.
The newspaper also stated that a nodal officer for the Tamil Nadu police stated yesterday that efforts to track down the offenders’ IP addresses and contact Interpol for assistance were unsuccessful.
It further stated that the officer attended a committee meeting related to Section 69A of the Information Technology Act that was conducted as part of the process of blocking online content.
HT reported that during the meeting, representatives of the IT ministry mentioned that they frequently had trouble getting information on criminal matters from Proton Mail.
The IT ministry had informed Proton, the Swiss software company that provides Proton Mail, about a “potential block,” and the company was thinking about how to collaborate with Indian authorities to find a solution.
What Proton management said after blocking news?
“Blocking access to Proton is an ineffective and inappropriate response to the reported threats. It will not prevent cybercriminals from sending threats with another email service and will not be effective if the perpetrators are located outside of India,” Proton also told HT.
According to Proton’s website, user data for its email service is “protected by strict Swiss privacy laws.”
Proton must also “cooperate with law enforcement agencies on criminal investigations within the framework of Swiss laws and privacy regulations,” as required by Swiss law. This cooperation may involve sending data via Swiss authorities.
Proton also provides cloud storage, password managers, and virtual private networks, or VPNs, as well as other services.