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Sign in to search‘NATGRID’: The Search Engine of Digital Authoritarianism
The article critically examines the evolution of the National Intelligence Grid (NATGRID), conceptualised after the 26/11 Mumbai attacks to address intelligence failures arising from fragmented data silos. Initially envisioned as a secure middleware platform enabling limited, query-based access to multiple databases for counter-terrorism, NATGRID has gradually expanded in scope, scale, and ambition.
Recent developments mark a decisive shift. Usage has reportedly scaled up to tens of thousands of queries per month, access has widened beyond central agencies to state police units, and NATGRID is now being integrated with the National Population Register (NPR). This transformation moves the system from event-based intelligence to population-level mapping, aided by advanced analytics, facial recognition, and entity-resolution tools such as “Gandiva”.
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Explores NATGRID's expansion from counter-terror tool to population surveillance system, raising concerns about algorithmic bias, function creep, and erosion of civil liberties without statutory oversight.
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