NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE GRID (NATGRID)

News: NATGRID has evolved into a tool of mass surveillance without adequate legal safeguards, pushing the country towards digital authoritarianism

NATGRID:

• A middleware search platform
• Allows 11 central security agencies to query data across 21 databases, including Identity records, Travel & immigration and other
• No Law, Only Executive Power

Recent Developments (2025)

• ~45,000 queries per month
• Access expanded to State police, Officers down to Superintendent of Police

Linking with NPR

National Population Register

• Database of 1.19 billion residents
• Includes Family relationships, Household structures
• Politically sensitive due to links with National Register of Citizens (NRC)

IntegrationàDangerous

• Earlier: NATGRID → tracked specific suspects/events
• Now: NPR + NATGRID → enables mapping of every resident
• Shift from targeted intelligence to population-wide surveillance

Gandiva

• An analytics engine used by NATGRID, What It Does:
• Entity resolution: Decides whether different records belong to the same person
• Works with: Facial recognition, Telecom KYC, Driving licence databases and other 

Concerns:

• Violates proportionality & legality
• Weakens privacy (Puttaswamy doctrine)

Way Ahead

• Ensure Privacy-by-Design
• Clear Separation from NPR
• Access Control & Accountability