I am probably even anonymous to my neighbours, because no one has time for others. But that doesn’t mean I am anonymous within my residential community. Residents’ welfare association, private security guards employed by them, cable-TV provider, internet provider, newspaper vendor, local taxi stand, neighbourhood shop, home-delivery food outlets, electrician, plumber, parking attendant at shopping centre, these are all instances of people who know who I am. It is impossible to exist without leaving a trail and I am not anonymous vis-à-vis them.  While the precise list may vary from one kind of residential area to another, such facilitatory networks generate enough information. It is just that this isn’t factored into intelligence-gathering. If we expect police or other centralised counter-intelligence bodies to gather preventive intelligence, it simply won’t work. We will only have knee-jerk reactions of barricades and metal-detectors. The state of high-alert will pass and we will have another terrorist attack. There is a Model Police Act now, which has an explicit provision for bringing in community-level organisations. However, few states have implemented that particular provision. In a similar vein, labour market and consumption networks also generate enough information. Why isn’t this gathered and processed? This is more than the knee-jerk idea of requiring every bicycle-purchaser to provide identity cards. Incidentally, no identity card seems to be required for purchasing explosives. There is a broader issue of the unorganised nature of many commercial transactions. In a developing country that’s inevitable. But while small may be beautiful, beauty has nothing to do with business. Large and organised, not government-induced smallness, is good for business. It is also good for security.

... contd.