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tion and supervision from highly ranked officials of privacy of millions of Indian citizens.”
Central and state governments, for clearly stated rea-
sons in national interest,” Ravi Shankar Prasad said. COUNTER CHARGES
The government has asked Facebook-owned What- The minister also sought to remind the Opposition,
sApp to explain the nature of a snooping operation which urged the Supreme Court to step in, of earlier
involving an Israeli spyware on Indian journalists, cases of privacy breach under Congress rule. “Those
activists and academics, and the Union home minis- trying to make political capital out of it need to be gen-
try described as “misleading” attempts to malign the tly reminded about the bugging incident in the office
government. Union information technology minister of the then eminent finance minister Pranab Mukher-
Ravi Shankar Prasad said in a statement: “The Gov- jee during UPA regime. Also a gentle reminder of the
ernment of India is concerned at the breach of pri- spying over the then army chief Gen. V.K. Singh. These
vacy of citizens of India on the messaging platform are instances of breach of privacy of highly reputed
WhatsApp. We have asked WhatsApp to explain the individuals, for personal whims and fancies of a
kind of breach and what it is doing to safeguard the family,” Prasad said.

CAN YOU AVOID SNOOPING given by Minister of State for Home

Affairs G Kishan Reddy to a question
BY QUITTING WHATSAPP? posed by DMK MP Dayanidhi Maran
in Parliament on November 19, 2019.
The government just said in a state-
ment that Section 69 of the Informa-
HE ANSWER to this question tion Technology Act, 2000, empowers
Tis a big no. If you think that by the Central Government or a State
uninstalling WhatsApp from your Government to intercept, monitor or
phone, your privacy or personal data decrypt or cause to be intercepted or
is safe, you are wrong because the monitored or decrypted any informa-
vulnerabilities are at the level of the tion generated, transmitted, received
operating systems. Of late, WhatsApp or stored in any computer resource
used by more than 1.5 billion people in the interest of the sovereignty or
in more than 150 countries, has been integrity of India, the security of the
under attack for Pegasus breach and State, friendly relations with foreign
the messaging app has sued Israel’s states or public order or for prevent-
NSO Group in a US court for violating fancy of people is Viber, which was ing incitement to the commission
its terms and conditions. founded in Israel in 2010 as an alter- of any cognizable offence relating
In the wake of Pegasus breach, native to Skype. Rakuten Viber claims to above or for investigation of any
tech-savvy people have been looking over a billion users across the globe offence.
at other messaging apps like Signal or out of which about 50 million are in The government also stated that
Telegram or other options on What- India itself. multiple agencies could be authorized
sApp like Viber. Are they safe? In the Now there is another hacking com- by a competent authority to intercept
case of WhatsApp, the Apps video ing on. If you have received an MP4 and decrypt in India — Intelligence
calling feature allowed the spyware to video on WhatsApp, you could be a Bureau, Narcotics Control Bureau,
snoop because of chinks in the operat- victim of snooping because another Enforcement Directorate, Central
ing systems. With WhatsApp officially malicious spywares has sneaked Board of Direct Taxes, Directorate of
confirming that its software was used into your phone. The Parliament Revenue Intelligence, Central Bureau
to install spyware on phones, many was rocked over the burning issue of Investigation, National Investiga-
users have deleted the WhatsApp. on November 19, 2019. However, the tion Agency, Cabinet Secretariat
Addictive users are joining messag- Indian Government was equivocal in (RAW), Directorate of Signal Intel-
ing platform Rakuten Viber, which its response when it was posed with ligence and Delhi’s Commissioner of
is also end-to-end encrypted. The a seven-part question on whether it Police. The answer does not explicitly
platform claims a 30-35 per cent jump used the malicious Israeli spyware touch upon the questions posed by the
in installations recently. Another Pegasus to tap citizens’ phones in the Member of Parliament pertaining to
messaging app that has caught the country. The written response was Pegasus at all.

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