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SNOOPING
ELECTION 2018

company NSO Group that has denied the allegations. Pegasus and WhatsApp hacks were used in India by
However, NSO Group has in the past said that it sells a group calling itself Ganges to target journalists and
its software only to government authorities and that activists. According to Citizen’s Lab, Pegasus and
it always requests them not to misuse it. WhatsApp hacks were used in India by a group calling
itself Ganges to target journalists and activists.
CHEQUERED PAST OF PEGASUS In 2016, Citizen Lab had unearthed an attempt by
This is not the first time Pegasus has been in the news the United Arab Emirates government to infect the
for being used as a tool by governments to snoop on phone of human rights activist Ahmed Mansoor
dissidents and activists. Last year, a report hinted through Pegasus. In 2018, two activist friends of the
that Pegasus was used to do surveillance of Jamal Saudi journalist and Washington Post columnist
Khashoggi, a Saudi journalist murdered in Turkey by Jamal Khashoggi had their devices infected by the
Saudi government operatives. Pegasus spyware. According to an investigation by
According to Citizen’s Lab, a Canada-based organi- Forbes, Saudi officials were able to ferret out crucial
sation that conducts researches on cyber security, information from the activists that would lead to the
assassination of Khashoggi in the
Saudi consulate in Istanbul. Last
year, a report hinted that Pegasus
was used to do surveillance of Jamal
Khashoggi, a Saudi journalist mur-
dered in Turkey by Saudi govern-
ment operatives.
LETTERS@TEHELKA.COM

fully); (iii) miscreants who may have
misused such technology acquired
by the Government. As elected
representatives, it is our responsi-
bility to ensure that these principles
are upheld in the actions of the
executive. We must use this op-
portunity to also deliberate on the
rules around interception, monitor-
ing and decryption of information.
As a democratic republic, we must
ensure adequate safeguards to pre-
vent any misuse of the executive’s
powers in an unauthorized manner
or for extraneous purposes”.
While expressing concern over the is extremely important to confirm The Supreme Court of India has
action by the government, the state- whether the use of such data intercep- clearly recognized the fundamental
ment observes that “before passing tion technology happened lawfully at right to privacy, and the need to ana-
any judgment, we must ascertain the the behest of the Indian Government lyze the legality, legitimacy, necessity
veracity of the information reported and following due process of law. and proportionality of any action that
in the media. These reports, and the The statement issued by the Chair- infringes on this right. The state-
alleged use of the technology,area man Standing Committee on Informa- ment concludes that “in the Standing
matter of grave concern”. tion Technology says that “it is equally Committee of Information Technol-
Therefore, the Standing Committee important to ensure that it did not ogy, members from both the ruling
will consider this matter at its next happen by (i) foreign entities (whether party and the opposition must work
meeting, scheduled on November governmental or otherwise); (ii) together to safeguard the fundamental
20th. If these allegations are true, it domestic entities (illegally or unlaw- rights of our citizens”.

TEHELKA / 15 SEPT 2017 13 19 WWW.TEHELKA.COM