The hacking of several WhatsApp accounts belonging to Indian activists, Journalists and opposition party leaders had raised voices of concern from different corners of the country. Furthermore, the unidentified screener who fishes out the required information from the smartphones of users is said to operate with the Indian government’s consent.
The spyware ‘Pegasus’ developed by Israeli NSO can even snoop real-time activity of anyone by accessing the camera and microphone on the users’ smartphone. Retd Justice BN Srikrishna talking on the subject raised concern that if the reports are true, the nation could be sliding into an Orwellian state. Giving a word of caution to prevent governments and other entities from snooping on citizens, Justice Srikrishna insisted that if surveillance is to be done it should be within the Indian Constitutional Parameters etched on section 3.
RSS ideologue KN Govindacharya had filed a petition seeking action against Facebook and Whatsapp and sought to restrain the Indian government from using Pegasus spyware further to infringe civilian privacy.
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