Pegasus ‘Snoopgate’: Was Privacy ‘Hacked’ By Govt Of The World’s Largest Democracy?

NSO Group Technologies, an Israeli technology firm, used a software named Pegasus –spyware–for remote surveillance of smartphones. This included the hacking of WhatsApp messages of a ‘suspicious’ group of people.

This software was once used by the Saudi Arabian government to spy on a journalist, Jamal Khashoggi, who was later on killed by his own government. As soon as the journalist was killed, the government called off its contract with the technology firm.

A similar incident of surveillance was observed in India. Toronto-based Citizen Lab reported that this spyware was used to hack several Indian journalists’, social activists’, and human rights members’ WhatsApp accounts. Also, some judges too were targeted and were spied on during the Haryana state elections.

Now the question that arises is how the Indian government can be involved in this. This Israel agency itself claimed that this software cannot be claimed by any other body except governmental agencies. And, given that the Pegasus spyware is very costly to buy, thus it’s only possible that the Indian government was involved in this.

Rest In Peace, end-to-end encryption feature of WhatsApp. RIP, citizen privacy.

According to the Supreme Court, an individual’s privacy on social media is included within basic human rights. We do have several laws against cybercrime. From the mainstream media to social media, everything has been put at stake. This issue is related to both, the personal space and the private life, of the citizens of this country. It’s a hindrance to our democracy and to our rights.