Govt of India Asks WhatsApp to Explain Breach of Privacy of Indian Users
The government of India has asked WhatsApp to explain the breach of privacy of the Indian users.
The Government of India has asked WhatsApp to explain the breach of privacy of the Indian users who were targeted by the Israeli spyware, earlier this year. It also made it clear that the attempts to malign the government for the reported breach are completely misleading and strict action would be taken against those who would be found guilty of violating the law.
The Home Ministry said in a statement, “The government of India is committed protecting the fundamental rights of Indian Citizens, including the right to privacy. It is clarified that the government operates strictly as per provisions of law and laid down protocols. There are adequate safeguards to ensure that no innocent citizen is harassed or his privacy breached”.
Two activists, who are allegedly on the snoop list, have alleged the role of the government, but the government has clearly denied it.
Israeli Cybersecurity Company, The Israeli NSO, who is believed to have used the Spyware, said, “Our technology is not designed or licensed for use against human rights activists and journalists and is licensed only to vetted and legitimate government agencies”. Facebook also has sued NSO a few months back, accusing it of using WhatsApp to spread malware.
Union IT and Law Minister, Ravi Shankar Prasad also hit out at the opposition Congress party, accusing it of snooping on the highly reputed individuals.
Ravi Shankar Prasad said, “the government of India is concerned at the breach of privacy of citizens of India on the messaging platform WhatsApp. We have asked WhatsApp to explain the kind of breach and what it is doing to safeguard the privacy of millions of Indian citizens”.
He also said, that “the government is committed to protecting the privacy of all Indian citizens. Government agencies have a well-established protocol for the interception, which includes sanction and supervision from highly ranked officials in central and state governments, for clearly stated reasons in the national interest”.
The statement of Minister has come after WhatsApp confirmed that earlier this year that several Indian users had been targeted by Israeli Spyware in a hacking spree, which included Journalists, Activists, Lawyers, and Senior government officials.
Meanwhile, the Congress Party has alleged that the government had been ‘caught snooping’ and that’s why they should be taken to the Supreme Court.
Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala tweeted, “Modi Government caught snooping! Appalling but not surprising! After all, BJP Govt- 1. Fought against our right to privacy. 2. Set up multi-crore surveillance structures until stopped by the Supreme Court. The court must take immediate cognizance and issue a notice to BJP government”.
In a sharp rejoinder, Ravi Shankar Prasad reminded the Congress of snooping scandals on its watch, saying, “Those trying to make political capital out of it need to be gently reminded about the bugging incident in the office of the then eminent Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee during UPA regime. Also a gentle reminder of the spying over the then Army Chief General VK Singh. These are instances of breach of privacy of highly reputed individuals, for personal whims and fancies of a family”.
Facebook, the parent company of WhatsApp has sued Israeli Cybersecurity Company NSO alleging it for using WhatsApp servers to spread malware to nearly 1,400 users across 20 countries of the world. Pegasus, the spyware developed by NSO, which was used to break into the phones.