The Pegasus Technology developed by the Israeli surveillance company NSO Group Technologies has been called by the opposition as ‘an issue of national security and treason which overrides every other issue’.
Illustration by Ramandeep Kaur of The Print Team*
The Pegasus Scandal was a great concern in late July becoming an issue of Indian democracy and the rights of Indian citizens to privacy in Article 21 of the constitution. Privacy is about a person’s personal space where they can express their own thoughts safely and without the use of someone else's purposes. This technology accesses a person’s entire digital and hence sacrifices a person’s dignity and personal assurance of safety.
For background information, the Pegasus technology was developed by an Israeli company NSO Group Technologies which focuses on surveilling terrorists, drug traffickers and other criminals. Their data and technology are accessed by various foreign governments through their intelligence and RAW agencies. This does imply that the Indian government may have been a customer of the group. The Pegasus Technology is transferred to the person’s phone through a text message which prompts them to click a malicious link. It has been advanced into calls that don’t even need to be picked up to transfer the software. All this makes me, you or everyone around us an easy target.
The NSO Group has denied that it has spied on Indian cabinet ministers, opposition leaders, businessmen and journalists etc putting away the question of suspecting the government of using the Pegasus software. However, it may so be that the government has put some of its critics on the surveillance list. This includes Mamata Banerjee’s* nephew; Abhishek Banerjee* and; a woman who claims that Ranjan Gogoi* has sexually harassed her.
In any case, the opposition questioned the Parliament on this topic on Wednesday, the 28th of July. They have been insisting on a debate on the issue describing it ‘as an issue of national security and treason which overrides every other issue.
The issue of Pegasus shows how the technology is illegal in India or how it can be used for the interests of the country. In the first scenario, Pegasus may be a dangerous weapon in the hands of the government which may be used to plant files in a person who protests against the policies and ideology of the government.* The government may use it to protect a certain politician or political party. This may become illegal in reference to Section 66 of the Information Technology Act*. On the other hand, the Pegasus software may fall onto Section 5(2) of The Indian Telegraph Act, 1885* which classifies the surveillance technology being used for the interests, security and concerns of the Indian State. The software in that sense should be used only to track potential criminals such as terrorists, drug traffickers etc.
The Pegasus Software hence truly became a rightful offence in late July which needed to be addressed with great urgency and importance. The opposition correctly questioned the software’s use by the government as it became an issue of the citizens’ privacy and personal security.
References
[Ramandeep Kaur of The Print Team] image credit to an article by ThePrint
[Mamata Banergee] Chief Minister of West Bengal
[Abhishek Banergee] All India Trinamool Congress party Member of Parliament
[Ranjan Gogoi] Former Chief Justice of India
[Pegasus may be a dangerous weapon in the hands of the government which may be used to plant files in a person who protests against the policies and ideology of the government.] Line by Olav Albuquerque in his Article
[Section 66 of the Information Technology Act] Section 66 prescribes punishment to anyone who gains unauthorised access to computers and “downloads, copies or extracts any data”, or“introduces or causes to be introduced any computer contaminant or computer virus,” as laid down in Section 43.
[Section 5(2) of The Indian Telegraph Act, 1885] Section 5(2) of The Indian Telegraph Act, 1885, states that the government can intercept a “message or class of messages” when it is “in the interests of the sovereignty and integrity of India, the security of the State, friendly relations with foreign states or public order or for preventing incitement to the commission of an offence”.