Indian activists, lawyers, journalists snooped by Israeli spyware, reveals Whatsapp in a lawsuit

WhatsApp has claimed more than $75,000 in damages from NSO in the case, alleging that the Isreali firm targetted at least 1400 users across 45 countries, including Indian journalists and human rights activists.

Whatsapp informed each of the targetted users that their phones were being snooped at, though the company did not reveal the exact number of effected accounts and their identities, the Indian Express said.

“Indian journalists and human rights activists have been the target of surveillance and while I cannot reveal their identities and the exact number, I can say that it is not an insignificant number,” Whatsapp's US-based spokesperson told Indian Express.

Whatsapp contacted the users and informed them that their phones were under "state-of-the-art surveillance" for two weeks until May 2019, according to the Indian Express.

Reportedly, human rights lawyer Nihal Singh Rathod, who is fighting several accused in the Bhima-Koregaon case and activist Bela Bhatia, who works in Chhatisgarh are among the targetted individuals in India.

Meanwhile India's home ministry stated: "The government of India is committed to protect 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."

"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."

In the lawsuit, WhatsApp alleged that some 100 members of civil society were targeted and the numbers may increase as more people report their personal space was breached.

The messaging platform has accused NSO and  Q Cyber Technologies of violating US and California laws and WhatsApp’s terms of service.

Allegedly, Pegasus gets into the targetted person's phone through Whatsapp video call. When the phone rings, the hacker transmits a code and Pegasus is installed into the phone even if the user doesn't pick up the phone call.

Once done, the spyware takes over the operating system of the phone and tracks the communication of the user, allowing the attacker to intercept the Whatsapp messages and calls, contact lists, passwords, phone's microphone and camera and the calender events of the user, an NDTV report said.

Pegasus has been designed to track communications to and from the phone across applications like iMessage, Skype, Telegram, WeChat, Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, and others, the report added.

There are over Whatsapp 1.5 billion users in the world, of which 400 million users are in India.

Meanwhile, NSO group in a statement has said, “In the strongest possible terms, we dispute today’s allegations and will vigorously fight them. Our technology is not designed or licensed for use against human rights activists and journalists.”

The company said Pegasus has been sold only to government agencies.

“We license our product only to vetted and legitimate government agencies,” it said.

Meanwhile, Congress and the Left  made a scathing attack on the Centre and asked the Government to come clear on the allegations.

"Modi Govt caught snooping! Appalling but not Surprising! After all, BJP Govt- 1. Fought against our right to privacy. 2. Set up a multi-crore Surveillance Structure until stopped by SC. SC must take immediate cognizance and issue a notice to BJP government," Congress' chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala tweeted.

In another tweet, Surjewala said, "A government that spies on journalists/activists/Opposition leaders and treats its own citizens like criminals has lost the right to lead in our democracy. We urge the SC to take suo motu cognizance of these illegal activities and to hold this government to account."

However, the Indian government taking note of the revelations asked Whatsapp to explain what it was doing to safeguard the privacy of Indian users.

Taking to Twitter Union Minister for Communications, Electronics and Information Technology Ravi Shankar Prasad said," The government is committed to protecting the privacy of all Indian citizens. The  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."

Replying to Congress' attack, the Union Minister mentioned the spying of former President Pranab Mukherjee's office when he was the Finance Minister during the UPA regime.