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Tag: spyware

State officials among those who bought the spyware: Digvijay

State officials among those who bought the spyware: Digvijay

Mumbai Mirror / by Shruti Ganapatye

WhatsApp privacy breach: Spyware Pegasus was used to snoop on activists, journalists, political dissidents; state home minister promises probe.
Four months after WhatsApp made a sensational disclosure that Israeli spyware Pegasus was used to snoop on some Indian citizens, senior Congress leader Digvijay Singh claimed yesterday that the Maharashtra government officials had visited Israel to purchase the technology.
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Demolishing Human Rights in India

Demolishing Human Rights in India

Sabrang India / by Fr Cedric Prakash

This past year from December 2018, had two significant 70th anniversaries: first, of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (10 December 1948) and then, of the promulgation of the Constitution of India (November 26, 2019). It is quite certain that the makers of the Indian Constitution took inspiration from the UDHR. Strangely enough, as if on cue, everything possible is done by the powers that control the destiny of the nation, to demolish human rights and the values enshrined in the Constitution!
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Not Just WhatsApp, Snooping Attack on Indian Activists Was Through Email Too

Not Just WhatsApp, Snooping Attack on Indian Activists Was Through Email Too


Photo: EFF

The Wire / by Sukanya Shantha

Mumbai: It was not just Israeli spyware Pegasus that was used to digitally spy on human rights defenders and journalists in India.
A clear pattern of another well-coordinated and effectively designed digital attack has now emerged – this time through emails. These emails, all tailor-made to suit the interests of the individual receiver, were sent out between September and October 2019.
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If you are in a university and oppose state policy, you can be targeted: Hany Babu, DU professor

If you are in a university and oppose state policy, you can be targeted: Hany Babu, DU professor

The Caravan / by Shaheen Ahmed & Maya Palit

In the early hours of 10 September 2019, a team of police officials, including personnel from the Pune Police, turned up at the doorstep of Hany Babu MT, an associate professor in the University of Delhi’s English department. … The police informed Babu that the search was conducted in connection with the Elgar Parishad and Bhima Koregaon case. …
Shaheen Ahmed and Maya Palit, the multimedia and books editors at The Caravan, respectively, spoke to Babu about the raid at his house and its aftermath.
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‘Government-backed attacks’: Google warned 500 Indians against hacking

‘Government-backed attacks’: Google warned 500 Indians against hacking

Sabrangindia / by Sabrangindia

The search giant issued over 12,000 warnings to users across the country against hacking state-sponsored attackers from July – Sept 2019.
The statement by Google read, “We’ve had a long-standing policy to send users warnings if we detect that they are the subject of state-sponsored phishing attempts, and have posted periodically about these before.”
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WhatsApp Row: Banal reply to a vital question on snooping

WhatsApp Row: Banal reply to a vital question on snooping


Photo: EFF

Free Press Journal / by Olav Albuquerque

The Central government’s refusal to give a direct reply to former telecom minister and DMK MP Dayanidhi Maran whether the Central government had used the Israeli spy software Pegasus to tap WhatsApp calls and messages leads to the inference that it is not above suspicion. RSS ideologue K N Govindacharya had sought perjury proceedings against WhatsApp for allegedly misleading the Supreme Court that users’ data was fully encrypted and nobody including WhatsApp had the key.
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WhatsApp spyware: House panel agrees to discuss matter after Tharoor’s tie-breaker vote

WhatsApp spyware: House panel agrees to discuss matter after Tharoor’s tie-breaker vote

Scroll.in / by Scroll Staff

A Parliamentary standing committee on Wednesday decided to hold discussions on the WhatsApp security breach after much dilly-dallying, reported PTI. While the Bharatiya Janata Party members of the panel were against taking up the matter, legislators of parties such as Lok Janshakti Party and YSR Congress Party were keen on a discussion.
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Did GOI just admit in Lok Sabha to using Pegasus to spy on activists?

Did GOI just admit in Lok Sabha to using Pegasus to spy on activists?


Pic: Sabrangindia

Sabrangindia / by Sabrangindia

For the past two weeks, the central government has been mum about the issue of a spyware used on Indian lawyers and human rights activists. It seems to have finally broken its silence by justifying its actions under the IT Act, while the same is being hailed as a blatant violation of constitutionally guaranteed Right to Privacy.
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Did Centre use spyware to tap WhatsApp calls?

Did Centre use spyware to tap WhatsApp calls?

Scroll.in / by Scroll Staff

Minister parries query, cites laws granting such power.
The Centre said it has the power to intercept, monitor and decrypt any information in the interest of the country based on certain conditions.
The Ministry of Home Affairs on Tuesday did not provide a direct answer when asked in the Lok Sabha if it had used the Pegasus spyware to intercept WhatsApp calls and messages of Indians activists and journalists.
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DID CENTRE EVER SNOOP ON WHATSAPP CALLS? HOME MINISTRY AVOIDS ANSWERING DIRECTLY

20/11 /2019

The Wire / by The Wire Staff

In response to a question raised on Pegasus in parliament, the home ministry merely said that it has the powers to conduct lawful surveillance under the IT Act and Telegraph Act.
New Delhi: The Narendra Modi government on Tuesday avoided directly answering a question raised in parliament on whether it had ever used the controversial Pegasus software to tap on WhatsApp calls and messages in this country.
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