Furore over WhatsApp spying expose |
The confirmation by WhatsApp that the mobile phones of several Indian rights activists and journalists had been hacked into has sparked a furore with privacy activists asking the government to clarify. The spyware — Pegasus — sold by Israel`s NSO Group was used to tap into 1,400 WhatsApp accounts globally. On Thursday, IT minister Ravi Shankar Prasad took to Twitter to reiterate the Centre`s concern at the breach of privacy of Indians, and said his ministry had sought an explanation from the app. WhatsApp has to reply by November 4. Home ministry officials said `attempts to malign the government` for the reported breach were misleading. According to officials, “The government operates strictly as per provisions of law and there were adequate provisions to ensure that no innocent citizen was harassed or his privacy breached.” They added that the government was committed to protect the fundamental rights of citizens, including the right to privacy, and would take strict action against any intermediary responsible for any breach. Facebook and WhatsApp had filed a lawsuit against the Israeli company in a California court on October 29.
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