Right to privacy and state intrusion- Spyware

Pegasus is an Israeli hacking software. This spyware can invade phones and extract important information from their files, documents, pictures, audios and videos. This is made by an NSO group which is regulated by the Ministry of Defense of Israel. Lately, this system has grabbed a lot of global attention.

One of the main reasons for Pegasus to hit the limelight was that it questioned the right to privacy in India. More than 300 Indians were put under surveillance through this software. These include journalists, oppositions leaders, ministers, activists and academicians were potential targets. Although, the right to privacy was not included in the constitution of India from the beginning. In the K.S. Puttuswamy case (2017), the supreme court with a unanimous decision made the right to privacy a fundamental right.

The NSO-group claims that it had created this spyware to curb terrorism in the entire world as this is a paid software and can be bought by government organizations only. However, with time the misuse of this spyware has begun. In recent times, this software has questioned the very idea of democracy in India.

This issue explained to us that the surveillance laws in India have to be advanced. There was a similar surveillance issue during the 2011 elections in Himachal Pradesh as well. But, there could be no action on them because of weak surveillance laws in India. For a country to run properly, surveillance can not be eradicated purely. As the state needs to be aware of the working of the anti-state elements. However, use of this on the lawful citizen is directly a breach of the right of privacy of an individual.

The body which is bound to hold surveillance should be established so that there is proper accountability. Moreover, another resort for this would be to give the consultation and monitoring power in the hands of the judiciary. This will help them to properly investigate before launching the surveillance. This would also reduce the authoritarian working of the government in the matter.

Therefore, I would like to suggest that there is a need for the intervention of the judiciary and the formulation of stringent laws. So that if a device gets hacked, the person has a concrete ground for remedy. Also, the government needs to take action against the Pegasus software because this has questioned democracy.

Aastha Sharma
Writer