In a press note, rights group Amnesty International on Friday raised concerns over a report that India is searching for alternative spyware technology to replace NSO Group’s Pegasus surveillance software.
Donncha Ó Cearbhaill, Head of the Security Lab at Amnesty International, said, “It is chilling that instead of respecting human rights and ensuring accountability for those targeted by Pegasus, that the Indian government is instead looking for alternative spyware to further its surveillance capabilities.”
The Financial Times reported that India is hunting for new spyware with a lower profile than the controversial Pegasus system blacklisted by the US government.
“It is shameful that although spyware technology has been used to commit grave human rights violations, crush dissent, and stifle freedom of assembly and expression, governments across the world continue to recklessly advance these methods to unlawfully target dissidents and critics.”
Although India never publicly acknowledged being a customer of Israeli company NSO, their malware was found on the phones of journalists, academics and dissidents, sparking a political crisis.
In 2021, the Supreme Court of India set up a technical committee to investigate abuses involving the Pegasus software. But the committee concluded their investigation and the court has not made the findings of the report public.
The court further noted that the Indian authorities “did not cooperate” with the technical committee’s investigations.
On Thursday, March 30, 11 governments issued a joint statement committing to joint action to counter the proliferation and misuse of commercial spyware.
“Too often, such powerful and invasive tools have been used to target and intimidate perceived opponents and facilitate efforts to curb dissent; limit freedoms of expression, peaceful assembly, or association; enable human rights violations and abuses or suppression of civil liberties; or track or target individuals without proper legal authorization, safeguards, or oversight,” the statement reads.
