Delhi, India: The head of the Security Lab at Amnesty International Mr. Donncha Ó Cearbhaill has responded to a newspaper article that India is looking for substitute spyware technology to replace Pegasus spying software from NSO Group.
“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,” Mr. Cearbhaill stated.
“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,” the head further added.
This week, Amnesty International’s Security Lab released new findings showing that a worldwide spyware hacking campaign that targeted Google’s Android operating system has affected billions of people.
“The spyware industry continues to spiral out of control globally with dozens of companies offering similar products to Pegasus. We urgently need a global moratorium on the sale, transfer, and use of spyware until robust human rights regulatory safeguards are in place,” Mr. Cearbhaill observed.
On 30th March 2023, 11 governments including the governments of Australia, Canada, Costa Rica, Denmark, France, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States, issued a joint statement committing to joint action to counter the proliferation and misuse of commercial spyware.
United States President Mr. Joe Biden has signed an executive order restricting the government’s use of commercial spyware technology that has been utilised to target political dissent around the globe on 27th March 2023.
In 2021, the Supreme Court of India formed a technical committee to look into the misuse of spyware in response to discoveries made by Amnesty International in the Pegasus Project. The malware was created by the Israeli company NSO. The committee finished its inquiry in 2022, but the court never released the report’s conclusions to the public. The Indian government “did not cooperate,” according to the court with the technical committee’s inquiries.
Amnesty International
Also known as Amnesty or AI, is a global non-governmental organization based in the UK that promotes human rights. According to the organization, it has more than 10 million supporters and members worldwide. Campaigning for “a world in which every person enjoys all of the human rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international human rights instruments.”
It was established in London in 1961 by Peter Benenson and has become one of the most prominent human rights organizations worldwide. Amnesty International conducts research and takes action to prevent and stop serious human rights abuses, while also advocating for justice for those who have had their rights violated. It is well-known for its campaigns against torture, extrajudicial executions, and the death penalty, and has received numerous awards for its work in raising awareness about human rights issues worldwide.
Pegasus
It was Developed by the Israeli cyber intelligence company NSO Group. Pegasus is a spyware tool that was released in August 2016. It is specifically designed to infiltrate mobile devices like smartphones and tablets, granting the operator access to messages, calls, photos, and other data on the device. As one of the most sophisticated and powerful spyware tools in the world, Pegasus has been used by various governments and state agencies for surveillance purposes. However, the use of Pegasus has been the subject of controversy, as it has been linked to human rights abuses and violations of privacy.