New Delhi, November 1
The central government was “concerned” that Whatsapp didn’t disclose a hacking incident involving Israeli surveillance firm NSO Group in the several rounds of talks it had with the Indian government since May, a top government source said.
The source, who requested anonymity, insisted that the Indian government had nothing to do with the software that has been used worldwide to spy on rights activists and journalist.
India, the source said, will continue to insist on WhatsApp bringing in traceability and will also want the Facebook-owned company to respond to the latest incident in full details.
WhatsApp has been given time till November 4 to respond, and the government will decide on the future course of action once it receives a reply from the company.
Facebook-owned WhatsApp has over 1.5 billion users globally, of which India alone accounts for about 400 million.
The central government has been asking Whatsapp for a mechanism that traces the origins of messages—a demand that the messaging platform has resisted citing privacy issues.
After the explosive news story broke out, the Indian government had asked the messaging platform to explain the matter and list out the measures that have been taken by it to safeguard the privacy of millions of Indians. According to sources, the company has been asked to submit its response by November 4.
Following the disclosure by WhatsApp, the Indian government has asked the messaging platform to explain the matter and list out the measures that have been taken by it to safeguard the privacy of millions of Indians.
Response
WhatsApp said on Friday it has taken a "strong action" in the incident and supports the Indian government's stand on the need to safeguard the privacy of all citizens.
According to sources, the company has been asked to submit its response by November 4.
The company has received the correspondence and will reply, one of the persons said.
"We agree with the government of India's strong statement about the need to safeguard the privacy of all Indian citizens. That is why we've taken this strong action to hold cyber attackers accountable and why WhatsApp is so committed to the protection of all user messages through the product we provide," a WhatsApp spokesperson told PTI.
The spokesperson, however, did not comment on whether WhatsApp has submitted its response to the government's query.
The development comes a day after press reports said that NSO’s spyware Pegasus was used to spy on several prominent rights activists, lawyers and journalist in India.
WhatsApp on Tuesday filed a lawsuit in a California federal court against NSO Group, which allegedly developed the spyware, saying an attempt was made to infect approximately 1,400 "target devices" globally with malicious software to steal valuable information from those using the messaging app.
WhatsApp had said it "believes the attack targeted at least 100 members of civil society... this number may grow higher as more victims come forward".
NSO had denied the allegations and said it provides "technology to licensed government intelligence and law enforcement agencies to help them fight terrorism and serious crime" and is not "designed or licensed for use against human rights activists and journalists". Agencies
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