NEW DELHI: A day after several Opposition leaders received a warning from Apple Inc that ‘state-sponsored attack’ may be trying to compromise their iPhones, Rajya Sabha MP John Brittas, a member of standing committee on information technology (IT), on Wednesday wrote to panel chairman asking him to convene a meeting at the earliest to examine the issue in detail.
Raising concerns of privacy and national security, the CPM MP said the notification is reminiscent of the Pegasus spyware scandal, which targeted voices critical of the ruling dispensation. The leaders who received the warning messages include TMC’s Mahua Moitra, Congress’ Shashi Tharoor, KC Venugopal and TS Singh Deo, AAP’s Raghav Chadha, CPM’s Sitaram Yechury and SP’s Akhilesh Yadav. Other IT panel members — Congress’ Karti Chidambaram and TMC’s Jawahar Sircar — have also written separate letters to the panel head seeking inquiry.
“The gravity of this situation cannot be understated, as it not only raises concerns about the security of personal data but also the potential implications for national security. Given the sensitivity and implications of these shocking reports, I earnestly request you to take immediate action to comprehensively examine the issue by the standing committee as the fundamental rights of citizens are at stake,” he wrote.
Brittas was one of the first petitioners to move the Supreme Court seeking a court-monitored probe into the snooping of activists, politicians and journalists when the row over Israeli spyware Pegasus broke out in 2021. The MP pointed out that the panel should also look into the potential involvement of state-supported hackers, their motivations, and the adequacy of existing cyber security measures to protect the privacy and security of mobile phone users.
“I believe that it is within the committee’s remit to investigate the nature and credibility of the security threat identified by Apple, the extent of vulnerability of Indian iPhone users to hacking attempts,” he said.
The Right to Privacy has been held to be sacrosanct to human existence, he said. “Recently, in the context of the surveillance software by the name of ‘Pegasus’, the SC observed that “the right to privacy is directly infringed upon when there is surveillance or spying done on an individual, either by the State or by any external agency,” he wrote.
Violation of privacy
The collection of personal data of individuals, taken without consent, violates the principles of “personal informational privacy”, declared as a part of Article 21 of the Constitution by the Supreme Court in its judgment in Justice KS Puttaswamy (Retd) vs Union of India and Ors, John Brittas said.