Pegasus case
👉Pegasus is a spyware developed by an Israeli firm, NSO Group, to infiltrate smartphones — Android and iOS — and turn them into surveillance devices.
👉It is used as a tool to track criminals and terrorists for targeted spying and not mass surveillance.
👉NSO Group has affirmed that it sells the software only to governments.
👉The Supreme Court has set up a panel to investigate allegations of potential surveillance of mobile phones using the Pegasus spyware.
👉The Supreme court has underlined three key imperatives
The right to privacy of citizens
👉Freedom of the press including the right of journalists to ensure protection of their sources
👉Limits on the usage of national security as a shield by the government to block disclosure of facts related to citizen’s rights.
👉The court cited the Ram Jethmalani v. Union of India 2011 to say that the Government should not take an adversarial position when the fundamental rights of citizens are at threat.
👉The court said that the Union of India may decline to provide information citing security of the State or other specific immunity under a specific statute but they must prove and justify the same.
👉It has set seven terms of reference for the committee such as who procured Pegasus and whether the petitioners in the case were indeed targeted by use of the software, etc.
👉The court has also asked the committee to make recommendations on a legal and policy framework on cyber security to ensure the right to privacy of citizens is protected.
👉The government refused to file a detailed response to the allegations made by the petitioners citing national security as a reason.
👉The government also pled to set up its own probe which was rejected by the court.
👉The court said that such a course of action would violate the settled judicial principle against bias, i.e., “justice must not only be done, but also be seen to be done”.
#prelims2022 #importantTopics #CurrentAffairs2022 #UPSC #Polity #CyberSecurity
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👉Pegasus is a spyware developed by an Israeli firm, NSO Group, to infiltrate smartphones — Android and iOS — and turn them into surveillance devices.
👉It is used as a tool to track criminals and terrorists for targeted spying and not mass surveillance.
👉NSO Group has affirmed that it sells the software only to governments.
👉The Supreme Court has set up a panel to investigate allegations of potential surveillance of mobile phones using the Pegasus spyware.
👉The Supreme court has underlined three key imperatives
The right to privacy of citizens
👉Freedom of the press including the right of journalists to ensure protection of their sources
👉Limits on the usage of national security as a shield by the government to block disclosure of facts related to citizen’s rights.
👉The court cited the Ram Jethmalani v. Union of India 2011 to say that the Government should not take an adversarial position when the fundamental rights of citizens are at threat.
👉The court said that the Union of India may decline to provide information citing security of the State or other specific immunity under a specific statute but they must prove and justify the same.
👉It has set seven terms of reference for the committee such as who procured Pegasus and whether the petitioners in the case were indeed targeted by use of the software, etc.
👉The court has also asked the committee to make recommendations on a legal and policy framework on cyber security to ensure the right to privacy of citizens is protected.
👉The government refused to file a detailed response to the allegations made by the petitioners citing national security as a reason.
👉The government also pled to set up its own probe which was rejected by the court.
👉The court said that such a course of action would violate the settled judicial principle against bias, i.e., “justice must not only be done, but also be seen to be done”.
#prelims2022 #importantTopics #CurrentAffairs2022 #UPSC #Polity #CyberSecurity
👉Join @civils360
👉For Daily Test👇
👉Download App:
Android:https://bit.ly/3s1S5DU
ios:https://apple.co/3G51zFb
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