In new trouble for instant messaging service WhatsApp and its parent company Facebook, a petition has been filed against them in the Supreme Court by KN Govindacharya, former RSS ideologue. Govindacharya’s petition, filed on Monday, accused WhatsApp of “deliberately misleading” the courts by claiming “that users’ data is fully encrypted and no one including WhatsApp has the key.” Govindacharya has sought NIA investigation into the same, and also for perjury proceedings to be initiated against WhatsApp.
“This statement is contradictory to its own filing before the US Supreme Court which states that it came to know about the hacking in May 2019. Thus, it is clear that WhatsApp committed perjury by falsely claiming a protected system and failing to disclose about the NSO Hack to the Hon’ble Supreme Court,” the petition says.
This comes days after Facebook sued Israeli surveillance company NSO Group in an American federal court for helping its clients use WhatsApp for surveillance. The lawsuit accused NSO of providing malicious software – Pegasus – designed and used to infect about 1,400 specifically-targeted devices. Notably, the NSO Group has described itself as providing 'authorized governments with technology that helps them combat terror and crime'. Those affected by this snoopgate included some Indian journalists, activists, and lawyers.
Govindacharya says in his petition that 121 Indians were affected by this. “As per unofficial estimates, the list of affected Indians is likely to go up. WhatsApp has 40 crore Indian users, whose privacy and national security is at stake,” he argues in the petition. He also asked the Supreme Court to direct the government to cease “any surveillance through Pegasus or other similar applications.”
Govindacharya’s petition has named Facebook, WhatsApp and the NSO Group, accuses them of breaching the fundamental privacy of Indians, and demands that an FIR be lodged against them under the Information Technology Act as well as the Indian Penal Code. He has also pled for the enforcement of the right to privacy, which was deemed a fundamental right by the apex court in 2017.
The petition also submits that many government agencies, police have a social media presence and use platforms like WhatsApp. This enables the platform(s) to store sensitive data, and when compromised, it endangers national security. It argues that Facebook admitted at a US district Court that it not only handles digital security of its group companies (like WhatsApp, Instagram), but also integrates user data for commercial gains. “That in the Cambridge Analytica episode, which came to light in 2018, it was shown how Facebook’s platform was used by Cambridge Analytica to influence elections all over the world, including India,” the petition adds.
Govindacharya also mentions that he wrote to the Union Minister for Electronics and IT appealing for government accounts to be removed from private communication networks to safeguard national security. He has also prayed for the Information Technology [Intermediaries Guidelines (Amendment) Rules] 2018 to be notified by the Indian government so that such social media companies can be held accountable.
The guidelines, which were first notified in 2011, were to be revised as per a decision taken in July 2018. An updated draft of the Intermediary Guidelines (Amendment) Rules 2018 is under discussion with the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology and is likely to be notified by January 15, 2020.