Modi Government Can Listen To Bedroom Conversations, Says Congress https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNaIBzLsaX4 Jul 19, 2021

Randeep Surjewala in Congress press conferene says that the snooped include Hindu newspaper, Indina Express,HT, The wire, Mint, TV 18 inida, India today, EPW, Pioneer, News Click, Tribune, Outlook, DNA, among others.  

BAnner/caption card say.. ; Rahul Gandhi targeted in Pegasus "hack:: Pralad Patel, Union Minister in Pegasus List., ex EC, Ashok Lavasa, Prashant Kishor, 

No Evidence Linking Government, BJP": Ravi Shankar Prasad On Pegasus  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2uCkltXUgA 

The former IT minister Ravi Shankar Prasad added a fresh angle to the mix this evening. "If more than 45 nations are using Pegasus, like NSO has said, why is only India being targeted?"

"The NSO, which is the manufacturer of Pegasus, has clearly said that its clients are mostly Western nations. So why is India being targetted in this matter? What is the story behind this? What is the twist in the tale?" he added.

Denying any role of government yet again, Mr Prasad said, "There not a shred of evidence in the entire Pegasus story that there is any linkage of the government or the BJP".

The question of government involvement had come up following the categorical statement from NSO since beginning -- that they supply their software only to "vetted governments" and their agencies.

In 2019, when WhatsApp had alleged that many of its user's accounts had been compromised by the use of Pegasus, Mr Prasad had termed the allegations of government involvement an "attempt to malign" its image.

WhatsApp confirms: Israeli spyware was used to snoop on Indian journalists, activists  Seema Chishti. Indian Express  | New Delhi | https://indianexpress.com/article/india/whatsapp-confirms-israeli-spyware-used-snoop-on-indian-journalists-activists-pegasus-facebook-6095296/ Updated: November 1, 2019
It is learnt that at least two dozen academics, lawyers, Dalit activists and journalists in India were contacted and alerted by WhatsApp that their phones had been under state-of-the-art surveillance for a two-week period until May 2019.  ..While WhatsApp declined to reveal the identities and “exact number” of those targeted for surveillance in India, its spokesperson told The Indian Express that WhatsApp was aware of those targeted and had contacted each one of them.

In the lawsuit against the NSO Group and Q Cyber Technologies, WhatsApp alleged that the companies violated US and California laws as well as WhatsApp’s terms of service which prohibit this type of abuse. It claimed that smartphones were penetrated through missed calls alone.

“We believe this attack targeted at least 100 members of civil society which is an unmistakable pattern of abuse. This number may grow higher as more victims come forward,” it said.

The NSO Group, in a statement, said: “In the strongest possible terms, we dispute today’s allegations and will vigorously fight them. Our technology is not designed or licensed for use against human rights activists and journalists.” After doubts about this technology were first raised in May, the NSO Group said it put in place a ‘Human Rights Policy’ on September 19 which “further embeds human rights protections throughout our business and governance systems”.

The NSO Group, in a statement, said: “In the strongest possible terms, we dispute today’s allegations and will vigorously fight them. Our technology is not designed or licensed for use against human rights activists and journalists.” After doubts about this technology were first raised in May, the NSO Group said it put in place a ‘Human Rights Policy’ on September 19 which “further embeds human rights protections throughout our business and governance systems”.

NSO responds to snooping row query; gives point by point rebuttal to all charges  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5kpdH4efWhk  Jul 19, 2021

Under the banner Snoopgate Bogey rises again, Times now says.. In breaking news coming it, the NSO has responded to a Times Now query and has given a point by point response to all the charges.

The 1st being about the bid to distract from the truth. the story has been built around 37 out of the 50,000 phone numbers. Even for the 37 the reporters failed to proved a definitive link between the numbers and NSO. 

Secondly, the NSO denies any definitive link between NOs, NSO’s.

NSO says that the story has been flimsy from the beginning, the 50,00 list has no ties with NSO. Instead of admitting that there is no "massive" plot, the editors, and reporters are intentionally misleading, using twists and truns to distract from the "truth". 

In addition, the NSO also states that the people who are investigating this case are intentionally misleading, citing that the story has been flimsy from the very beginning. This has been the most detailed response to the Pegasus snoop gate controversy so far. The organisation has declared all the claims as wrong assumptions and uncorroborated theories in the snooping row.

NSO says that it cannot disclose the identities of the customers of whom we have shut down systems, due to contractual and national security considerations, 

NSO has helped prevent gun attacks, gun violence, car explosions, suicide bombings, 

Shehzad Poonawala: Story is a recurjitation of the old story.. sotry is conjecture.. Where has the 50,000 list come from.. Report say that only India has misused it.. Why havent the persons concerned gone to the adjucating authority.  

Sashi Tharoor: Hacking is illegal in our laws, so whether it was authorised or not, if it was done it was illegal. If it was not done by our Government then only a firegn government could have done it, then that is national Security issue 

Ashwini Vaishnav, IT minister in Parliament today..  https://youtu.be/5kpdH4efWhk?t=149 OTT allegations made... as per the report itself.  50000 in the list..  whether it was infected/compromised or subject to attempt hack.. this cannot be determined without subjecting the phone to a technical analysis. So the presence of the number does not prove snooping.. 

Vaishnaw, who was making his first speech in Parliament as the new MeitY minister, said the “highly sensational story” has made several “over the top allegations” but there is “no substance behind them”.

“It is not a coincidence that the reports have been published a day before the monsoon session of Parliament,” he said. “In the past, similar allegations were made [about the use of Pegasus] on WhatsApp but there is no factual basis to these and have been categorically denied.” text from    https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/illegal-surveillance-not-possible-minister-ashwini-vaishnaw-on-pegasus-project-101626693447152.html