Written by Seema Chishti, Dipankar Ghose

On Thursday, The Indian Express reported that Facebook-owned WhatsApp confirmed it was aware that journalists and human rights activists in India were targeted for surveillance and it had contacted each one of them.

Rights activists and lawyers working in tribal areas, an Elgar Parishad case accused, a Bhima Koregaon case lawyer, a Dalit activist, journalists reporting on defence and strategy and a Delhi University lecturer are among more than two dozen people in India whose phones have been alleged targets of surveillance by operators using Israeli spyware Pegasus via WhatsApp.

On Thursday, The Indian Express reported that Facebook-owned WhatsApp, which sued Pegasus-developer NSO Group in a US federal court Tuesday, confirmed it was aware that journalists and human rights activists in India were targeted for surveillance and it had contacted each one of them. In the latest vulnerability, it is alleged that operators penetrated smartphones through missed video calls to install the spyware.

A Reuters report from Washington said senior government officials in multiple US-allied countries were targeted earlier this year with hacking software that used WhatsApp to take over users’ phones.

The Indian Express spoke to 18 of those targeted in India:

Ravindranath Bhalla, advocate at Telangana High Court, and general secretary of Committee for the Release of Political Prisoners (Andhra Pradesh and Telangana chapter): “On October 7, Citizen Lab (Canada-based cyber security group) messaged me, telling me how they worked on tracking Internet threats against civil society. I ignored it… After I got an official message from WhatsApp, I responded and reached out to (Citizen Lab)… I have only just fully understood the implications of what has been going on.”

Shalini Gera, Bastar-based lawyer for jailed activist Sudha Bhardwaj and co-founder of Jagdalpur Legal Aid Group: “I was getting repeated video calls from a Swedish number which would disappear.” She became aware of her phone being targeted when Citizen Lab told her a fortnight ago about Pegasus being used by an operator. She was told that between February and May 2019, her phone was listened into, and possibly mirrored. WhatsApp contacted her and sent her a message on October 29, advising her to take precautions.

Anand Teltumbde, civil and Dalit rights activist and scholar. Professor at the Goa Institute of Management. Was arrested for alleged involvement in the Elgar Parishad case and subsequently released: “The same person, the senior researcher at the University of Toronto, who contacted everyone else, contacted me. This was about ten days ago. I am a bit cautious now, I don’t respond. A message came that he wanted to talk to me. I have a friend in the university in Toronto. I called and he confirmed the identity of the person… Message from WhatsApp confirming this came on the 29th or the 30th. What is left to be said.”

Bela Somari/Bhatia, Bastar-based human rights lawyer and activist: “This was in late September. Citizen Lab contacted me… They said WhatsApp had contacted them and they do this kind of protection work for civilians. WhatsApp had given them a list of people… They said they work on this technology and right now they seem to have curbed it… nevertheless you need to be alert and change your phone… A couple of times, there were these calls that I did not take… On October 29, WhatsApp sent a message informing me of what had happened.”

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Story first appeared in IndianExpress.com on 1st Nov 2019