Pegasus And The Right To Privacy

Neha Mishra, Assistant Professor, Amity Law School, Amity University, Haryana

ABSTRACT

Every once in a while, news reports of unauthorized surveillance and cyber- crimes threaten the foundation of democracy. This time around, Pegasus spyware an Israeli NSO Group, is making headlines for infiltrating the mobile phones of several high-profile individuals in India without their knowledge to extract and transfer information. In the context of ever- increasing concern regarding surveillance due to technological advancement that impinges upon basic fundamental rights by enabling the State to monitor the lives of its citizens more easily and at retreating cost, the paper attempts to cover various facets of this issue. The paper begins with a brief introduction followed by explaining the Pegasus Project. It then discusses in detail the legal provisions that deal with interception and surveillance in India and gives an overview of the evolution of the right to privacy jurisprudence which is one of the fundamental challenges to illegal surveillance. The paper then highlights the conundrum of the right to privacy and state surveillance and in what ways it raises grave concerns for a civilized democratic society. The paper concludes with possible suggestions.