SECRET THREATS: ON STATE SURVEILLANCE AND DEMOCRACY

State surveillance must be subject to systemic checks and supervision and not mirror the nefarious activities of the dark underworld.

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As a Supreme Court of India Bench pointed out, the question is not whether the state can use spyware, but who could be its legitimate targets. The Bench, during a hearing on the alleged surveillance of politicians,

judges, religious leaders, civil servants and journalists by some state entity, was evidently seeking to curtail arbitrary use of the powers and tools of surveillance. The government has neither confirmed nor denied that it uses Pegasus, an Israel-made military grade spyware that is sold only to state agencies, which was used to target a wide range of people.