India’s First Mass Surveillance, Mass Spying and Unending Census Case-Part 3

[Gopal Krishna]

India’s First Mass Surveillance, Mass Spying and Unending Census Case-Part 3

“For the first time he perceived that if you want to keep a secret you must also hide it from yourself” with the government spying on its people, Winston struggles to conceal old feelings from Big Brother.

 

– p162, part 3, chapter 4, 1984, George Orwell, quoted at p.1 of the verdict in writ petition (Criminal) no314 of 2021 on Pegasus by the three-judge bench of chief justice of India NV Ramana, justices Surya Kant and Hima Kohli on 27 October 2021.

 

“George Orwell created a fictional State in ‘Nineteen Eighty-Four.’ Today, it can be a reality. The technological development today can enable not only the state, but also big corporations and private entities to be the ‘big brother’.”

 

-p12 of justice SK Kaul’s concurring verdict as part of the nine-judge Constitution bench (part of the 547 page-long verdict) in Fundamental Right to Privacy/ Aadhaar case, writ petition (Civil) no494 of 2012 

 

The court's consent for the use of operational control with the most invasive technical means, similar to Pegasus software, should be granted by a three-judge panel, with special oversight over the acquired, obtained, or edited data. In the commission's opinion, consent to use such operational control against individuals holding high public office (enumerated in the law, e.g., politicians, parliamentarians, government members, the commissioner for human rights, judges of the constitutional tribunal and the Supreme Court) should be granted by the Supreme Court, in a designated, unchanging (specialised) three-judge panel. The proposed training for judges and prosecutors should cover the importance of obtaining metadata for the activities of special services.”

 

-p32 of the 35-page-long report of the extraordinary commission to clarify cases of illegal surveillance, their impact on the electoral process in the Republic of Poland, and the reform of special services.

India’s First Mass Surveillance, Mass Spying and Unending Census Case-Part 3 (moneylife.in)