The shadow of Pegasus

Context: With the recent revelation about the use of the spyware Pegasus, institutional stakes for democracy is high.

High institutional stakes for India:

• Shadow over courts: The allegation that the phones of the woman who had complained of sexual harassment against a former Chief Justice, and her family, might have been subject to this form of surveillance is chilling.
• The integrity of democratic institutions: A system in which political opponents, officials of the Election Commission, and political colleagues could be subject to this kind of surveillance will inspire less confidence.
• National security implications: The explosive growth of surveillance technology vendors is a global security and human rights problem.
• It is not primarily China, but democratic states like Israel and the UK, that are selling technologies for deepening the surveillance powers of states.
• Impact on state capabilities: It also does not speak well of us as a capable state. 
• If our capabilities are so low that private foreign contractors are rampant, it is probably also an indication that we have no means of protecting ourselves.
• Pegasus is not just a surveillance tool. It is a cyber weapon being unleashed on the Indian polity.

Conclusion: In the absence of a proper trustworthy, accountable institution, Democracy will likely, like Bellerophon, fall off Pegasus’s back.