New Delhi, November 4: A petition seeking National Investigation Agency (NIA) investigation and lodging an FIR (First Information Report) against Facebook, WhatsApp and NSO Group has been filed in the Supreme Court. According to the petition, a case should be registered under provisions of Information Technology (IT) Act and Indian Penal Code (IPC) for violating the right to privacy of Indians. WhatsApp Says ‘Notified Indian Authorities’ About Snooping, Assures to Safeguard Citizens’ Privacy.

This development comes after Facebook-owned messaging app WhatsApp’s revealed that some journalists, lawyers and human rights activists were spied upon using developed by Israel-based NSO Group, a surveillance technology. WhatsApp Shared 'Pure Technical Jargon' Without Mentioning Pegasus in May Alert, Claim Government Sources; Twitterati Trolls CERT-IN For Its Inability.

ANI Tweet:

On November 1, Whatsapp refuted to government's allegations that it had kept snooping on Indian citizens a secret. "In May, we quickly resolved a security issue and notified relevant Indian and international government authorities," said WhatsApp in a statement.

In September too, Whatsapp had informed the government that 121 Indian users were targeted by the Israeli spyware Pegasus. The IT ministry officials said they had received some communication, but asserted that the data that came in earlier was insufficient and full of technical jargons.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Nov 04, 2019 08:55 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).