Congress claims Priyanka Gandhi among those targetted through WhatsApp spyware

Congress alleged that the government hacked the phones of three opposition leaders, and the third leader was Praful Patel of National Congress Party(NCP).

"When WhatsApp sent messages to all those whose phones were hacked, one such message was also received by Priyanka Gandhi Vadra," Congress
leader Randeep Surjewala was quoted as saying by NDTV this afternoon.

According to a report by the news organisation, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi was alerted by WhatsApp about the alleged snooping, but she did not take it seriously and deleted it. After Surjewala forwarded the alert message to her, she recalled having received one such message.

Last week, Facebook-owned messaging service Whatsapp sued Israeli cyber intelligence company NSO group in a San Fransisco federal court for snooping into user accounts using spyware Pegasus.

WhatsApp claimed more than $75,000 in damages from NSO in the case, alleging that the Isreali firm targetted at least 1400 users across 45 countries, including Indian journalists and human rights activists.

The Indian government asked WhatsApp to explain the breach of privacy of Indian users reportedly targeted by the Israeli spyware.

Reacting to the revelations, India's home ministry had issued a statement: "The government of India is committed to protecting the fundamental rights of Indian citizens, including the right to privacy.

It is clarified that the government operates strictly as per  provisions of law and laid down protocols. There are adequate safeguards to ensure that no innocent citizen is harassed or his privacy breached."