Home Minister Amit Shah approved a one-year exemption from "make in India" regulations, permitting state and federal agencies to purchase advanced foreign surveillance technology. The waiver allowed the procurement of at least 422 foreign items, including tools from Israeli company Cellebrite and systems designed for dark-web and cryptocurrency tracking. The software enables authorities to clone devices, bypass passwords, and extract data from over 100 cloud services and smart home appliances. Critics, including legal experts and digital rights groups, caution that these vast capabilities function in a legal grey zone devoid of safeguards against state overreach.
Key points
Government purchases of Israeli phone-extraction tools were carried out by federal author…: Government purchases of Israeli phone-extraction tools were carried out by federal authorities as well as both ruling-party and opposition-led states.
The cleared foreign software suite includes specialized tools for dark-web monitoring, op…: The cleared foreign software suite includes specialized tools for dark-web monitoring, open-source intelligence, and cryptocurrency investigations.
Legal experts and rights groups caution that these intrusive surveillance capabilities la…: Legal experts and rights groups caution that these intrusive surveillance capabilities lack adequate legal safeguards against mass state monitoring.
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India’s expansive surveillance capabilities extend far beyond just cloning phones to accessing cloud-based data from social media platforms like Instagram and Tinder.
New Delhi, India – India has exempted an Israeli phone-hacking company from New Delhi’s own rules, allowing it to sell phone-extraction products and surveillance technology to government agencies and sparking concerns and criticism from rights groups and activists.
An investigation by the digital-rights group Internet Freedom Foundation (IFF) found Indian Home Minister Amit Shah, a close confidante of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, signed off on exemptions from “make in India” procurement rules, clearing the way for government forensic institutions to buy at least 422 items of foreign technology, including products made by the Israeli firm Cellebrite.
Modi’s federal government and state governments ruled by his Bharatiya Janata Party are not the only ones who bought this Israeli technology. States governed by the opposition Indian National Congress party, including Himachal Pradesh, Keralam and Karnataka, also purchased similar phone-extraction and cloning tools.
A review of documents revealed that India’s expansive surveillance capabilities extend far beyond just cloning phones and extracting…
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