The words of prominent Goan Advocate Carlos Alvares Ferreira,
probably much more informed than many contemporaries, should be a wake-up call
for all those who use communication apps like WhatsApp and have reason to feel
that their privacy and/or security has been breached by official agencies.
While Café expected a generic response to the WhatsApp issue ( please see box
Why are Whats App users feeling vulnerable?) which is burning in the country,
the response of the noted former Advocate General of Goa, was startling and
revealing.
He said, “In 2018, Pegasus was being used
by govt and they were using WhatsApp to spy. We have a case in Goa. The
snooping being done on WhatsApp has not surprised me as I had already read,
more than a year back, that Pegasus software had been purchased by many
countries and that as many as about 85 countries were already using the
software for spying, Now we should remember that spying does not have to be
only cross-border. Besides, the pattern in which several top politicians,
bureaucrats were being targeted and also silenced, clearly showed that we were
surely in the elite snooping club”
In this age of information overload and a
time continuous digital connect, there was always the fear that the wrong
people with the right technology could snoop around and create a lot of
problems. This is what eventually happened and it came to light when some 1,400
phones and devices whose users included lawyers, journalists, human rights
activists, political dissidents, and diplomats in multiple countries, according
to a lawsuit filed by Facebook, owner of the popular WhatsApp messaging app.
Several targeted persons in India speaking
to the media mentioned that a Citizen Lab representative told them governments
generally buy the spyware for surveillance. Media reports in the following days
revealed that several people working among tribals in Chhattisgarh became
targets. Some academics and activists accused in the Bhima Koregaon caste clash
of 2018 also got the warning from WhatsApp on the spying.
What about Goa, do the residents of Goa feel safe using
Whatsapp. Are they still using the platform without reservations or have they
moved to other software like Telegram and Signal.
On my part, I have already installed Telegram and Signal knowing
that they have better encryption parameters and advised my friends to
communicate with me via these apps. But in matters which are very confidential,
I don’t trust speaking on phone: only person to person.
But with use of FaceBook, Google Maps, we are actually allowing
our locations to be compromised. Even apps which claim to be using location
“when using app only”, still run in the background and transmits data of
location.
Adv Carlos Alvares,
former Advocate General, Goa
I only use WhatsApp and I feel safe. Yes, I have all the
encryptions in place to ensure that my communication is kept secure. I transfer
work data as well as my private data on this platform. Everyone is still using
WhatsApp and so I am on it. I am aware of the other platforms like Telegram and
Signal but my friends are not on it. I really don’t have any issues with it and
I expect to be using it for a while.
Jennifer Parras,
teacher
In today’s world technology is a must for all political parties
& politicians. But recently there has been news of surveillance &
hacking of WhatsApp using Peagsus Softwares. This is complete breach of privacy
& also compromises national security of our country too. If it’s true, as a
politician I do prefer to use technology but now after this incident I will
have to think 100 times even for using software like WhatsApp & Telegram
for communication.
Durgadas Kamat, Vice
President, Goa Forward Party
I am using WhatsApp and I don’t us any other communication
platform. Please understand if they hack one platform, they can hack the
others. I am not doing anything against the law, why should I fear. If you
fear, then you will die a thousand deaths. These hackings are some of the dangers
of the digital age and we have to learn to take it in our stride.
Jennifer Lewis Kamat,Entrepreneur
