Pegasus reports highlight worst fears of surveillance technology: UN Human Rights Chief

NEW DELHI: Michelle Bachelet, Human Rights Chief at United Nations, issued a statement on the revelations on the Pegasus software and said that journalists and human rights defenders play an indispensable role in our societies, and that them being silenced would mean suffering of all. A consortium of 17 organisations and over 80 journalists from 10 countries brought forth the revelations on the Pegasus software being a spy software with the Pegasus project. 

Bachelet said that revelations on the apparent widespread use of the Pegasus software to spy on journalists, human rights defenders, politicians, and others in a number of countries are extremely alarming. According to reports, the Pegasus malware infects electronic devices, thereby enabling operators of the tool to obtain messages, photos, emails, record calls, and even activate microphones. She said that it brings forth some of the worst fears about the potential misuse of surveillance technology to illegally undermine people’s human rights. Therefore, these reports, she added, confirm the urgent need to better regulate the sale, transfer, and use of surveillance technology.