What Pegasus says about Cyber Power and our National Security

Public discourse around the Pegasus reports alleging government surveillance of politicians, media persons, public officials and business people is understandably focused on its political and civil liberties dimensions. Yet, the affair also has crucial national security and geopolitical dimensions that must enter the national debate. The 130-year-old governance mindset and administrative processes that the Indian state employs in such matters is not tenable in the Information Age. Pegasus is another reminder that the Indian republic is more vulnerable than ever to information offensives by adversaries.

Information governance in liberal democracies has two key goals: first, to protect the fundamental rights (privacy included) of citizens; and second, to defend the national information sphere from hostile state and non-state adversaries. These goals are sometimes in conflict. There is a trade-off between liberty and national security. Liberal democracies achieve a balance by codifying the trade-off, placing limits on the state’s powers, defining due processes, and subjecting government actions to parliamentary and judicial review. While the Indian state has managed a balance in many areas, privacy and surveillance have remained in a grey zone since the Constitution came into force.Read the full article in The Mint