<p>Dismissing media reports on the use of Pegasus software to snoop on Indians, IT and Communications Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Monday said in Lok Sabha that the allegations levelled just ahead of the Monsoon session of Parliament are aimed at maligning Indian democracy.</p>.<p>The Union Minister defended the government, quoting a statement from NSO, the firm that developed Pegasus and said that the presence of a phone number on the list did not necessarily amount to snooping.</p>.<p>"Such services are openly available to anyone, anywhere and anytime and are commonly used by governmental agencies as well as by private companies worldwide. It is beyond dispute that the data has nothing to do with surveillance or with NSO, so there can be no factual basis to suggest that a use of data somehow equates to surveillance," he read the statement.</p>.<p><a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/national/illegal-surveillance-not-possible-it-minister-ashwini-vaishnaw-on-pegasus-report-1010376.html" target="_blank"><b>Read More</b></a></p>
<p>Dismissing media reports on the use of Pegasus software to snoop on Indians, IT and Communications Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Monday said in Lok Sabha that the allegations levelled just ahead of the Monsoon session of Parliament are aimed at maligning Indian democracy.</p>.<p>The Union Minister defended the government, quoting a statement from NSO, the firm that developed Pegasus and said that the presence of a phone number on the list did not necessarily amount to snooping.</p>.<p>"Such services are openly available to anyone, anywhere and anytime and are commonly used by governmental agencies as well as by private companies worldwide. It is beyond dispute that the data has nothing to do with surveillance or with NSO, so there can be no factual basis to suggest that a use of data somehow equates to surveillance," he read the statement.</p>.<p><a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/national/illegal-surveillance-not-possible-it-minister-ashwini-vaishnaw-on-pegasus-report-1010376.html" target="_blank"><b>Read More</b></a></p>
