How India surveils its citizens

After years of small-scale and targeted surveillance, the government is gearing up to mine big data from its citizens. At the core of its plan are intelligence agencies that operate with zero non-executive oversight.

Josy Joseph wasn’t too surprised when he heard about the Pegasus revelations in July. The veteran journalist and author, who has covered military and national security agencies for three decades, had long known of their surreptitious ways of intelligence gathering. At times, he was at the receiving end himself. 

In 2005, Joseph uncovered an elaborate operation on how national secrets were being smuggled out of a top-secret naval war room in New Delhi. His reports led to an overhaul of the security systems in military installations. But while he was working on the story, he noticed he was being trailed …

Author

Omkar Khandekar

Omkar specializes in long-form narrative features and has reported from India, the UK, Germany and the Maldives. He writes across beats, from politics and crime to cinema and sports. His works have been published in Indian and international outlets including The Caravan, Mint Lounge, the BBC, Al Jazeera and The Huffington Post.

Senior Features Writer

omkar@mailtmc.com

Delhi