Published : 12 Nov 2026, 06:34 PM
Updated : 12 Nov 2026, 06:34 PM
India has exempted an Israeli phone-hacking firm from domestic procurement rules, allowing government agencies to purchase advanced phone-extraction and surveillance technology.
An investigation by the Internet Freedom Foundation revealed that Home Minister Amit Shah signed off on waivers to "Make in India" rules in January, reports Al Jazeera.
These exemptions cleared the way for forensic institutions to buy at least 422 foreign items, including software from Israeli company Cellebrite.
Both federal agencies and states ruled by the opposition Congress party have acquired similar phone-cloning tools.
Documents reviewed by Al Jazeera show Delhi police sought software capable of bypassing passcodes and harvesting login tokens.
These tools can access over 100 cloud services -- including WhatsApp, Instagram, and Tinder -- alongside data from smart devices like Amazon Alexa.
The revelations follow complaints from journalists and critics who suspect their phones were accessed during recent police detentions.
Supreme Court lawyer Vrinda Bhandari warned that India lacks parliamentary or judicial oversight, leaving citizens vulnerable to unchecked mass surveillance.
