India bypasses own rules to buy Israeli phone-hacking tech
India has exempted an Israeli phone-hacking company from its own procurement rules, allowing government agencies to buy surveillance technology and sparking criticism from rights groups.
An investigation by the digital-rights group Internet Freedom Foundation (IFF) found that Shah signed off on exemptions from 'make in India' procurement rules, clearing the way for government forensic institutions to buy at least 422 items of foreign technology, including products made by the Israeli firm Cellebrite. Both Modi's federal government and opposition-ruled states purchased similar phone-extraction and cloning tools.
The review of documents revealed that India's surveillance capabilities extend far beyond cloning phones to accessing cloud-based data from social media platforms like Instagram, X and Tinder, as well as data from connected devices such as Amazon's Alexa and Google Home.
Exemption Details
Under 'make in India' rules, preference must be given to Indian manufacturers over foreign suppliers, but exemptions can be approved by the minister in charge. A letter from India's Ministry of Home Affairs dated January 7 showed Shah signed a one-year waiver, while another January 20 letter permitted the NIA to buy Cellebrite's Premium Tool on a three-year license for about 50 million rupees ($529,947).
From the 422-item exemption list, the IFF identified 118 items under digital and multimedia forensics, including Cellebrite's Pathfinder, Inseyets On-Prem Pro and Inseyets Offline. Other products came from companies like Magnet, MSAB, Oxygen Forensics and Belkasoft.
Surveillance Capabilities
The Delhi Police requested software capable of bypassing passwords on Apple's macOS, Microsoft Windows and Linux; recovering internet activity and deleted files; bypassing screen locks; decrypting backups; and extracting data from messaging apps. They also sought an 'all-in-one' system to access more than 100 cloud services including Google, Apple, WhatsApp, Instagram, Telegram, Discord and dating platforms.
Specifications demanded the extraction of data from drones, wearable devices and smart home devices like Amazon Alexa and Google Home using account credentials or login tokens recovered from seized devices.
Real-world Concerns
Popular YouTuber Dhruv Rathee, a Modi critic, was detained during protests and believes police tried to clone his iPhone using Cellebrite tools. Reporter Mohammad Aslam Hussain found footage selectively deleted from his Samsung phone after police confiscation, raising questions about how authorities bypassed security.
Related
