Surveillance nation: India spies on world’s largest population

Authorities say they are needed to improve governance and bolster security in a severely under-policed country. (AFP file photo)
Short Url
Updated 20 March 2023
Follow

Surveillance nation: India spies on world’s largest population

  • Across the country, the use of CCTV and facial recognition is increasing in schools, airports, train stations, prisons and streets as authorities roll out a nationwide system to curb crime and identify missing children

NEW DELHI: Khadeer Khan was arrested in the south Indian city of Hyderabad in January after police claimed to have identified him from CCTV footage as a suspect in a chain snatching incident. He was released a few days later, and died while being treated for injuries he allegedly sustained while in custody.
The police said Khan was arrested because he looked like the man seen in the CCTV footage.
“When it was ruled out that Khadeer was not the one who had committed the crime, he was released. Everything was done as per procedure,” said K. Saidulu, a deputy superintendent of police.
But human rights activists say the 36-year-old was clearly misidentified — a growing risk with the widespread use of CCTV in Telangana state, which has among the highest concentrations of the surveillance technology in the country.
“We have been warning for many years that CCTV and facial recognition technology can be misused for harassment, and that they can misidentify people,” said S.Q. Masood, a human rights activist who filed a lawsuit in 2021 challenging the use of facial recognition in Telangana that is still ongoing.

HIGHLIGHTS

• India poised to become world's most populous nation

• Increased digitisation of services has led to greater surveillance, activists say

• Authorities say surveillance needed to curb crime

“This case has exposed just how harmful it can be,” he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
Across the country, the use of CCTV and facial recognition is increasing in schools, airports, train stations, prisons and streets as authorities roll out a nationwide system to curb crime and identify missing children.
It’s not the only form of surveillance in the country.
The biometric national ID Aadhaar, with some 1.3 billion IDs issued, is linked to dozens of databases including bank accounts, vehicle registrations, SIM cards and voters’ lists, while the National Intelligence Grid aims to link nearly two dozen databases of government agencies for citizen profiles.
Meanwhile, policing of the Internet has also grown, with greater monitoring of social media, and the most frequent Internet shutdowns in the world.
Authorities say they are needed to improve governance and bolster security in a severely under-policed country. But technology experts say there is little correlation to crime, and that they violate privacy and target vulnerable people.
“Everything’s being digitised, so there’s a lot of information about a person being generated that is accessible to the government and to private entities without adequate safeguards,” said Anushka Jain, legal counsel at Internet Freedom Foundation, an advocacy group in Delhi.
“At a time when people are attacked for their religion, language and sexual identity, the easy availability of these data can be very harmful. It can also result in individuals losing access to welfare schemes, to public transport or the right to protest whenever the government deems it necessary.”

BIRTH TO DEATH
India is poised to become the world’s most populous country in April, overtaking China with more than 1.43 billion people, according to estimates by the United Nations.
The government, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has prioritized the Digital India program to improve efficiency and streamline welfare schemes by digitising everything from land titles to health records to payments.
Aadhaar — the world’s largest biometric database — underpins many of these initiatives, and is mandatory for welfare, pension and employment schemes, despite a 2014 Supreme Court ruling that it cannot be a requirement for welfare programs.
Yet despite its wide adoption, millions face difficulties with their Aadhaar IDs because of inaccurate details or fingerprints that don’t match, and are denied vital services.
“The government claims linking to Aadhaar brings better governance, but it will lead to a totalitarian society because the government knows every individual’s profile,” said Srinivas Kodali at Free Software Movement of India, an advocacy group.
“The goal is to track everyone from birth to death. Anything linked to Aadhaar eventually ends up with the ministry of home affairs, and the policing and surveillance agencies, so dissent against the government becomes very difficult,” he added.
The ministry of home affairs did not respond to a request for comment.
The latest iteration of digitization is Digi Yatra, which was rolled out at the Delhi, Bengaluru and Varanasi airports in December. It allows passengers to use their Aadhaar ID and facial recognition for check-ins at airports.
The ministry of civil aviation has said Digi Yatra leads to “reduced wait time and makes the boarding process faster and more seamless,” with dedicated lanes for those using the app.
But those who choose to not use Digi Yatra may be viewed with suspicion and subject to additional checks, said Kodali.
The data — including travel details — can also be shared with other government agencies, and may be used to put people on no-fly lists, and stop activists, journalists and dissenters from traveling, as is already happening, said Kodali.
The ministry of civil aviation did not respond to a request for comment.

ATTENDANCE APPS
Some of the lowest-paid public-sector workers in India bear the brunt of the government’s surveillance mechanisms.
Municipal workers across the country are required to wear GPS-enabled watches that are equipped with a camera that takes snapshots, and a microphone that can listen in on conversations.
The watches feed a stream of data to a central control room, where officials monitor the movements of each employee, and link the data to performance and salaries.
Authorities have said the goal is to improve efficiency. Workers across the country have protested the surveillance.
In January, the federal government said that the National Mobile Monitoring Software (NMMS) app would be mandatory for all workers under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS), after having rolled it out in several states last year.
Women make up nearly 60 percent of the more than 20 million beneficiaries nationwide who get 100 days of work in a year, and are paid a daily wage of up to 331 rupees ($4).
The new system requires the supervising officer, called a mate, to upload pictures of the laborers when they start work and when they finish, as proof of their attendance, which was marked in manual logs earlier.
But this requires the mate — usually a woman — to have a smartphone and a stable Internet connection twice a day, which is near impossible in many rural areas, said Rakshita Swamy, a researcher with the non-profit Peoples’ Action for Employment Guarantee.
“If the pictures don’t get uploaded, the workers are considered absent, and they don’t get paid for the work,” she said.
“There is also hesitation among the women about having their pictures taken. There is no transparency about what happens to these photographs — it’s highly likely that they are being used to train facial recognition algorithms,” she added.
Hundreds of NREGS workers are holding a protest in Delhi, calling for payment of back wages and doing away with the app.
The ministry of rural development has said the app would lead to “more transparency and ensure proper monitoring” of workers, without addressing surveillance concerns.
A long-delayed data protection law, which is awaiting passage in parliament, would offer little recourse as it gives sweeping exceptions to government agencies, say privacy experts.
In Rajasthan state, which has among the highest number of Internet shutdowns in the country, Kamla Devi, a mate in Ajmer district, has struggled with the NMMS app for several months.
“On many days, there’s no network, and I tell the workers to go home. There’s no point if they work because they won’t get paid,” she said.
“This app is ruining livelihoods. It was better when we had a manual attendance log.”

 

 


Israeli army admits to Gaza strike

Updated 06 June 2025
Follow

Israeli army admits to Gaza strike

  • Admission comes following investigation by BBC Verify

DUBAI: The Israeli military has admitted to the BBC that it conducted a strike on the Al-Mawasi area of Khan Younis in southern Gaza, which reportedly killed at least one Palestinian and injured 30 others.

The attack took place on Sunday, soon after an incident near a new aid distribution center in Rafah.

BBC’s fact-checking unit, Verify, was analyzing footage of the Rafah incident when it identified a separate strike in nearby Khan Younis.

Initially thought to be linked to the Rafah incident, BBC Verify geolocated the footage to Khan Younis, 4.5 km from the aid distribution site.

The Khan Younis blast had not been announced by the IDF, which regularly publishes operational updates online.

When BBC Verify approached the Israeli military, it admitted it had carried out an artillery strike and said the incident was the result of “technical and operational errors.”

Troops had fired toward a specific target but the artillery deviated and “wrongfully hit the Mawasi area” in Khan Younis, the military said, without providing any evidence to support its claims.

The blast took place in an area where displaced Palestinians had been sheltering. The footage showed bloodied bodies surrounded by dust clouds, BBC said. Women and children could be seen running and screaming as they watched injured people being carried away.

The broadcaster emphasized the rarity of the Israeli military acknowledging errors. BBC Verify’s analysis of its official Telegram account identified four previous instances where it admitted to mistakes or technical and operational errors related to the war in Gaza.


Israeli strike on Gaza hospital kills three journalists

Updated 06 June 2025
Follow

Israeli strike on Gaza hospital kills three journalists

  • Committee to Protect Journalists denounces attack on Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital courtyard

LONDON: Three journalists were killed and four others injured in an Israeli strike on Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital’s courtyard in central Gaza, drawing condemnations from media rights groups.

The Palestinian Journalists Syndicate said the attack struck a media tent and identified the victims as Ismail Badah, a cameraman for Palestine Today TV channel, which is affiliated with the Islamic Jihad militant group; Soliman Hajaj, a Palestine Today editor; and Samir A-Refai of the Shams News network.

The strike injured 30 others, including four journalists. Among them were Imad Daloul, a correspondent for Palestine Today, and Ahmed Qalja, a cameraman for Qatar-based Al-Araby TV, both are reported to be in critical condition.

The syndicate accused Israel of “a full-fledged war crime” that “reflects a deliberate and systematic policy aimed at silencing the Palestinian narrative.” It said that targeting journalists “within the grounds of a hospital constitutes a grave violation of international humanitarian law and the Geneva Conventions.”

The Israeli military said in a statement that the strike targeted “an Islamic Jihad terrorist who was operating in a command-and-control center” in the hospital’s yard, without providing details or evidence.

In a statement on Thursday, the Committee to Protect Journalists condemned the attack, calling for international action to stop Israel from targeting journalists “based on unsubstantiated terrorism claims.”

CPJ regional director Sara Qudah said: “These are not isolated incidents, but systematic attacks by Israel on the media. This disturbing and deliberate pattern must end.

“The killing of journalists in a hospital courtyard on the holy day of Yawm Al-Arafah — preceding Eid Al-Adha — underscores the relentless dangers facing the media in Gaza.”


BBC journalists detained at gunpoint in southern Syria

Updated 05 June 2025
Follow

BBC journalists detained at gunpoint in southern Syria

  • BBC sent complaint to Israeli military about the incident

LONDON: Israeli Defense Forces detained, blindfolded, tied up and strip-searched at gunpoint seven members of a BBC Arabic crew as they approached the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, a BBC journalist said on Thursday. 

Feras Kilani, a British special correspondent for BBC Arabic, said he was among the team detained for seven hours at a checkpoint near the barrier of Quneitra city, located within the buffer zone between Syria and Israel.

“A minute after we started filming in the area, a white car approached from the other side of the checkpoint. Four Israeli soldiers got out of the car and surrounded us. They pointed their rifles at our heads and ordered us to place the camera on the side of the road,” wrote Kilani in a BBC article.

The crew’s phones and laptops were inspected, with some files deleted, and their vehicle was thoroughly searched as they were led into a room, tied up and blindfolded.

Kilani’s team included two Iraqi BBC staff members and four Syrians, among them three freelancers and a cameraman.

“I pleaded to the officer to release them, and he promised to do so after the interrogations. They were taken one by one to the same room for strip search and questioning.”

Kilani said the team was also threatened before their release in the evening: “The officer threatened us with worse consequences if we approached the frontier from the Syrian side again and said that they know everything about us and would track us down if any hidden or un-deleted photo was ever published.”

In a statement, the BBC said it had filed a complaint with the Israeli military over the incident but had yet to receive a response.

“The BBC strongly objects to the treatment of our staff and freelancers in this way. Despite making clear to the soldiers on multiple occasions they were working for the BBC, the behavior they were subjected to is wholly unacceptable,” the broadcaster said. 


YouTube educator says she is ready to risk career for Gaza’s children

Updated 05 June 2025
Follow

YouTube educator says she is ready to risk career for Gaza’s children

  • Ms Rachel says personal encounters with Palestinian families compel her to act

LONDON: American children’s educator and YouTuber Rachel Griffin Accurso, known globally as Ms Rachel, has said she is willing to jeopardize her career to advocate for Palestinian children suffering under Israeli bombardment in Gaza.

Ms Rachel said she had been targeted by online campaigns and faced calls for government investigation after voicing support for children affected by war in Gaza and elsewhere.

Despite growing criticism from some pro-Israel groups and conservative media, she said she remained defiant in a recent interview with WBUR, a Boston-based public radio station.

She said: “I would risk everything — and I will risk my career over and over to stand up for children. It’s all about the kids for me. I wouldn’t be Ms Rachel if I didn’t deeply care about all kids.”

Her comments came as humanitarian agencies continue to sound the alarm over conditions in Gaza, where more than 54,000 Palestinians have been killed, and the UN has warned that the enclave faces imminent famine.

The YouTube star said a recent meeting with Palestinian mothers, whose children remain trapped in Gaza, had had a profound effect on her. She said: “When you sit with a mother who’s FaceTiming her boys in Gaza who don’t have food, and you see that anguish, you ask yourself: What more can I do?”

Ms Rachel recently published about her encounter with Rahaf, 3, a double amputee from Gaza who was evacuated for medical treatment in the US by the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund.

Rahaf’s story, including her wish to return to school and stand while praying, has been shared by Ms Rachel on her social media platforms, alongside the educator’s advocacy for children in Gaza.

Ms Rachel has faced accusations of bias, including a call by a pro-Israel organization urging the US attorney general to investigate her messaging. She acknowledged the pressure, but insisted her mission remains unchanged.

She said: “It’s painful, but I know who I am, and I know how deeply and equally I care for all children.”

A former teacher in New York, Ms Rachel said her work had always been rooted in the principle that all children, regardless of nationality or background, deserved dignity, safety, and access to basic needs.

She added: “That’s the basis of everything for me — children are equal.”


BBC defends Gaza coverage after White House criticism over aid site reporting

Updated 04 June 2025
Follow

BBC defends Gaza coverage after White House criticism over aid site reporting

  • White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt accused the BBC of taking “the word of Hamas with total truth,” claimed the corporation had retracted a story about aid distribution center incident in Rafah on Sunday
  • BBC rejected accusations as “completely wrong,” saying figures were attributed and updated throughout the day based on information from a range of sources

LONDON: The BBC has strongly defended its reporting of a deadly incident near a US-backed aid distribution site in Gaza, rejecting criticism from the White House as “incorrect” and denying claims that it had taken down a story.

The row erupted after White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, during a press briefing on Tuesday, accused the BBC of relying on information from Hamas in its initial reporting of a shooting near an aid distribution center in Rafah on Sunday.

Leavitt also claimed the BBC had retracted a story — a claim the broadcaster called “completely wrong.”

“The claim the BBC took down a story after reviewing footage is completely wrong. We did not remove any story and we stand by our journalism,” the BBC said in a statement.

Leavitt’s remarks came in response to questions about reports that Israeli forces had opened fire near the aid site. Holding printed screenshots from the BBC website, she accused the broadcaster of changing casualty figures in multiple headlines and said it had “corrected and taken down” its report.

“The administration is aware of those reports and we are currently looking into the veracity of them because, unfortunately, unlike some in the media, we don’t take the word of Hamas with total truth,” she said.

Leavitt’s remarks came in response to questions about reports that Israeli forces had opened fire near the aid site. AP/File

Leavitt listed a series of changing headlines: “We like to look into it when they speak, unlike the BBC, who had multiple headlines, they wrote, ‘Israeli tank kills 26’, ‘Israeli tank kills 21’, ‘Israeli gunfire kills 31’, ‘Red Cross says, 21 people were killed in an aid incident.’”

“And then, oh, wait, they had to correct and take down their entire story, saying: ‘We reviewed the footage and couldn’t find any evidence of anything,’” she said.

The BBC issued a swift rebuttal, emphasizing that all casualty figures were clearly attributed and updated throughout the day based on information from a range of sources — standard practice in any fast-moving situation, especially during conflict.

According to Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry, at least 31 people were killed in the gunfire. The International Committee of the Red Cross later confirmed that 21 people had died. Initial reports from local medics cited 15 dead.

The numbers were “always clearly attributed, from the first figure of 15 from medics, through the 31 killed from the Hamas-run health ministry to the final Red Cross statement of ‘at least 21’ at their field hospital,” the BBC statement said.

“Our news stories and headlines about Sunday’s aid distribution center incident were updated throughout the day with the latest fatality figures as they came in from various sources … This is totally normal practice on any fast-moving news story.

“Completely separately, a BBC Verify online report on Monday reported a viral video posted on social media was not linked to the aid distribution center it claimed to show.

“This video did not run on BBC news channels and had not informed our reporting. Conflating these two stories is simply misleading,” it added.

Witnesses, NGOs and local health officials said that civilians had been shot at while waiting for food at the Rafah aid point. The Israeli military denied these claims and said its forces had not fired at civilians. The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a US- and Israeli-backed private group overseeing aid distribution, dismissed the reports as “outright fabrications.”

On Wednesday, GHF announced a temporary suspension of its operations in Gaza, citing security concerns. The Israeli army warned that roads leading to aid centers were now considered “combat zones.”

The closure follows a string of deadly incidents that UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has condemned as “unacceptable” and potentially “war crimes.”

The information war surrounding the conflict — now in its 21st month — has intensified, with both Israel and Hamas battling to control the narrative.

Independent reporting from Gaza remains limited. Israel continues to bar international media, including the BBC, from entering the territory, forcing news organizations to rely on local journalists, social media and unofficial channels.

Many local reporters are working under extreme physical and psychological pressure and are themselves frequent targets of Israeli airstrikes.

The BBC reiterated its call for unimpeded media access and urged the White House to support that demand.

“It’s important that accurate journalism is respected,” said Jonathan Munro, deputy director of BBC News. “And that governments call for free access to Gaza.”