"I am here... I heard..." that was the slogan given by Jagan Mohan Reddy, five years ago. When he said he has heard and he will hear, everyone thought that he would hear people's problems. Nobody had ever thought that he would penetrate deep into everyone's mobile phone to hear and pilfer private information.
When anyone speaks over phone, Anna (big brother) comes to know the all details immediately. When someone speaks against the government, the big brother's men immediately land before his or her residence as soon as one utters anything against the government. Not only the Opposition parties, his own party men, high officials belonging to IAS and IPS cadres, activists involved in different movements, rights activists and finally news reporters and common people are also facing the same situation.
They are all haunted by fear of phone tapping. The situation is such that people are feeling fear to even open their mouths, they are dreading to speak freely and they dread to keep their own phone close to themselves. This is the privacy pilferage regime reigning over the state (Andhra Pradesh). This is the pinnacle of privacy subjugation, these are the 'Tap' stories under to the YSRCP government.
Public representatives, officers, legal experts, journalists, small time leaders and anyone who has some stature has the same story to reveal. That he is haunted by the fear that someone is following him, that his phone is being tapped and all of them are in a state of alarm about the perilous situation that could befall because of the phone tapping.
Even when a few IAS and IPS officers gather at some place, they are not in a position to freely talk to each other. These conditions prevail probably in Andhra Pradesh alone. The targeted people are feeling disturbed even to speak with their family members at home out of the apprehension that someone is overhearing them from their own mobile phone.
Initially people having such fears shifted to Whatsapp calls from the normal phone calls. They drifted to telegram, as they subsequently feared that even Whatsapp calls are not secure. Out of the fear that telegram calls can be tapped also, now they have opted for Signal app. They are coming to the conclusion that it is better to procure an iphone for making calls, doesn’t matter even if that calls for taking a loan. People, who can afford, are changing their phones once in 15 days or once in a month. They all are fearing the surveillance regime established by the Jagan government, which has become the focal point of anarchic policies. They are constantly under a sense of insecurity that they are being followed by someone. The government, which is harassing the people who are posting their views on the social media by booking false cases against them, has created a situation where people fear to speak freely over their phones.
Do you have a mobile phone, then it is better to keep your mouth shut
Someone may be following you not just when the phone is in your pocket, but also when it is anywhere near you. With its help, every single word uttered by you can be secretly heard and recorded by someone sitting at a remote place. That is why public representatives, higher officials, legal experts and people from the media have made it a rule of their lives to keep their mouths shut.
Even those working in the vigilance departments are forced to carefully weigh each word they utter over their phone. The situation in the state is such that the tappers do not differentiate between their own people and others while pursuing their objectives. Many officers and leaders have almost forgot normal calls since the past five years. They are not even sending out short messages. They are using Whatsapp, Signal and Facetime apps for the purpose. Almost 90 per cent of the government officials feel the shiver in their spine even to speak with any of their acquaintances. This is mirroring the anarchy prevailing in the state's administration. Even when a person's phone is not tapped, all the words uttered by him while he was talking to another person whose phone was tapped are known to the tapper. Some political leaders vouch to this.
They can track you by sending you a link
The targeted person is being lured to click a link sent to him. When the link is clicked it enables the tracking of the phone continuously. When the tracking is begun the microphone keeps on continuously working. Whatever the targeted person speaks, not only over phone but also while keeping the phone by his side, can be recorded.
The video of the phone can be remotely switched on to see the faces of the persons involved in the conversation. Numerous spywares have come into being to facilitate this. The spywares are deliberately inserted into the handsets of the targeted persons and thus the telephones are taken into their control. That is why people with technical awareness and even those without the awareness are not speaking out anything when their phone is situated close to them. They are fearing to speak out family secrets in the vicinity of the telephone. That is why many are keeping the phone far away from their bedrooms.
Struggle for rights... that too in YSRCP government?
Leaders of the private and government employees unions and the leaders of the mass organisations and contractors’ unions, who are fighting for their rights, are dreading to speak out. Leaders of such organisations are lamenting that police are keeping vigil on them within hours after they interacted with anyone. "They are reaching the persons we spoke to over phone and giving them notices not to attend union meetings. If there is no phone tapping, how will they know that we spoke to the specific persons?" This is the question posed by the targeted persons. The fear of phone tapping is haunting everyone right from the leaders of the teachers unions to Anganwadi workers union leaders, from the representatives of the unemployed people to the members of the contractors unions demanding payment of pending bills.
When a negative news report appears...