"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...
When a negative news report against the government appears in a newspaper, the officials of the concerned department are left to shiver in fear throughout that day. They receive phone call from the CM's office right in the morning at 7 am. There is alarm over the matter among all those associated with the piece of news. They inquire about the government official with whom the news reporter concerned had met before giving the report. The top officials of the department try to ascertain the details of the officers with whom the reporter was in contact. From the section officer to the director of the department, everyone is getting extremely agitated when they get a phone call from any reporter seeking information. The person who got the phone call is immediately going to higher authorities to share with him the information about the call he received and they clarifying that no information was shared with the reporter. Officials in most government departments are living in an atmosphere of such morbid fear since the past four years. With this, one can understand how much fear the YCP government has instilled in them.
Situation in AP far worse than Telangana
The arrest of Praneet Rao, the Telangana SIB's DSP is being discussed widely in Andhra Pradesh. On the very day when the Telangana Assembly election results were out the said DSP had deleted all information from 17 computers that were in his control and destroyed their hard discs. Praneet Rao is facing the allegation that leaders of the erstwhile ruling party had directed him to tap the phones belonging to their opponents and destroyed the information out of fear that all those details will come out as the government has changed. Case was booked against him and investigation is going on. Far worse fears are haunting the people belonging to every section in Andhra Pradesh. Both the government and private employees are not in a position to speak out freely.
EC should intervene
The fear of phone tapping is predominant among all, from low level officials and leaders to high level public representatives and senior officers. They all are highly disturbed over the wayward methods being followed by the YSRCP government. They all are worried that with the help of various intelligence wings, technology to tap anybody's phone has been acquired by the government. It is the duty of the Election Commission to sift through the activities of the state government's vigilance wings with the help of central intelligence teams and take up remedial measures immediately.
Facing all these hardships to avoid getting tapped
Some leaders and officers are frequently formatting their phones out of the fear that they are being tracked. Since it is difficult to ascertain the link which could lead to the installation of the bug in their instrument, they are carefully deleting the entire information from their phones once in a month. Some even fear that false cases may be foisted against them on the charge that some message has been forwarded by them.
A new phone once in 15 to 30 days
Some political leaders and government officials, who are financially well off are changing their phones once in 15 to 30 days. Some officers are choosing the option of auto deletion of messages they have sent. Many politicians are switching off the location of their phone.
Phone number taken in the name of the relatives
Persons who fear that their phone has been tapped are speaking over phones bearing numbers taken in the name of their relatives.
Phones not allowed
Everyone who wants to enter the chamber of an IAS officer in AP secretariat has to follow the rule. He should leave his mobile handset outside. Another IAS officer makes sure that the person who came to meet him switches off his mobile device. While discussing crucial matters, he even switches off his own mobile. He is able to speak confidently only after switching off the phone. He cuts the phone after speaking for one minute over Whatsapp. According to him Whatsapp call can be tapped after one minute.
VPN for Rs 10,000 a year
The employees of prominent IT firms use Virtual Private Network to safeguard their information. This costs around Rs 10,000 per annum. This is highly safe. It prevents detection of the location and personal identity. It encrypts the internet traffic. It provides additional security by hiding the IP address during calls. This network is linked to servers in many countries. Thanks to Chief Minister Jagan, many officers and public representatives are making use of VPN.
(This article appeared in Eenadu on March 21, 2024)
