The central government has now decided to set up an expert committee under the National Cyber Security Coordinator to study reports about Chinese surveillance which were released earlier this week. The panel will study these reports, evaluate their implications, assess any violations of law, and submit its recommendations within 30 days.
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"The Government of India takes very seriously the protection of the privacy and personal data of Indian citizens. It is deeply concerned at any report that suggests that foreign sources are accessing or seeking to access the personal data of our citizens without their consent," said S. Jaishankar, External Affairs Minister after Congress Leader K C Venugopal asked questions about Chinese spying during the Zero Hour in Rajya Sabha.
The Chinese snooping reports were released by daily the Indian Express. The reports revealed that Indian political leaders, defence personnel were being tracked by the Chinese for a decade. As per the information, to date five former Prime Ministers, 24 former Chief Ministers, and 350 parliamentarians were being spied upon by the neighbouring country. As many as 700 leaders from several political parties in India were tracked by the Chinese firms. In addition to these, 70 mayors, deputy mayors were being spied upon by China.
According to the government sources, late Indian Presidents Pranab Mukherjee and APJ Abdul Kalam; former PM Manmohan Singh, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Rajiv Gandhi, and PV Narasimha Rao; Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray, West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee among many others were being followed and tracked by the various Chinese firms. The reports have mentioned that surveillance is being done by Chinese companies Shenzhen Infotech and Zenhua Infotech.
According to a letter by Jaishankar to Congress leader Venugopal, the matter was also taken up with the Chinese envoy here.
"The matter was taken up by the Ministry of External Affairs with the Chinese Ambassador today. Our Embassy in Beijing also raised it with the Foreign Ministry of China. The Chinese side conveyed that Shenzen Zhenhua is a private company and had stated its position publicly. In their part, the Chinese Foreign ministry maintained that there was no connection between the company concerned and the Chinese government," said Jaishankar.
He also said that in his letter that a representative of Shenzen Zhenhua has stated that the data collected was from open sources and is no different from its peer organisations in western countries. The minister said they have denied accessing private information from confidential sources.