The good old days when we still had secrets

In the past week, the Pegasus Project by Amnesty’s security lab and French agency Forbidden Stories in collaboration with other agencies sprung some shocks around the world with revelations of high level spying. The agencies unearthed a list of 50,000 numbers, some of which are said to have been targeted by Pegasus spyware which is licensed to some governments.

Coincidentally, I found a tech article in The New York Times on the growing pain of snooping phones and the consequences of America’s data-harvesting industries. A top Roman Catholic Church official in America was said to have resigned after a news site said it had incriminating data from his phone.

While in some cases, we assist the spies to steal our own data, in other instances, the spying is so high-tech, most of us would be helpless if we were targeted. The Pegasus hack is said to have targeted the phones of heads of state. The hack is so intrusive, it gives one goosebumps just to think of the software unlocking your passwords. It makes you wish for the good old days when all spies did was tap phones and crack Morse code. 

Pegasus has brought to the fore the urgent matters of privacy, which many of us have largely swept under the carpet alongside all those numerous cookies we absentmindedly accept every time we visit a website. Since tech companies have been sued successfully over data privacy, they have also learnt to cover their backs with some blanket consent forms. But to be honest, how many people read the fine print in the terms of use before impatiently ticking the box and saying, “I accept”? 

Lots of others probably do not know why there are cookies on that web page they just opened but they go ahead and accept them too, just to get the pop up to shut up and go away. In general, many computer and smartphone users have handed over their privacy rights on a platter by a mere click. Although I feign smartness now, until recently, I was one of those indifferent web users, clicking my rights away anyhow. Although I have seen the light, my recent enlightenment could not possibly protect me from the serious cyber boogeymen. New forms of surveillance remove any illusions of privacy.

The software will hack your passwords, turn on your phone camera, listen in and record your conversations. In one case, it was reported that spies went after a target’s wife, children and cardiologist. By the time this software is done with you, you have no secrets left. Although it is currently in the spotlight, Israel’s NSO is not the only one with capabilities to spy at a high level. 

There are those who have tried to downplay the spying saga saying that the media was brewing a storm in a teacup since only a few of the listed 50,000 telephone numbers have been proven to have been compromised. That sounds a little like telling Ugandans to keep calm because the 800 people who received fake vaccines were only injected with good, old harmless water.

In both cases, an evil far greater than its apparent scale has been unearthed. Since politicians find themselves at the mercy of the spyware, perhaps they can drive the campaign for its regulation. 

On Twitter, someone posed the question that if presidents, prime ministers and a king were in the cross hairs of this spyware, what hope do the rest of us have in retaining any privacy? Well, the answer is little. However, we can do the small things within our power to stop a few of those who would seek to steal our secrets.

Ms Nampewo is a writer, editor and communications consultant     
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