NEW DELHI: In an explosive expose, The New Indian found out that all the iPhone alerts received by the opposition INDIA alliance’s parliamentarians mentioned Access Now for support — a non-profit organization founded in 2009 with a mission to defend and extend the digital civil rights of people around the world, according to their homepage.
The alert, illustrating “state-sponsored attack” mentioned that the afflicted should enlist expert help for “emergency security assistance”. “Enlist expert help such as the rapid-response emergency security assistance provided by the Digital Security Helpline at the nonprofit Access Now. If you are an activist, independent journalist, or non-profit worker – you can contact them 24 hours a day, seven days a week through their website*: accessnow.org/help,” the alert read.
The New Indian found out that among the 10 Board members, who belong to different countries, one of them is a Seema Chishti from India. Chishti, according to her credentials, is also a multimedia journalist and the wife of Sitaram Yechury, the general secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist).
The Congress-Access Now (the purported tech support provider for Apple) link deepens further. Other than George Soros’s Open Society Foundation, Access Now website lists Omidyar as its prominent donor, along with Ford Foundation, Global Affairs (Govt of Canada) and Govt of… pic.twitter.com/BwgYgMXgq7
— Amit Malviya (@amitmalviya) November 1, 2023
Interestingly, Yechury had also written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Tuesday, stating that a “surveillance state is the antitheses of democracy”.
As the breadcrumbs become more frequent, we also found out that Chishti is also a consultant editor with The Wire — the organisation that has come constantly under the radar of the central government for allegedly producing fabricated stories against the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Centre.
The ruling party has raised several questions regarding The Wire link, especially considering the fact that only a particular set of people have received the same alerts.
Many eyebrows have been raised concerning the authenticity of the snoopgate, considering the fact that a couple of editors from The Wire have raised their voice over the alleged snooping, while one of their consulting editors herself is part of the organisation that looks after the technical security of the affected iPhones.
We have reached out to Seema Chishti to clarify with her the facts of the accusations, however, we have not received any response as of yet.
Apple authorities have also been contacted, and the article will be updated as and when we receive a response from them.