Shashi Tharoor-headed parl panel to take up WhatsApp snooping case on Nov 20

A parliamentary standing committee headed by Congress leader Shashi Tharoor will take up the WhatsApp snooping case in its next meeting on November 20, sources said on Wednesday.

Tharoor, who heads the parliamentary standing committee on information technology, said in a letter to his panel members that alleged use of the technology for snooping on Indian citizens was a matter of "grave concern" and it would be discussed at the committee's next meeting on November 20.

Facebook-owned WhatsApp on October 31 said Indian journalists and human rights activists were among those globally spied upon by unnamed entities using an Israeli spyware Pegasus.

In the letter, sources said, Tharoor urged the committee members that as a democratic republic, "we must ensure adequate safeguards to prevent any misuse of the executive's powers in an unauthorised manner or for extraneous purposes."