Drop the phone checking, draft surveillance curbing orders

Context:

The setting up of the committee to look into the Pegasus case appears to be a futile exercise as nothing substantial came out of it. Rather a worrying trend has come to the surface of centers and states operating like a police state.

What is the scenario in other countries?

• In 1986, the Wiretap Act in the United States, the law prohibited private agencies from engaging in surveillance and it made it mandatory for the government to seek the permission of the federal court, that too when there is “no other option”.
• In 1997, in Ireland, the Report on Privacy highlighted the legal vacuum created by new technology outpacing laws and said that this was a classic case for law reform.
• The Patriot Act 2001, in the US, enacted to counter international terrorism also required court approval. The court was a reaction to political spying.