In his recent book “Nexus,” Israeli author Yuval Noah Harari reveals that the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) has been using a surveillance program called SKYNET to monitor the mobile data of over 55 million Pakistani citizens since 2014. The system, designed to assess potential terrorist risks, tracks phone activity across Pakistan and uses this information to predict individuals’ likelihood of involvement in such activities.
A previous report by Privacy International, a UK-based organization, titled “Tipping the Scales: Security & Surveillance in Pakistan,” highlights the extensive monitoring practices carried out by the Pakistani government. It also outlines collaborations between Pakistan’s security agencies and foreign intelligence bodies like the NSA and the UK’s Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ).
The report further details the role of private firms in facilitating this mass surveillance, by providing monitoring equipment and technical support. Pakistan, it adds, has been a significant recipient of NSA funding, reflecting a deep-rooted relationship with the agency.
A separate NSA document, released in June 2012, shows that SKYNET gathered millions of call records from Pakistani telecom companies, although specific methods were not disclosed. In June 2015, The Intercept reported that GCHQ had accessed Pakistan’s Internet Exchange by exploiting weaknesses in Cisco routers, enabling them to redirect and monitor Pakistani internet traffic.
