FBI and DHS buying spyware to illegally monitor citizens’ phones, unregulated industry.

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Governments across the globe, including the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), have quietly bought spyware to track and monitor citizens’ phones, igniting a firestorm of concerns about privacy and illegal surveillance. The alarming revelation that the government has access to such invasive technology raises crucial questions about the balance between security and civil liberties.

The FBI, for instance, purchased Pegasus spyware from the Israeli company NSO Group. Pegasus is notorious for its ability to infect mobile devices without any user interaction. Once installed, it can access everything—messages, call history, emails, and more—without the user even knowing. Initially, the FBI claimed it only wanted to test the software, attempting to understand how adversaries might use it. But documents obtained by The New York Times suggest that the FBI came alarmingly close to deploying Pegasus for its own operations.

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On the other hand, the DHS has been linked to another Israeli company, Paragon Solutions, and its spyware product, Graphite. Graphite is capable of extracting data from encrypted messaging apps like WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, and Signal, which are widely used for private communications. This raises serious questions about the government’s compliance with President Biden’s executive order on spyware, which was supposed to prevent the misuse of such powerful technology.

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The implications are far-reaching. These tools grant unprecedented access to private conversations, threatening to undermine the very foundation of personal privacy. While national security is a legitimate concern, this unchecked surveillance could lead to overreach, potentially infringing on individual freedoms and civil rights.

Sources:

https://www.engadget.com/fbi-reportedly-considered-using-pegasus-spyware-195512125.html

https://www.timesofisrael.com/fbi-confirms-purchasing-pegasus-spyware-but-denies-using-it/

https://epic.org/documents/coalition-letter-to-dhs-re-paragon-contract/

https://cdt.org/insights/dhs-must-come-clean-on-contract-with-spyware-purveyor-paragon-solutions/