Technopolice BXL
Osservatorio NessunoYesterday, at the European Parliament, we participated to the stakeholder round-table meeting organized by the MEP Interest Group against the Use of Spyware.
Below is the full transcript of our brief intervention:
"In Italy, we have seen a surge in the use of both illegal and, especially, legal spyware and forensic tools. Through our small support helpline, we have received reports in recent months of victim clusters across multiple Italian cities. The affected individuals are mostly activists, and in many cases the surveillance appears to be legally authorized law enforcement operations pursuing disproportionate charges that are often dismissed in court."
"Recent examples include acts of civil disobedience, such as occupations aimed at disrupting the expulsion of migrants or the defacing of buildings. In these cases, phones are routinely seized and unlocked using Cellebrite, an Israeli forensic technology company that has also received EU funding. While Cellebrite is not spyware per se, it leverages similar techniques and can be used in combination with spyware, as reported by Amnesty International and SHARE in Serbia."
"At the same time, we have observed a growing number of Italian companies, often difficult to trace through public procurement documents, developing and distributing spyware. The combination of relatively low prices compared to more sophisticated tools, together with the ease of access and approval from law enforcement authorities, makes these technologies extremely pervasive, far more than is currently reported."
"We continue to discover new companies and spyware vendors, including three in just the last few months, and the overall number active in Italy alone is now in the double digits."
"These tools, such as the Spyrtacus spyware by SIO, may be less technically sophisticated than high-profile products such as those developed by NSO Group or Paragon Solutions, but they are no less intrusive. When properly installed, they can provide capabilities comparable to Pegasus or Graphite, while costing as little as a few hundred euros per day per target."
"Because some of the affected groups have limited media exposure and fewer institutional connections, we think the true pervasiveness of the phenomenon is difficult to assess. Like many other NGOs, we are overwhelmed by requests for support."
"Despite previous cases and public recommendations, we believe this trend is still increasing and, in some instances, deeply entrenched in relationships between the public and private sectors. For example, Rob Bertholee, the former head of the Dutch intelligence service, has joined the board of Dataflow Security, an Italian-Israeli spyware company."
"We support the European Digital Rights (@edri) positions, and we believe that as long as these tools remain easily available for sale and procurement, they will continue to be abused—especially against those with the fewest resources to defend themselves. As a step forward, we’d like to increase the exposure of these other cases, track them and bring them to the larger discussions as we believe the numbers are way higher than usually perceived."