India clears Israeli firm Cellebrite to supply phone-hacking tools to government agencies
India clears Israeli firm Cellebrite to supply phone-hacking tools to government agencies India has exempted Israeli surveillance company Cellebrite from domestic procurement rules, allowing government agencies to purchase its phone-extraction and hacking technology, an investigation has found. The digital-rights group Internet Freedom Foundation (IFF) found that Home Minister Amit Shah approved…
India has granted Cellebrite, an Israeli surveillance company, a waiver from domestic procurement regulations, permitting government agencies to procure its phone-extraction and hacking technology. Digital-rights organization Internet Freedom Foundation (IFF) discovered that Home Minister Amit Shah approved the waiver, facilitating the acquisition of up to 422 foreign forensic products, including Cellebrite tools.
The software is capable of extracting data from seized devices and utilizing recovered login tokens to access over 100 cloud services, including Instagram, X, and Tinder. Privacy advocates have expressed concern that the enhanced surveillance capabilities could potentially infringe upon citizens' privacy rights, as India's current laws fail to provide adequate protection against excessive monitoring.
In October, Delhi Police detained @dhruv_rathee and confiscated his phone, with @kunalkamra88 suggesting that they may have attempted to clone it using Cellebrite. However, this claim remains unverified. What is certain is that the government's purchasing activities have come under scrutiny.
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