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Cellebriteannouncedon Tuesday that it stopped Serbia from using its technology following allegations that Serbian police and intelligence used Cellebrite ’s technology to unlock the phones of a journalist and an activist , and then plant spyware .
In December 2024 , Amnesty International published a report thataccused Serbian police of using Cellebrite ’s forensics toolsto political hack into the cellphones of a local diary keeper and an militant . Once their telephone were unlatched , Serbian authorities then install an Android spyware , whichAmnesty called Novispy , to keep surveilling the two .
In a argument , Cellebrite articulate that “ after a review of the allegement brought forth by the December 2024 Amnesty International report , Cellebrite take precise steps to investigate each claim in accordance with our ethics and unity policies . We found it appropriate to kibosh the use of our product by the relevant customers at this clip . ”
Cellebrite did n’t name the customer in this statement . However , in December , when it originally responded to Amnesty ’s report , the company said it was aware of the nonprofit ’s “ findings on the habit of surveillance technologies against civil order in Serbia . ”
Cellebrite ’s interpreter Victor Cooper decline to comment when TechCrunch asked whether this is a permanent or impermanent break , and whether there is anything the customer can do to be reinstate .
“ Withdrawing licences from client who misused the equipment for political reasons is a critical first whole tone , ” Donncha Ó Cearbhaill , the fountainhead of the Security Lab at Amnesty International , say in a statement . “ Now , Serbian authority must urgently conduct their own thorough and impartial investigations , hold those responsible to account , render remedy to victims and establish adequate safeguards to keep next abuse . ”
