Jordan used Israeli forensic tools in prosecutions of Gaza war protesters — report

Jordan has been using Israeli digital forensic tools since 2020 in its efforts against civil society activists, including people protesting over the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, according to a new report by the Citizen Lab research unit.

Phone-cracking products by Israeli firm Cellebrite “have been used by the Jordanian authorities to extract data from the phones of activists and civil society members without their consent,” the report said, relying on its analysis of seven specific cases.

Forensic investigations of devices that were confiscated by authorities and then returned to their owners showed evidence of Cellebrite infiltration, according to the report.

Additionally, court records shared with the lab showed Jordan has used the Israeli software in a manner that violates human rights treaties ratified by the kingdom, the report alleged.

The Citizen Lab is a research center at the University of Toronto’s Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy that investigates “novel threats to democracy, human rights, and global security in the digital ecosystem,” according to its website.

The cases it looked into took place in the context of near-daily protests in Jordan over the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, which began with the Hamas-led attack on Israel on October 7, 2023. Previous testing indicated that authorities had used the software as early as 2020, the report said.

Among the people whose devices were seized in Jordan were student activists and protesters, following social media posts condemning police violence against demonstrators, according to the report.

According to the report, activists have been called in for interrogation over their online speech and pressured or forced to hand over their devices to investigators. In at least one case, police reportedly physically restrained an activist and used Face ID to unlock his phone.

Cellebrite’s software may then have been used to recover deleted photos, videos, or messages, which a user would have tried to scrub from the device prior to interrogation, fearing retaliation for their commentary, it said.

The report noted that Jordan has ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which forbids states from using surveillance technology as a means to silence lawful free expression.

Cellebrite’s products are widely used by law enforcement, including the FBI, to unlock smartphones and scour them for evidence.

The company does not sell its products to governments that are sanctioned by the US, EU, and Israel, and says that it vets potential clients on human rights grounds before selling to them. It has pulled its business from states accused of repression before, after critical reports by human rights groups expressing concerns that its tools are used to suppress dissent.

In a response to the Citizen Lab report, Cellebrite noted its prohibition on any unlawful use of its software, and said that, unlike “spyware” technology, its products are used for forensic investigations after activity has taken place, rather than to surveil digital activity while it’s happening.