Your smartphone can become a 24/7 surveillance device without you making a single wrong click  In our last post, we reported on leaks that reveal that the Bulgarian government has approved the export of advanced spy technologies to governments around the world, many of them with poor ratings for their treatment of human rights, press freedoms, and political dissent. Thanks to this technology, tyrants, tormentors, and regimes around the world have gained unprecedented capabilities to intercept communications, track individuals, and harvest sensitive personal data – texts, emails, and calls – through defects in global telecommunications systems. Who is behind this privacy apocalypse? The Same Players Keep Appearing Human Rights Watch notes that the company selling these exploits, Circles, was founded by Tal Dilian, who also founded Intellexa, maker of the Predator zero-click tool. Dilian was sanctioned by the United States in 2024 for activities connected to the development and distribution of commercial spyware used against journalists, dissidents, policy experts, and government officials. Circles itself also has historical ties to NSO Group, the maker of Pegasus. The result is an ecosystem in which a relatively small group of firms and executives have repeatedly surfaced in controversies involving surveillance abuses around the world. Their activities demonstrate how interconnected the commercial spyware industry has become. A Growing Threat to Privacy and Democracy Such technologies often operate in secrecy, with little transparency, limited judicial oversight, and no remedies for victims. Human Rights Watch recently documented how surveillance technologies exported from European countries have been used by governments to target journalists, activists, academics, humanitarian workers, and political critics. The organization concluded that existing controls are failing to prevent sales to countries where there is a substantial risk of abuse. Figures ranging from journalists in Mexico and India to opposition politicians in Spain, and even a British prime minister, have been targeted by Pegasus software. With the expansive growth of Circles’ new surveillance software, Americans should wake up and realize that we are not immune to this global trend. As PPSA noted in our original reporting on mercenary spyware, American officials have already been targeted by foreign spyware campaigns. The proliferation of these capabilities means that sophisticated digital surveillance is becoming cheaper, more accessible, and harder to contain. The Lesson The leaked Bulgarian licenses provide another reminder that surveillance technology does not stay confined to the governments that first develop it. In short, the spread of mercenary spyware was once viewed as an emerging problem. Today, it is a mature global industry. The dangers posed by these sophisticated attacks have long been foreshadowed in Congressional testimony and hearings. Yet solutions are not obvious or easy. Like narcotics, surveillance tech often spreads through international markets, private vendors, shell companies, and workarounds of export controls until powerful interception capabilities become available to governments around the world, as well as criminals and cartels. Congress and policymakers must now recognize that this global marketplace for commercial spying tools is thriving and potentially threatens any American. The question is whether democratic governments will establish meaningful safeguards before these technologies become even more pervasive – and even more difficult to control. Comments are closed.
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