Vietnam buying Israel spyware
Israeli intelligence software Cellebrite is supplying Vietnam digital surveillance tools which it has used to quash opposition, rights groups say.
Israeli newspaper Haaretz said Vietnam's Public Security
Ministry, which is responsible for the police and internal security, has
purchased the software.
In a recent interview with the business daily Globes, the
company's CEO, Yossi Carmil, claimed the surveillance firm had developed
technological equipment that prevents its tools from landing into "the
wrong hands".
However, an investigation conducted by Israeli human rights
lawyer Eitay Mack, exposed how Vietnamese authorities used the spyware in 2018
to detain a citizen, who participated in a prank which involved displaying the
flag of South Vietnam which is banned in the country, for up to five years. His
motorcycle and phone were also confiscated by the state.
In an open letter published on Tuesday to the US Securities
and Exchange Commission (SEC) and investors, digital rights groups, including
Access Now, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, Privacy International, urged
all "parties to halt this deal until Cellebrite demonstrates that it has
taken sufficient measures to comply with human rights".
It further stated Cellebrite's sales of surveillance tools
were still "enabling detentions, prosecutions, and harassment of
journalists, civil rights activists, dissidents, and minorities around the
world."
Rights lawyer Mack noted how Vietnam is also licensed to
produce Israel's Tavor and Galil ACE rifles and added a long list of high-level
visits and meetings to the country, including by senior Defense Ministry officials,
former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former President Reuven Rivlin.
In response, a Cellebrite spokesperson said the company has
"strict licensing policies and restrictions that govern how customers may
utilize our technology" and considers "a potential customer's human
rights record and anti-corruption policies."
The company's SEC filing says it does not do business with
Belarus, China, Hong Kong, Macau, Russia and Venezuela, "partially due to
concerns regarding human rights and data security."
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