Adaists, Happy New Year!

"A well-known case of surveillance software
usage is that of Pegasus21, the programme that
came to light when R3D, a Mexican human
rights organisation protecting freedom of expression
discovered its systematic use by the
government to spy on journalists and activists
who were later targeted, some of them suffering
threats, defamation, kidnapping or torture
(R3D, 2017). The software consists of malware
that infects Apple iPhones through a WhatsApp
message or a failed phone call. The attacker
has access to everything in the victim’s device:
email, messaging services, camera, and microphone.
The software is manufactured by the
Israeli company, NSO Group. On its website22
the company claims to sell the tool exclusively
to governments on the condition that it is only
used “to combat terrorists” and notes that the
software has saved “thousands of lives.” The
software is sold also to private companies and
contractors through reseller companies such as
Hacking Team. According to R3D, the government
is billed around 75,000 euros per successfully
controlled telephone. A report by the Red
en Defensa de los Derechos Digitales (Network
for the Defense of Digital Rights) evidenced
that the software was acquired by the Mexican
Army in 2012 and by the office of the Attorney
General (PGR) in 2014. An impressive series of
studies show how the use of Pegasus has been
an essential element in the murdering of journalists
and for targeting politicians, lawyers and
opponents in Mexico.23

A research center, Citizen Lab24 based at
the University of Toronto, produces regular
reports and provides advice against such practices.
It has detected the use of Pegasus in 45
countries and other similar software in almost
all countries25."
says
@article{cdominey_+Torture+Volume+30-01_digital_edition_FINAL-5-22.pdf,
title={{Internet and communications as elements for CIDT and Torture. 
Initial reflections in an unexplored field}},
volume={30},
url={HTTPS://Tidsskrift.Dk/torture-journal/article/view/120593},
DOI={10.7146/torture.v30i1.120593},
number={1},
journal={Torture Journal},
author={Pérez-Sales, Pau and Serra, Laia},
year={2020}, 
month={May},
pages={5--22},
abstractNote={<div 
class="page" title="Page 5"> 
<div class="section"> <div 
class="layoutArea"> <div 
class="column"> <p>The internet was 
once seen as a new and definitive window to freedom and a world without 
torture. There is however, another less obvious but perhaps more notorious 
side: torturous environments can also be created through the internet; a 
place where individu- als may be targeted for discrimination, coer- cion 
or control.There is a dearth of academic research and theoretical 
developments in this very new area of knowledge and this Edito- rial will 
review and reflect on various aspects, thereby suggesting possible lines 
of research.</p> </div> </div> 
</div> </div>}
}

(I am citing this paper in a draft of a research article for a different 
reason.)