It has emerged that since 2012, Pakistan has been using products produced by the Israeli cybertechnology firm Cellebrite. These have been used by the national police and the Federal Investigation Agency.
The name of the specific product is called 'UFED' which 'enables law enforcement agencies to engage in digital forensic work by hacking into password-protected cell phones and copying all the information stored on them – including pictures, documents, text messages, calling histories and contacts.'
As per the CEO Yossi Carmil, Cellebrite products are only sold to police departments and security forces 'to fight serious crime including terrorism.'
However, these same products have been used by organisations that limit human rights activists, minorities and other marginalised communities.
As it is Pakistan's human rights violations have been the recipient of international condemnation and criticism. In 2022, the U.S. State Department’s 2022 report on human rights in Pakistan stated: “Significant human rights issues included credible reports of: unlawful or arbitrary killings, including extrajudicial killings by the government or its agents; forced disappearance by the government or its agents; torture and cases of cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment by the government or its agents; harsh and life-threatening prison conditions; arbitrary detention; political prisoners; transnational repression against individuals in another country; arbitrary or unlawful interference with privacy; serious restrictions on free expression and media, including violence against journalists...”
The name of the specific product is called 'UFED' which 'enables law enforcement agencies to engage in digital forensic work by hacking into password-protected cell phones and copying all the information stored on them – including pictures, documents, text messages, calling histories and contacts.'
As per the CEO Yossi Carmil, Cellebrite products are only sold to police departments and security forces 'to fight serious crime including terrorism.'
However, these same products have been used by organisations that limit human rights activists, minorities and other marginalised communities.
As it is Pakistan's human rights violations have been the recipient of international condemnation and criticism. In 2022, the U.S. State Department’s 2022 report on human rights in Pakistan stated: “Significant human rights issues included credible reports of: unlawful or arbitrary killings, including extrajudicial killings by the government or its agents; forced disappearance by the government or its agents; torture and cases of cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment by the government or its agents; harsh and life-threatening prison conditions; arbitrary detention; political prisoners; transnational repression against individuals in another country; arbitrary or unlawful interference with privacy; serious restrictions on free expression and media, including violence against journalists...”