Security researchers with Lookout Threat Lab did not specify who the specific surveillance targets of the Android spyware were, but raised concerns based on the government response to protests in Kazakhstan.
In a Fox News interview with Tucker Carlson, Elon Musk revealed that all unencrypted Twitter data was regularly subject to government surveillance under the previous ownership.
Iran's SIAM system has base-level access to the country's cellular networks and used not just for government surveillance, but also has functions that allow for remote manipulation of individual data collections and backdoors through encryption.
Drawing on terms first proposed in a series of stalled-out data privacy bills that date back to at least 2018, the Government Surveillance Reform Act of 2023 (GSRA) narrows the focus specifically to warrantless government interception at all levels from federal to local.
Citizen Lab reports that QuaDream spyware is being used by governments in at least 10 countries to track activists, journalists and political opponents among other questionable uses.
Senator Ron Wyden says both Apple and Google are complying with foreign government requests for data from push notifications which can facilitate government surveillance by disclosing apps that the user has installed, the Google or Apple account they use with the phone, and potentially even the text displayed in the notification (if it is not encrypted).