According to a report from The New York Times on Monday, shortly after the Biden administration blacklisted NSO in November 2021, they signed a contract with the company to use one of their spy programs. The agreement allowed the US government access to NSO Group’s powerful geolocation tool that can track mobile phones around the world without the user’s knowledge or consent. The government allegedly formed a company called Cleopatra Holdings to acquire the Pegasus software. However, this secret contract violated the Biden administration’s policy, which stated that “the United States government will be the ultimate user of the tool.” It’s unclear which government agency approved the deal and may use the spyware, and both the White House and the US National Security Council have declined to comment. The Democratic party has demanded that Biden take action against the Israeli government, but the situation remains unclear.
The New York Times reported today (Monday) that just a few days after the Biden administration blacklisted NSO in November 2021, the administration signed a contract with the company to use one of its spy programs.
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As part of the agreement, the Israeli company NSO Group gave the US government access to one of its most powerful tools, a geolocation tool that can secretly track mobile phones around the world without the knowledge or consent of the phone’s user. According to the report, the government set up a company called Cleopatra Holdings of And so the FBI acquired the Pegasus software.
In purchasing it, the secret contract violated the policy of the Biden administration in which it was determined that “the United States government will be the ultimate user of the tool”, although it is not clear which government agency approved the deal and may use the spyware. The White House and the US National Security Council declined to comment.