Thread by @StefSimanowitz

24/. It may be tempting to frame this as “a battle btw democracies & autocracies” BUT the problem of malign surveillance is inseparable from the wider assaults on our privacy that are intrinsic to our daily online life.
#Pegasus #PegasusProject @NewYorker
newyorker.com/magazine/2021/…

25/. “My work to expose the crimes of the Saudi regime led to a hacking attempt on my phone. Today, I am overwhelmed by feelings of vulnerability & intrusion.”

Analyst @MadawiDr, on how #PegasusProject findings have affected her. #Pegasus @declassifiedUK
middleeasteye.net/opinion/pegasu…

26/. Alarmed by #PegasusProject revelations that #Pegasus has been used to facilitate worldwide human rights violations on a mass scale, 146 NGOs call on states to implement an immediate moratorium on the sale, transfer & use of surveillance technology
amnesty.org/en/documents/d…

27/. “So, what are we to make of #Pegasus?

To dismiss it as a new technological iteration of an age-old game in which rulers have always spied on us would be a serious mistake

This is no ordinary spying
Our mobile phones are our most intimate selves.” theguardian.com/commentisfree/…

28/. #BREAKING: #Pegasus spyware owner, Novalpina, is to be liquidated

In a move that’s yet to be made public, the London-HQed private equity firm is to be wound up after a dispute between its 3 principals & controversy over its ownership of the NSO Group news.sky.com/story/pegasus-…

29/. “Power is sucked out of democratic structures & relocated to a place where it can’t be challenged: an inner circle defended from opposition by a forcefield of money & patronage, a compliant judiciary & a grovelling media.”
@GeorgeMonbiot on #Pegasus
google.co.uk/amp/s/amp.theg…

30/. This article👆is about the “the ever more sophisticated tools of autocratic power used in nominal democracies”

Surveillance tools
Dark ads on social media
Thinktanks using dark money
Voter suppression
Culture wars

The country @GeorgeMonbiot uses as his exemplar?

Britain!

31/. Two days ago, in an extraordinary bid to discredit the #PegasusProject, @Europol’s director & NY’s district attorney, wrote an OpEd entitled “The last refuge of the criminal: Encrypted smartphones”!

Today, the team who exposed the #Pegasus respond👇
google.co.uk/amp/s/www.poli…

32/ #Pegasus can be installed in a targeted phone with just a missed call

“An missile delivering a payload of invisible spyware capable of dismantling democracies & atomising societies without the bother of red tape – no warrants, no oversight, no regulation whatsoever” (A. Roy)

33/. #Pegasus is just one of many spyware products

NSO is one of many cyber warfare firms

Cellebrite sells to UAE, Turkey, Russia & Saudi Arabia

Candiru - named after the Amazonian fish that lodges itself in the penis - hacks Microsoft & Google products
citizenlab.ca/2021/07/hookin…

34/. Perhaps the most scary firm is #Palantir

Set-up with CIA funding, #Palantir rprdly taught #CambridgeAnalytica how to scrape data

Worryingly, they are running the data stores for the NHS in the UK & the HHS in the US

Could this be “bio-intrusive surveillance capitalism”?

https://twitter.com/StefSimanowitz/status/1310607600422133771

35/. Today, @BylineTimes & @allthecitizens reveal #Palantir were awarded UK public sector contracts worth £100m+

NHS data collected may be “anonymised” but
can easily be reversed-engineered

Since the data controllers are the govt a #DataGrab is possible
bylinetimes.com/2021/07/30/rev…

36/. Could the #DataGrab ALREADY have been underway for 10 months?

The deadline for opting out of sharing health data was 30 Sept 2020...& out was “not possible during a pandemic”

The NHS Data Store is run by #Palantir & #FacultyAI

Can they access population-wide genomic data?

https://twitter.com/StefSimanowitz/status/1313085854261354502

37/. The #DataGrab finally hit the news last month, but this was about GP patient data & 10 MONTHS after the 1st deadline passed to “opt out” of NHS patient data sharing

Data of 65m Britons “for life science research” is being advertised to Pharma companies by the Dept of Trade.

https://twitter.com/StefSimanowitz/status/1312909277242286087

38/. We know that Big Tech firms mine our data for commercial & national security purposes, but the new frontier lies not in our consumer behaviour, but in our biological selves

Population-wide genomic data would offer huge benefits...It would also give govts unprecedented power

https://twitter.com/StefSimanowitz/status/1378992496487886848

39/. “You ask for forgiveness not permission” (Peter Thiel, Palantir)

Genomics has the capacity to reshape humans & transform society

Every futurist will tell you this is the way the world is going...but how to achieve this as quickly as possible?

40/. “We’ve arranged a society based on science & technology, in which nobody understands anything about science & technology

This combustible mixture of ignorance & power, sooner or later, is going to blow up in our faces”
(Carl Sagan)

That time is now!

41/. Public investors in Novalpina, the private equity firm that owns a majority stake in the Israeli spyware company, NSO Group, are in talks to transfer management of that fund to Berkeley Research Group, a US consulting firm. #Pegasus #PegasusProject #PegasusSpyware @Snowden

https://twitter.com/AgnesCallamard/status/1421735374410469377

42/. French intelligence investigators confirmed #Pegasus spyware found on the phones of 3 journalists, including a senior member of staff at @FRANCE24

It’s the 1st time an independent & official authority has corroborated the findings the investigation #PegasusProject. @Snowden

https://twitter.com/Snowden/status/1422486145410142238

43/. In the US, Trump wanted to label #Antifa a terrorist organisation

In UK, @pritipatel added @XRebellionUK to a list of extremist ideologies

In #SaudiArabia, “terrorists” can include journalists, human rights activists, & even tweeters. #Pegasus

44/. Fighting back, one case at a time

@RSF_inter & two journalists have filed a joint complaint against NSO calling on them to “identify those responsible, & their accomplices,” for targeted harassment
#Pegasus #PegasusSpyware #BREAKING #PegasusSnoopgate rsf.org/en/news/after-…

45/. "#PegasusProject is just the latest example that exposes what some states will do outside the gaze of publicity & reinforces the importance of whistleblowers, journalists & publishers in holding the perpetrators of human rights violations to account.” amnesty.org/en/latest/news…

46/. Will spying on journalists be the ‘new normal’?

Must listen @globalfreemedia of podcast looks at the impact of #PegasusProject revelations & why they must serve as a wake-up call

With @morrton @svaradarajan & @javierluquem #Pegasus #PegasusSpyware
ipi.media/podcast-will-s…

47/. In response to #PegasusLeaks, UN experts call for moritorium on sale of surveillance technology warning it’s dangerous & irresponsible to allow surveillance technology to operate as a "human rights-free zone". #Pegasus #PegasusProject #PegasusSpyware
thewire.in/rights/pegasus…

48/. The #PegasusProject shed light on the ways govts across the globe sidestep encryption by resorting to the amoral expertise provided by private enterprise

A month after the #Pegasus revelations the grave implications to #HumanRights are being ignored
arena.org.au/the-pegasus-pr…

49/. UK govt unveils plan to scrap EU data protection rules as part of a post-Brexit privacy purge

Was this the driving force behind #Brexit?

The key to this #DataGrab is genomic data

A population-wide genomic database (eventually global) giving unparalleled power & control.👇

https://twitter.com/StefSimanowitz/status/1407220830195568640

50/. Two months after @amnesty broke the #PegausProject scandal, the German govt has admitted its police bought #Pegasus spyware

In India, issue continues to rumble on with the Modi govt refusing to tell the Supreme Court whether or not they used #Pegasus
thewire.in/world/german-g…

51/. Apart from in India, the #Pegasus scandal came & went, largely unnoticed.

It reminds me of the #PanamaPapers (2016) & #ParadisePapers which blew the lid on how the rich & powerful exploit secretive offshore tax regimes in order to launder money, dodge sanctions & avoid tax.

https://twitter.com/StefSimanowitz/status/927251085336743941

52/. Hundreds of journalists around the world were involved in exposing the #PanamaPapers & #Paradisepapers but there’s been very little follow-up

One journalist who was following up was #DaphneCaruanaGalizia

Next month, we mark the 4th anniversary of her assassination in Malta

https://twitter.com/StefSimanowitz/status/1124196239078301696

53/. "What makes you think the Labour Party are using #CambridgeAnalytica?"

"I don't think. I know"

Before she was murdered, #DaphneCaruanaGalizia was working to expose links btw SCL - #CambridgeAnalytica's parent company - citizenship firm, Henley & Partners, & then PM Muscat

https://twitter.com/StefSimanowitz/status/1212820621807230977

54/. Three years after the UK parliament called a for criminal investigation into SCL, #CambridgeAnalytica, & Henley+Partners, a link btw the companies was proven

But more disturbing are the funders in the shadows like the Mercers who funded Steve Bannon.

https://twitter.com/StefSimanowitz/status/1438463309188063238

55/. “The truest conspiracies meet with the least opposition

Methods by which true conspiracies are realized are almost always overshadowed by conspiracy theories: malevolent falsehoods that erode confidence in the existence of anything certain” @Snowden edwardsnowden.substack.com/p/conspiracy-p…

56/. #BREAKING: Mother of all lawsuits

#Zuckerberg, #Sandberg, #PeterThiel & #Palantir are all defendants

Allegations include that:

🔥#Facebook spent billions to protect Zuckerberg

🔥Epic corporate governance breakdown

🔥Insider trading

🔥Zuck misled Congress
#BreakingNews

https://twitter.com/jason_kint/status/1440304941428473857

57/. "It’s as if the Age of Reason - the era of evidential argument - is ending & knowledge is delegitimized & scientific consensus is dismissed. Democracy, which depends on shared truths, is in retreat, & autocracy, which depends on shared lies, is on the march” @SachaBaronCohen

https://twitter.com/StefSimanowitz/status/1437451726378967040

New findings suggest #Palantir did indeed partner with #CambridgeAnalytica despite their ‘vigorous’ denials

Remember, Palantir rptdly taught Cambridge Analytica how to scape data

They also have access to population-wide genomic patient data in UK, US & scores of other countries

https://twitter.com/jason_kint/status/1439979505037332481

59/. “It’s one thing to know Thiel espouses far-right views. It’s another to see how he directly enables them to run free” @mehdirhasan

Thiel played a broker role btw Zuckerburg & Trump which resulted in a hands-off approach of conservative sites @chafkin

60/. We know Facebook helped #Cummings achieve Brexit thanks to #FacultyAI & a company owned & controlled by Cummings paid £250,000 to Faculty

Faculty run the NHS #COVID contract alongside Thiel’s Palantir

Both companies have links to #CambridgeAnalytica

https://twitter.com/StefSimanowitz/status/1282288536016871426

61/. Human rights lawyer & husband of ex-PM, Cherie Blair has been revealed as ‘ethics advisor’ to NSO, the Israeli firm that sold #PegasusSpyware to human rights abusing govts

NSO are implicated in facilitating the murder of Jamal Kashoggi. #Pegasus thetimes.co.uk/article/cherie…

62/. On Saturday, we mark the 4th anniversary of the murder of #DaphneCaruanaGalizia

At the time, she was investigating the Panama Papers & links btw SCL/#CambridgeAnalytica & Henley Ptnrs

There are vigils in Malta & London

@Europarl_EN has a journalism award in her honour.

https://twitter.com/StefSimanowitz/status/1052111285725356032

63/. In times of greater repression the job of journalists becomes more vital than ever: more vital & more dangerous

It’s in the interest of the corrupt & powerful to silence effective media

Today we mark 4 years since the murder of #DaphneCaruanaGalizia

https://twitter.com/StefSimanowitz/status/1389081005546479617

64/. The idea for the #DaphneProject came about 4 years ago based on the idea: “You can kill a journalist but you can’t kill a story”

Fittingly, ystdy #PegasusProject investigation, led by @FbdnStories, won the #DaphneCaruanaGalizia prize for journalism awarded by @Europarl_EN

https://twitter.com/FbdnStories/status/1448605426212290562

65/. #BREAKING: India’s Supreme Court has set up an independent expert committee to investigate the use of #PegasusSpyware against journalists, opposition MP’s & others.

“This is a huge vindication of #PegasusProject investigation. Let the inquiry begin!” @svaradarajan
#Pegasus

https://twitter.com/AmnestyTech/status/1453376979865067524

66/. Getting away with murder

Today is Intnl Day to #EndImpunity for Crimes against Journalists

The vast majority of journalist killings go unpunished

@pressfreedom reveals 226 journalists were murdered with impunity in the last decade

@globalfreemedia ipi.media/impunity-day-i…

67/. Around the world, investigative journalists face threats & intimidation

Impunity in cases of murdered journalists undermines #pressfreedom.

A threat to press freedom is a threat to ALL our freedoms.
#EndImpunity @UNESCO @pressfreedom @hrw @RSF_inter

https://twitter.com/StefSimanowitz/status/1389083686608515080

68/. #BREAKING: NSO Group placed on a US blacklist by @JoeBiden admin after it determined the #PegasusSpyware maker has acted “contrary to the US foreign policy & national security interests”
@skirchy in @guardian @FbdnStories #PegasusProject @AmnestyTech theguardian.com/us-news/2021/n…

69/. The #PegasusProject has been awarded a @RSF_inter award for its impact

But what had the impact been so far?👇

Well done @FbdnStories @AmnestyTech @citizenlab @guardian @haaretzcom @lesoir @DIEZEIT @proceso @direkt36 @OCCRP @thewire_in @frontlinepbs

70/. “NSO Group is in crisis,” according to @HowellONeill in @techreview

“They are struggling & failing to reverse US sanctions & are $500 million in debt. There is doubt at the highest levels about their future”
#Pegasus #PegasusSpyware #pegasusproject
technologyreview.com/2021/11/23/104…

71/. NSO's #Pegasus spyware has been repeatedly used by abusive govts to target peaceful human rights defenders, activists & critics

86 NGOs & independent experts are now asking the EU to #SanctionNSO & ban all use of its technologies
@hrw #PegasusSpyware hrw.org/news/2021/12/0…

72/. The mobile phone of Kamel Jendoubi a UN-backed investigator who was examining possible war crimes by the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen was targeted with spyware made by Israel’s NSO Group. #PegasusProject #Pegasus #PegasusSpyware #SaudiArabia
theguardian.com/world/2021/dec…

73/. @AmnestyTech confirms @citizenlab's finding that Polish Senator @KrzysztofBrejza was hacked with #PegasusSpyware during the 2019 parliamentary election campaign

Ruling party chair admits buying #Pegasus but denies it was used for political purposes!
apnews.com/article/techno…

74/. These revelations show the need for govts to stop non-human rights compliant forms of surveillance & for a global moratorium on the export, sale, transfer & use of surveillance equipment, 'til a human rights-compliant regulatory framework is in place.
amnesty.org/en/latest/news…

75/. Israeli police 'used #Pegasus spyware to hack phones of citizens'

"These revelations are further proof that journalists, politicians, lawyers, activists & human rights defenders are all at risk from secretive surveillance," Gil Naveh @AmnestyIsrael middleeasteye.net/news/pegasus-s…

76/. As Israeli spyware dealer NSO Group is facing renewed scrutiny over the abuse of its #Pegasus WhatsApp hacking tools, an US startup - secretly backed by #Palantir’s Peter Thiel - could also rptly hack WhatsApp

Palantir run the NHS #Covid data store.
forbes.com/sites/thomasbr…

77/. "This is an earthquake"

According to @calcalist, Israel police used NSO's Pegasus spyware against top govt officials, journalists & activistsmall without a court order. (via @haaretzcom)
haaretz.com/israel-news/is…

78/. Today, the @DalaiLama tweeted:

“Whether science or religion is constructive or destructive depends on our motivation & whether we are guided by moral principles”

Last year, it emerged that the Dalai Lama’s closest advisers & staff were potential targets of Pegasus spyware.

https://twitter.com/dalailama/status/1490618848118468608

79/. The words of the @DalaiLama echo Carl Sagan’s warning:

“We’ve arranged a society based on science & technology, in which nobody understands anything about science & technology. This combustible mixture of ignorance & power, sooner or later, is going to blow up in our faces”

https://twitter.com/stefsimanowitz/status/1471796744455397379

80/. “OK! I admit it! I had a toke on the spliff, but I never inhaled”

Last week, the FBI finally admitted that it tested NSO Pegasus spyware, but the agency claims “it had not been used in support of any investigation”. #PegasusSpyware #NSOGroup #Israel
democracynow.org/2022/2/3/headl…