Jordanian authorities used forensic extraction products created by the Israeli company Cellebrite on the personal devices of activists and human rights defenders involved in pro-Palestinian protests, according to an investigation published by The Citizen Lab on Thursday.
Cellebrite is an Israeli technology company that develops tools such as the Universal Forensic Extraction Device (UFED) product series, which enable users to extract all of a device's data and are sold to law enforcement agencies around the globe.
According to The Citizen Lab's report, these products employ a variety of methods to extract data, ranging from brute-force style attacks to exploits that bypass device security and encryption to access a device's locked data.
Cellebrite used for privacy violations
Cellebrite has come under fire in the past after it was found that its products had reportedly been used to extract data from phones of Reuters journalists arrested in Myanmar and a journalist in Botswana. Russia has reportedly used Cellebrite tools against pro-democracy activists and dissidents, and it has been alleged that the tools have been used on devices of anti-deportation activists in Italy.
While Cellebrite announced that sales to China and Hong Kong had ceased in 2020, and that they would no longer be selling to Russia in 2021, authorities in both China and Russia have reportedly continued to use the Israeli tech company's products to extract data, with Chinese police reportedly continuing to access new Cellebrite technology.
The Citizen Lab forensically analyzed three iPhones and one Android device, which belonged to two political activists, a student organizer, and a human rights defender, all of whom were detained, arrested, or interrogated by Jordanian authorities. All four devices were found to have undergone forensic data extraction with a Cellebrite product.
All four cases occurred in 2024 or 2025 during pro-Palestinian protests.
When asked for comment, Cellebrite stated that "Cellebrite strictly licenses technology for operations conducted under valid legal authority, recognizing that permissible use is governed by applicable local laws and statutory mandates," and assured that "Ethical and lawful use of our technology is paramount to our mission of protecting nations, communities, and businesses around the world."
However, The Citizen Lab states that the use of Cellebrite's tool "likely violates international human rights law," which specifies that there are "strict limitations on the targeting of political dissidents and civil society actors (such as human rights defenders and journalists) with surveillance technology."
The Citizen Lab has called on Cellebrite to open an investigation into its clients in Jordan and increase transparency.
Cellebrite maintains that its commitment to transparency is clear through its publicly declared independent Ethics and Integrity Committee, but that it did not comment on specific cases as a matter of policy.