Haaretz :
Israeli phone-hacking firm Cellebrite has decided to stop selling its technology to Bangladesh in a decision likely influenced by the company’s plan to go public this year, reports Israeli daily Haaretz.
The newspaper said Cellebrite’s hardware was reportedly used by a paramilitary unit accused of extrajudicial killings, torture, and disappearances of civilians and journalists in Bangladesh.
In March, Haaretz for the first time revealed that Cellebrite sold spy-tech to Rapid Attack Battalion (RAB). A human rights lawyer of Israel, Eitay Mack, filed a petition then to the country’s apex court seeking its order to ask their Defence Ministry to halt the firm’s exports to the Muslim-majority South Asian country.
At that time, RAB spokesperson Lt Col Muhammad Ashique Billah said that they needed to examine information reported by the newspaper. According to documents filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in August, Cellebrite’s board has also authorized the formation of a special advisory committee to make sure “ethical considerations” are also taken into account in future sales.
The tech firm offers what it terms “digital forensic” solutions to law enforcement agencies around the world. Cellebrite’s flagship product is called the Universal Forensic Extraction Device.
The product enables the extraction of data from locked mobile phones and their physical position without the owner’s consent. Cellebrite’s main clients are Western police forces, but it also sells its products elsewhere – including, at least until now, Bangladesh.
According to the documents filed by Mack, Cellebrite used a company based in Singapore as its proxy for its dealings with Bangladesh, which has no diplomatic ties with Israel and cannot do business directly with Israeli firms. Additionally, officers from the Rapid Action Battalion were also sent to Singapore to undergo training on Cellebrite’s system in 2018 and 2019.
