Border Force (ABF) is confiscating the phones of returning Australian travellers but declines to confirm if it is using Israel tech group Cellebrite to extract information. What’s the scam?
Returning Australian travellers have had their phones confiscated without a warrant. We put these questions to Home Affairs (which runs ABF).
This is the response:
Is the government using Israeli spyware to search every text and bit of data (even deleted) of its citizens without warrants? What happens to the data?
Israeli digital intelligence firm Cellebrite has extensive operational and financial ties across Australian law enforcement, state police forces, and federal government departments.
Cellebrite’s Universal Forensic Extraction Device (UFED) can bypass device security, crack passcodes, and extract mobile phone data, including texts, location history, and deleted items.
Michael West established Michael West Media in 2016 to focus on journalism of high public interest, particularly the rising power of corporations over democracy. West was formerly a journalist and editor with Fairfax newspapers, a columnist for News Corp and even, once, a stockbroker.