Surveillance technology
Incidents implicated systems
Incident 9617 Report
Serbian Authorities Allegedly Used AI-Powered Cellebrite Tools to Unlock Journalist’s Phone and Install Spyware
2024-12-16
Serbian authorities allegedly used Cellebrite's AI-powered forensic tools to unlock journalists' and activists' phones without consent. They reportedly then installed NoviSpy, a newly discovered spyware. That then purportedly allowed covert data extraction, remote microphone and camera activation, and surveillance. Amnesty International uncovered forensic evidence linking Serbia's Security Information Agency (BIA) to these attacks. Cellebrite halted sales to Serbia after the report.
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AI-Powered Chinese Surveillance Campaign 'Peer Review' Used for Real-Time Monitoring of Anti-State Speech on Western Social Media
2025-02-21
OpenAI reportedly uncovered evidence of a Chinese state-linked AI-powered surveillance campaign, dubbed "Peer Review," designed to monitor and report anti-state speech on Western social media in real time. The system, believed to be built on Meta’s open-source Llama model, was detected when a developer allegedly used OpenAI’s technology to debug its code. OpenAI also reportedly identified disinformation efforts targeting Chinese dissidents and spreading propaganda in Latin America.
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South Korean Agencies Reportedly Shared Airport Travelers' Face Images with Companies to Train Immigration Facial Recognition System
2019-06-01
Reporting in 2021 alleged that South Korea's Ministry of Justice shared roughly 170 million face images and related biometric data from Korean and foreign airport travelers with the Ministry of Science and Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and private companies for an AI identification and tracking system used in immigration screening. The data was reportedly used for AI training and algorithm testing without travelers' consent.
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Henan Authorities Reportedly Commissioned Facial Recognition System to Track Journalists and International Students
2021-09-17
Henan Public Security Department procurement documents reportedly described a surveillance system awarded to Neusoft on September 17, 2021. The planned system would allegedly use about 3,000 facial-recognition cameras linked to regional and national databases to create files and alerts on foreign journalists, international students, and other targeted groups. It could not be confirmed whether the system became operational.
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