A groundbreaking investigation by cybersecurity research group Citizen Lab has uncovered that Jordanian authorities are systematically employing digital extraction technology developed by Israeli firm Cellebrite to surveil civil society activists without consent. The report details how Jordan’s security apparatus has utilized these forensic tools to access data from mobile devices belonging to activists and civil society members, bypassing international human rights obligations.
The research team identified specific technical indicators on both iOS and Android devices that had been seized by Jordanian authorities and subsequently returned to their owners. These digital fingerprints provided high-confidence evidence linking the data extraction to Cellebrite’s proprietary technology. According to court documents examined by Citizen Lab, the extracted data has been utilized in criminal proceedings against activists, raising serious concerns about compliance with human rights treaties that Jordan has ratified.
Cellebrite, headquartered in Tel Aviv with majority ownership by Japan’s Sun Corporation, has previously supplied its technology to multiple governments worldwide. The company’s products have been implicated in cases targeting dissidents in Myanmar, where they were used against Reuters journalists reporting on the Rohingya crisis, and in Russia against pro-democracy advocates.
The revelation comes amid escalating tensions in Jordan, where hundreds of citizens have been detained over the past year, many for expressing solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza. Jordan’s General Intelligence Department (GID), commonly known as Mukhabarat, faces mounting criticism following the death of a young man in custody last year.
Between January 2024 and June 2025, Citizen Lab forensically analyzed three iPhones and one Android device belonging to Jordanian civil society members who had been detained, arrested, or interrogated. All four devices showed clear evidence of forensic extraction using Cellebrite technology. In one particularly telling case, an activist retrieved their iPhone from Amman’s Cybercrime Unit to find their passcode written on tape affixed to the device’s back, despite never having disclosed it during interrogation.
Cellebrite responded to inquiries by emphasizing that their software constitutes investigative technology rather than spyware, and should only be deployed with proper legal authority or consent. The company stated it strictly licenses its technology for operations conducted under valid legal frameworks, though it declined to comment on specific cases.
The findings highlight growing concerns about the global proliferation of digital surveillance tools and their application against civil society actors, particularly in regions with fragile democratic institutions.