"Special report: Cyber-intel firms pitch governments on spy tools to trace coronavirus," 28 April 2020

The Israeli firm Cellebrite....is pitching... [its hacking software] to help authorities learn who a coronavirus sufferer may have infected... A Cellebrite spokeswoman said... the company is also offering a version of its product line for use by healthcare workers to trace the spread of the virus that causes COVID-19, but the tools can only be used with patient consent and can’t hack phones, she said... Cellebrite... said it requires “agencies that use our solutions to uphold the standards of international human rights law.”

... Israel is the only country known to be testing a mass surveillance system pitched by the companies, asking NSO Group, one of the industry’s biggest players, to help build its platform... the rollout... is on hold pending legal challenges related to privacy issues, an NSO executive said.

...Civil liberties advocates fear that virus tracking efforts could open the door to...ubiquitous government surveillance... Apple Inc and Alphabet Inc’s Google [are collaborating] to quickly deploy the Bluetooth-based technology... A Google spokesman referred to a prior statement, which said “each user will have to make an explicit choice to turn on the technology.”... NSO Group and Intellexa are also both pitching COVID-19 tracking platforms to countries across Asia, Latin America and Europe... Three other Israeli companies, Rayzone Group, Cobwebs Technologies and Patternz, are offering countries coronavirus tracking capabilities... Rayzone Group declined to comment. Requests for comment to Patternz went unanswered... Intellexa’s Dilian said his company’s platform will cost between $9 million and $16 million for countries with large populations... Once the pandemic ends, he hopes countries that invested in his mass surveillance tool will adapt it for espionage and security. [Also refers to: Verint]