Imagine a stranger could access all the data and sensors on your smartphone. Read every chat. Turn on the microphone. Track your location. Anytime, and all that without ever having physical access to your device.
What sounds like a dystopian nightmare has long since become reality in Europe. In January 2025, it was revealed that human rights activists and journalists in Italy were surveilled using the Israeli spyware Graphite. Spyware such as Pegasus, Predator, and now Graphite illustrate how authoritarian regimes use digital technologies to monitor and suppress civil society actors. Developed and sold by an opaque network of arms companies, businessmen, and the Israeli military.
Switzerland, too, is deeply involved — because the business is thriving.