Cellebrite's tools can crack open a locked phone and extract everything on it: messages, photos, location history, deleted files, app data – the lot.
The company markets this technology to military, intelligence and law enforcement agencies internationally, and its record is damning. There is credible evidence showing Cellebrite tools being weaponised against journalists, activists and opposition politicians including by oppressive regimes.
Now this same technology is being rolled out across Australia’s police forces and inside federal government agencies, with far too little scrutiny – and almost no public debate.
In NSW, the government is pushing ahead with a new Digital Evidence Access Order that would let police compel someone to hand over access to their phone at a roadside stop, without a warrant.
Cellebrite holds 128 active contracts across the Commonwealth worth more than $15 million.
The ATO has confirmed it uses Cellebrite's extraction software in criminal investigations. Services Australia has faced repeated questioning at Senate Estimates about when and how Cellebrite is deployed against people under investigation, and has struggled to give straight answers.
This is warrantless phone hacking becoming normalised in Australian law enforcement, dressed up as a routine tool against organised crime.
We call on the Government to:
- Cancel all currently active Cellebrite contracts
- Conduct a full public audit of every Cellebrite contract held by Commonwealth, state and territory agencies, including the data obtained by the company with findings tabled in Parliament
- Publish clear data on how often Cellebrite is used, against whom, and under what legal authority
- Establish independent oversight of forensic extraction technology used by Australian police and intelligence agencies
Australians shouldn't have their data held by companies like Cellebrite with or without their consent.