Smartphone as Spy: How Jordan Uses Cellebrite to Crush Digital Dissent

Jordan is descending ever deeper into a regime of pervasive digital surveillance over its citizenry, a transition now substantiated by definitive forensic evidence. International investigators have revealed that the nation’s security apparatus has, for several years, deployed sophisticated software from the Israeli firm Cellebrite to compromise the smartphones of activists, human rights defenders, journalists, and students. This is not a matter of isolated occurrences but rather a systemic doctrine that has persisted since at least 2020.

The inquiry was spearheaded by the Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto in collaboration with journalists from the OCCRP. Experts meticulously analyzed mobile devices previously confiscated from members of civil society during detentions, interrogations, and arrests, only to be later returned to their proprietors. Within these handsets, they discovered the technical vestiges of Cellebrite’s forensic implements, designed for the exhaustive exfiltration of data from both iPhone and Android platforms. These tools facilitate unfettered access to private correspondence, imagery, browsing histories, credentials, geospatial telemetry, and even deleted archives.

The report delineates seven specific cases involving activists and scholars. In certain instances, devices were breached without consent; in others, individuals were coerced into unlocking their phones under duress, including the forced application of Face ID during physical restraint. One victim chillingly discovered their password inscribed upon a piece of adhesive tape affixed to the device’s chassis—a credential they had never voluntarily disclosed.

Corroborating evidence was unearthed not only from the hardware itself but also within judicial records. Criminal proceedings under the contentious 2023 “Cybercrime Law” explicitly reference the utilization of Cellebrite software for “technical expertise.” In numerous instances, the entirety of a device’s data was harvested, even when the investigation ostensibly required only the verification of a specific social media account—a testament to a disproportionate and draconian infringement upon personal privacy.

The context of these legal maneuvers is inextricably linked to widespread civil unrest in Jordan, including demonstrations in solidarity with Palestine. The 2023 Cybercrime Law significantly amplified the state’s executive powers, introducing ambiguous mandates against “inciting strife,” “undermining public order,” and “disseminating false news,” thereby weaponizing the statute against any form of digital dissent.

Researchers assert that such applications of digital forensics against civil society violate international human rights norms to which Jordan is a signatory. They posit that Cellebrite’s technology has been effectively transmuted into an instrument of political suppression rather than a legitimate tool for criminal investigation. In response, Cellebrite maintained that the “ethical and lawful application of technology” remains its priority, yet declined to address these specific allegations, citing internal protocols.

The authors of the report contend that the situation in Jordan vividly illustrates how forensic instruments, originally conceived to combat criminality, can be subverted into mechanisms for mass societal control. We are witnessing a novel paradigm of digital repression, where the smartphone—once a tool of liberation—becomes the primary conduit of vulnerability for activists and journalists, and private data is leveraged as a cudgel for intimidation and leverage.