Cellebrite announced on Tuesday that it had stopped authorizing its use by Serbian government agencies after Serbian police and intelligence services were accused of using Cellebrite's technology to unlock the phones of a journalist and an activist and plant spyware.
In December 2024, Amnesty International published a report accusing Serbian police of using Cellebrite's forensic tools to hack into the phones of a local journalist and an activist. After their phones were unlocked, Serbian authorities installed Novispy, an Android spyware, to keep the pair under constant surveillance.
In a statement, Cellebrite said: "Following a review of the allegations made in the December 2024 Amnesty International report, Cellebrite took precise steps to investigate each allegation in accordance with our Ethics and Integrity Policy. We believe it is appropriate at this time to cease the use of our products by the customers involved."
The company added that it takes "seriously all allegations that customers may misuse our technology in a manner that violates the express and implied conditions of our end user agreement."
Cellebrite did not name its customers in the statement. However, in its initial response to Amnesty's report in December, the company said it was aware of the nonprofit's "findings regarding the use of surveillance technology to target civil society in Serbia."
Donncha Ó Cearbhaill, head of Amnesty International's Security Lab, said in a statement: "Revoking the licenses of customers who misuse equipment for political reasons is a critical first step. Serbian authorities must now urgently carry out their own thorough and impartial investigation, hold those responsible to account, provide redress for victims and put in place appropriate safeguards to prevent future incidents of abuse."