A new report by the Citizen Lab has uncovered evidence that Jordanian security officials have been using an Israeli digital forensic tool, Cellebrite UFED Touch, to extract data from the mobile phones of activists and protesters who have been critical of Israel and voiced support for Gaza.
The multi-year investigation found with high confidence that Jordanian authorities have been utilising Cellebrite’s forensic extraction tools against members of civil society, including two political activists, a student organiser, and a human rights defender. When deployed by authorities with physical access to a mobile device, Cellebrite’s technology can extract a wide range of data, including photos, videos, chats, files, saved passwords, location history, web browsing history, and in some cases, even data the user has attempted to delete.
The Citizen Lab’s forensic analysis of devices previously seized by Jordanian authorities, as well as court records shared with researchers, suggests that the use of Cellebrite by the authorities “likely violated human rights treaties Jordan has ratified.” Under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), Jordan is required to comply with strict limits on the targeting of political dissidents and civil society with surveillance technology.
Researchers analysed four mobile phones between January 2024 and June 2025 that belonged to members of Jordanian civil society who had been detained, arrested or interrogated by authorities, and found that all had been subjected to forensic extraction using Cellebrite.
In one case, a political activist’s iPhone was seized after an interrogation by Jordan’s General Intelligence Department and remained in their custody for 35 days. In another instance, a student activist refused to provide their passcode, and officers then unlocked the device using Apple’s Face ID while holding it up to the activist’s face. The activist was taken to prison the next day, and upon release, found their passcode written on a piece of tape stuck to the back of the phone.
Cellebrite has stated that its technology is forensic in nature and is used to “access private data only in accordance with legal due process or with appropriate consent to aid investigations legally after an event has occurred.” The company also claimed that it vets potential customers against internal human rights parameters, leading it to historically cease business in jurisdictions where risks were deemed incompatible with its corporate values.
However, Cellebrite’s products have reportedly been used to target members of civil society in other parts of the world, including Myanmar and Botswana, as well as indications of its use in Serbia and Belarus.
The Jordanian government did not respond to a request for comment on the allegations.
