Meet the investigators whose job it is to hold human rights abusers to account. Amnesty International’s reports make headlines all over the world. And behind every one? Months, sometimes years, of painstaking sleuthing by our researchers. It’s difficult - often dangerous - detective work in some of the most challenging and volatile places on earth. ‘Witness from Amnesty International’ takes you behind the scenes. Each episode follows the twists and turns of a different high-stakes human-rights investigation. Discover what it takes to uncover the truth – when there are people who would prefer the truth to stay buried. For more information, visit amnesty.org/witness. This show includes references to death and violence which some listeners may find distressing.
https://www.amnesty.org/en/witness/
episode 6: Unknown Number
Your phone rings. Within seconds, it’s infected with secret spyware that's tracking everything you do. From Mexico to Morocco, some of the most insidious attacks on human rights activists, including the targeting of one of Amnesty’s own team, have been waged using spyware manufactured by NSO Group, a major player in the secretive surveillance industry. NSO’s Pegasus malware can turn on your phone’s microphone and camera without your knowledge, access your emails and texts, track your keystrokes, and collect data about you. Amnesty’s Danna Ingleton and a team of Amnesty Tech Investigators race against the clock to expose this spyware and stop it being used against activists.
‘.. imagine the fear of thinking that actually at any moment you could be being recorded. This is a purchased big brother and nobody's batting an eyelash that this is going on.’