Sat Nov 23 00:50:00 UTC 2024: **HBO Documentary Exposes Global Threat of Government-Used Spyware**

NEW YORK – A new HBO documentary, “Surveilled,” reveals the chilling extent of global surveillance enabled by sophisticated spyware like Pegasus, developed by the Israeli company NSO Group. The film, directed by Matthew O’Neill and Perri Peltz and featuring investigative journalist Ronan Farrow, exposes how governments worldwide are using this technology to target journalists, activists, dissidents, and politicians.

Pegasus, according to a former NSO Group employee interviewed in the film, can access virtually all data on a target’s smartphone, including encrypted apps, turning the device into a covert surveillance tool. It can activate cameras and microphones without the user’s knowledge, recording audio and video.

Farrow’s two-year investigation took him to NSO Group headquarters in Tel Aviv, where he confronted company representatives with moral concerns. While NSO claimed to only sell to governments for combating crime and terrorism, the documentary links Pegasus to the 2018 murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

The film highlights that at least 45 countries utilize Pegasus, including Western democracies, often under secrecy. Ron Deibert of Citizen Lab, a leading researcher of this technology, warns of the unchecked surveillance industry contributing to global democratic backsliding.

“Surveilled” underscores the personal threat by detailing how U.S. government employees have been targeted. Despite a March 2023 executive order by the Biden administration prohibiting government agencies from purchasing foreign spyware, the documentary notes that the U.S. continues to explore the use of similar technology.

The film concludes with a stark warning: the genie is out of the bottle. The pervasive nature of this technology and the lack of effective regulation leave little hope for widespread privacy in the digital age. Farrow suggests that abandoning smartphones might be the only path to regaining privacy, a sentiment underscored by the need to download a verification app to view the documentary itself. “Surveilled” premieres on HBO [insert date].

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