The firm can obtain a full location history and archived messages or photos from a phone’s cloud, according to company documents. NSO Group denied that it promoted cloud hacking or mass surveillance tools, though it didn’t deny that it now has the capabilities described in the documents. No company has yet reported evidence of a breach; Amazon, Facebook and Google said they were investigating. (Financial Times)

Talking point: NSO Group maintains that it sells its software to governments to prevent terrorist attacks and crimes. But its spyware, Pegasus, was previously used to hack WhatsApp users in May. And, repressive governments are allegedly using Pegasus to track activists and journalists. In October 2018, Citizen Lab, a Toronto-based research institute, alleged that the Saudi Arabian government was using it to track Omar Abdulaziz, a Saudi political refugee in Canada who has been critical of the Riyadh government. Security threats are one of the largest barriers to widespread cloud-technology use, according to U.S. software firm Check Point. Big Tech’s business model relies on collecting data from users who trust them to keep it safe. Pegasus, which continues to get stronger, is specifically designed to thwart advances in privacy technology.