What we know about how the U.S. government uses spyware (and what we don’t)

Privacy and civil rights advocates are worried the Trump administration could be persuaded to also lift restrictions placed on NSO Group, an Israeli company that makes the powerful spyware Pegasus that researchers say can turn a phone into a recording device in addition to accessing its contents.

Critics of spyware, which can be used to remotely hack into phones, worry the Trump administration is eroding policies that stigmatized the commercial spyware industry.

(Image credit: Menahem Kahana)