Bolsonaro’s Abin spied on cell phones in Brazil, says newspaper

The Brazilian Intelligence Agency (Abin) used a secret program to track the locations of citizens during the first three years of former President Jair Bolsonaro’s government.. The information was announced by the newspaper this Tuesday (14). Worldwho received the documents related to the case.

According to the newspaper, the agency is a A tool called FirstMile, developed by Israeli company Cognite – formerly known as Verint. program lets you track a citizen’s location just by entering their mobile numberBy determining the “approximate area of ​​devices using 2G, 3G and 4G networks”.

The software would be contracted for BRL 5.7 million with no tender required and would allow the location of up to 10,000 people over a 12-month period. But, Abin will not be authorized to use the service, which will violate citizens’ right to privacy..

With FirsMile, the agency was able to pinpoint the whereabouts of a phone call from nearby towers. Thus, it will be possible to access the history of the regions a device has passed through and even create a real-time movement alert. According to the information received from the vehicle, the vehicle, which will be purchased under the management of Michel Temer in 2018, has been used until 2021.

Referring to contract secrecy, Cognyte said he could not comment on the case, as well as Caio Cruz, the son of General Santos Cruz, a former minister in the previous administration, who was responsible for contracting the software. Alexandre Ramagem, Abin’s former head under Bolsonaro, and the agency itself did not comment on the report.

used indifferent

The newspaper, which is in contact with the members of your brother, used spying tool without needing records of calls. In theory, The location of any cell phone owned by anyone can be exposed.against the agents themselves, albeit unofficially.

The FirstMile contract would be the subject of an internal procedure to determine its use. Anonymously, “a high-ranking member of Abin” sphere that the system operates under a “legal uncertainty” based on accessing metadata, a practice not expressly prohibited by law.

But the agency’s rationale would be to use it in “State security” situations, excluding the possibility of breaking phone privacy. However, the same agent indicates that the software is used “uncontrolled” and has no record of improper access.

The Unity Auditor General (CGU) said today that he will also investigate the incident and determine the responsibility of the servers.