The Supreme Court ordered Congress to, within ten days, manifest itself on what it has done to regulate the use of spy software by government agencies.
The move comes a week after the Federal Police started to raid addresses linked to current and former officials within the Brazilian Intelligence Agency (Abin) accused of illegally accessing geolocalization data of at least 1,800 Brazilian citizens. This illegal monitoring was carried out using FirstMile, an Israeli spy software bought by the federal government in 2018.
One of the sons of far-right former President Jair Bolsonaro and a sitting congressman who served as Brazil’s top intelligence official were targeted by the Federal Police in recent days. They allegedly used the Israeli software to monitor perceived enemies of the former administration — including journalists, activists, and politicians.
Investigators believe that Mr. Bolsonaro may have created a “parallel” and illegal intelligence service on his behalf, which operated outside of judicial guardrails. Besides the country’s intelligence agency, the Army also acquired software of this type.
The pro-Bolsonaro camp has denied any wrongdoing and called the probe a political hit job. The investigation has been conducted by Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who has for the past few years been a lightning rod of far-right vitriol — mainly due to the fact that he has overseen investigations into the former president and his family.
“Following the most recent technological advances, there has been a global proliferation of virtual intrusion tools, used within the scope of intelligence services and state repression bodies, for remote, secret, and invasive surveillance of mobile digital communication devices, under the pretext of combating terrorism and organized crime,” Deputy Prosecutor General Elizeta Ramos wrote in a petition, requesting Congress to be forced to regulate the issue.
The petition asks the Supreme Court to order “the Armed Forces, public intelligence agents, and law enforcement bodies to refrain from using any of the technological invasion and monitoring tools referred to in this direct action, without judicial authorization.”
Correction: A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that the Supreme Court ordered an investigation into the use of spy software by government agencies. The post has been corrected.
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