German weekly e-paper “Die Zeit” revealed that the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) and Federal Intelligence Service (BND) both bought the Pegasus spyware by Israeli company NSO Group.
The weekly reported that the Bundesnachrichtendienst (BND) is also a client of the highly contentious spyware. This comes one month after revelations in the German press that the country’s federal police, the Bundeskriminalamt (BKA), had used the Pegasus spyware early 2020.
Dutch MEP Sophie in’t Veld (Renew Europe Party) had stated in a press conference early November that in democratic countries, putting people under surveillance should be the exception and should not be allowed for political purposes.
“The misuse of spyware in EU member states is a serious threat to democracy for the whole continent”, she added.
The Deutsh state is an addition to other clients that have bought the spyware, namely Poland, Hungary, Greece, and Spain.
Pegasus can read text messages, track calls, collect passwords, access phones’ microphone and camera, and harvest information from apps.