EU and UK public money has helped fund Cellebrite phone extraction systems worth €69 million, according to Statewatch. A new investigation mapped more than 150 public contracts since 2023 for the Israeli company’s tools, including purchases funded by the EU. Statewatch says safeguards for fundamental rights were limited. Cellebrite’s technology, including the flagship UFED phone extraction devices and newer AI-enhanced analysis platforms, is used by law enforcement bodies in about 100 countries. Statewatch found Cellebrite tools used across Europe to profile journalists, racialised people and activists. The investigation traces how the software works during digital investigations after phones and computers are seized. It exploits vulnerabilities on a device’s operating system to bypass protections and extract stored data. In some cases, Statewatch says as little as an hour of access can be enough to copy an entire phone to an external archive. While UFED requires physical connection, Statewatch notes both UFED and remote spyware can leave minimal traces, making use difficult to detect without technical expertise. Cellebrite’s record is described as repeatedly tied to surveillance and abuse by governments criticised by Freedom House, including cases outside Europe. Statewatch highlights a widely reported example: in Myanmar, Reuters journalists Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo were arrested and later jailed in 2017 while investigating the killing of Rohingya civilians, with evidence based on phone data extracted using Cellebrite’s UFED. Statewatch also says EU funds equipped Moldova with Cellebrite systems despite documented police abuses in the country. The latest status of the work described by Statewatch is an ongoing five-part investigative series examining Cellebrite’s use across Europe.