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Surveillance Firm Pays $1 Million Fine After 'Spy Van' Scandal

posted by janrinok on Monday November 15 2021, @11:14PM   Printer-friendly

upstart writes:

Surveillance firm pays $1 million fine after 'spy van' scandal:

The Office of the Commissioner for Personal Data Protection in Cyprus has collected a $1 million fine from intelligence company WiSpear for gathering mobile data from various individuals arriving at the airport in Larnaca.

While this is just an administrative fine under the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), it is related to a scandal two years ago widely publicized as the "spy van" case.

In 2019, a Chevrolet van packed with at least $3.5 million worth of equipment that could hack Android smartphones and steal data including WhatsApp and Signal messages, was stationed near the Larnaca airport.

The van had been in the area for months when politicians in Cyprus criticized the government for being passive about the activity of the vehicle after seeing its capabilities in action close to the airport in a video from Forbes.

In a press release today, the data protection watchdog in Cyprus announced that WiSpear paid an administrative fine of 925,000 euros for GDPR violations.

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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 16 2021, @11:43AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 16 2021, @11:43AM (#1196606)

    to "the van" or from it, and do we need to be near the airport for it to look lke more than a pic of jupiter, huh NaSA operator?