THE OIREACHTAS JUSTICE Committee has been asked to investigate the presence of a spyware company in Ireland which has been blacklisted by the US government.
“This is a human rights issue,” Andrews told The Journal, noting that Predator had been used to eavesdrop on journalists and is allegedly being used to exploit vulnerable people.Intellexa Limited, which has been in Ireland for more than three years, was one of a small number of companies named on a blacklist by the US State Department in recent weeks, which said that it poses a risk to the national security and foreign policy of the United States.
“This company has been identified by the US authorities and there is clearly a deficit in Irish legislation. The US acted very quickly and there are serious questions about why we are not limiting interactions with such companies,” said Andrews. The Journal found there was no direct way to contact the Dublin office, and a request to the Intellexa group for comment was not answered.
“While the company in question is an Irish registered company it appears that it is not conducting any substantive business in Ireland and there is no evidence to suggest that its products have been exported from Ireland,” the spokesperson said. So far this year the Greek authorities have been investigating the company and its controversial spyware tech.Sources have said that some of the tech involves small drones capable of harvesting data from phones within a certain proximity.