Researchers find signs of mass surveillance on Starlink users
The gist
Researchers say Israeli ad-tech firm Discover-Tech was the top bidder for Starlink ad impressions in 105 countries.
Ad bidding could enable tracking, though actual tracking remains unproven.
How it unfolded
- 2021The U.S. Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security added Candiru to its Entity List over concerns it supplied surveillance technology used against journalists, activists and government officials.
- 2024 -2025Researchers identified at least 45 devices at Al Jazeera infected with Candiru spyware.
- Oct 15, 2026Citizen Lab's report named Discover-Tech as the buyer of ordinary-looking ads that delivered Candiru spyware to Al Jazeera devices; TrendAI's report called the activity 'Shadow-Earth-79' without naming a company.