Abin under Bolsonaro used secret program to track people, says newspaper – 03/14/2023 – Politics

In the first three years of the Jair Bolsonaro (PL) government, Abin (Brazilian Intelligence Agency) used a secret program to monitor the location of citizens based on cell phone data.

The information was released by the newspaper O Globo, which accessed documents and heard the report from Abin officials.

In practice, any cell phone could be monitored without official justification. There are reports that the program was even used against Abin agents and an internal procedure was opened to determine the criteria for using the technology.

How is the program?

• The “FirstMile” tool allowed tracking the steps of up to 10,000 people every 12 months. To start tracking, all you had to do was enter the person’s cell phone number.
• The program creates a history of displacements and allows the creation of “alerts in real time” of the movement of targets at different addresses.
• The software was purchased for R$ 5.7 million from the Israeli Cognyte, with waiver of bidding, at the end of the Michel Temer (MDB) government. The tool was used by the Bolsonaro government until mid-2021.

Under the condition of anonymity, a high-ranking member of Abin told the newspaper O Globo that the system could be used “without control” and that it was not possible to identify undue access.

He added that the system was operated under the justification of having a “legal limbo” since access to cell phone metadata is not expressly prohibited by Brazilian law. Bolsonaro’s Abin operated the tool claiming “state security”.

O Globo sought out Alexandre Ramagem, former head of Abin and elected federal deputy with Bolsonaro’s support. He declined to detail the use of the program.

“That’s up to Abin. It has a contract, it has everything. The hiring is all regular. If you have any questions, you have to ask Abin.”

UOL questioned Abin about the use of the program. The article will be updated when feedback is received.