CELLEBRITE

Overview

Cellebrite is an Israeli company that sells a tool that allows users - oftentimes but not exclusively police - to bypass security systems and passwords to copy some or all information on a cellphone by simply connecting a Cellebrite “Universal Forensics Extraction Device” to a phone. This includes all text messages, call history, photos, location information, app data, and other personal information. Cellebrite even offers a tool that allows police to copy information stored to the cloud from any of the accounts associated with a cellphone.

Once the contents of a phone are copied, Cellebrite’s software then enables police to organize, search and analyze the information that is pulled from a cellphone.

Cellebrite’s products also allow police to extract information from drones, computers, GPS devices, memory sticks, and SIM and SD cards. There are multiple companies that sell mobile device forensic tools but Cellebrite is arguably the most prominent.

Police use of tools like Cellebrite is often opaque and difficult to track. Unlike other technologies police have, use of mobile device forensic tools is rarely seen by the public. This type of technology intensifies the asymmetry of power that police hold over criminalized communities.

For a deeper exploration of the technical aspects of Cellebrite, please see the additional research below.

Additional research on Cellebrite or Mobile Device Forensic Tools:

• Mass Extraction: The Widespread Power of U.S. Law Enforcement to Search Mobile Phones, Upturn

• Forensic Extraction Tools, Electronic Frontier Foundation

• Leaked Documents Show What Phones Cellebrite Can (and Can’t) Unlock, 404Media

• Exploiting Vulnerabilities in Cellebrite UFED and Physical Analyzer from an App’s Perspective, Signal

Map

The data and map below document where Cellebrite has or had contracts with agencies agencies in North Carolina. This represents the agencies who have made payments for use of the software and training. This information will be updated regularly.

This is mostly collected via open source research and will be updated over time. Please contact us at sassisouth@proton.me if you would like to contribute to this.