On Thursday, a US federal court judge allowed WhatsApp, owned by parent company Facebook, to press ahead with its lawsuit against the Israeli surveillance software company NSO Group.
Judge Phyllis Hamilton, chief judge of the US District Court in the Northern District of California, dismissed most of the arguments made by the NSO group when it filed a request to dismiss the suit last April.
Last October, WhatsApp filed a complaint alleging that the spyware company exploited a voice communication gap in the messaging app to send malicious software to about 1,400 mobile devices, including those of journalists, human rights activists, political and diplomatic opponents, and senior government officials .
WhatsApp also claims that the Israeli company has developed a data program called Pegasus that extracts data, including messages, browser history and phone contacts, and sells support services to clients including the Kingdom of Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Mexico.
In her request to dismiss the lawsuit, one of the arguments of the NSO group was that its commercial dealings with foreign governments, which it said used technology to combat terrorism and other serious crimes, granted her immunity from lawsuits filed in US courts under the sovereign foreign immunity "FSIA Act" (FSIA). ).
In its decision, Judge Hamilton wrote that the NSO Group was not incorporated or created in the United States, which means that the foreign immunity law does not apply to it.
A WhatsApp spokesperson told TechCrunch, "We are pleased with the court's decision that allows us to proceed with our allegations that NSO has engaged in illegal behavior. The decision also confirms that WhatsApp will be able to obtain relevant documents and other information about NS practices." or".