Who’s watching the watchers? This Mozilla fellow, and her Surveillance Watch map

Summary

Esra’a Al Shafei, a Mozilla fellow and long-time digital-rights activist, founded Surveillance Watch — an interactive map and database that documents companies producing surveillance software, their customers and their funders. What began by mapping about 220 entities has expanded to around 695, including high-profile surveillance tools such as NSO Group’s Pegasus and Cytrox’s Predator, vendor-contracted firms like Palantir and Paragon, and unexpected players like LexisNexis. The project also traces investors backing these technologies, from In-Q-Tel and Andreessen Horowitz to BlackRock, underscoring how surveillance has become a global commercial ecosystem.

Al Shafei’s work is rooted in personal experience: she was targeted with FinFisher (FinSpy) over a decade ago, an event that reshaped how she uses the web and motivated her to expose the surveillance supply chain. Surveillance Watch aims to make visible the networks normalising intrusive technologies — from smart‑city sensors to consumer cameras — and to show how those technologies can be weaponised against ordinary people, not only dissidents.

Key Points

Surveillance Watch is an interactive map documenting surveillanceware vendors, buyers and funders; it has grown from ~220 to ~695 entities.
High-profile surveillance tools on the map include Pegasus (NSO Group) and Predator (Cytrox), used to monitor journalists, politicians and activists.
The database lists companies with government contracts (eg Palantir, Paragon) and commercial data firms such as LexisNexis.
It also tracks investors backing surveillance technologies, including In-Q-Tel, Andreessen Horowitz and BlackRock.
Trend: US investors and firms now play a major role in the global surveillance industry.
Al Shafei’s personal infection by FinFisher changed her behaviour online and drove her advocacy work.
The project highlights how surveillance normalisation (smart cameras, gait analysis, phone tracking) affects everyday life, not just authoritarian states.

Context and relevance

This story sits at the intersection of cybersecurity, privacy and corporate governance. Surveillance Watch provides an evidence-based tool for journalists, researchers, policymakers and civil-society groups to trace who builds, buys and profits from intrusive technologies. As governments and private investors expand their roles in surveillance, the map helps reveal supply chains, commercial incentives and geopolitical patterns that are otherwise hidden.

For organisations assessing risk, for activists monitoring threats, and for anyone concerned about the creeping normalisation of mass surveillance, the project is a practical resource that ties technical spyware to legal contracts and financial flows.

Author style

Punchy and direct: this coverage cuts through the noise to show that surveillance is an industry with customers and backers, not just shadowy toolmakers. Given the project’s growth and the involvement of major investors and contractors, it’s not just interesting — it’s consequential. Read the details if you care about who enables surveillance and why it matters.

Why should I read this?

Short answer: because this isn’t conspiracy fodder — it’s a map of real companies, contracts and investors. If you want to understand who profits from snooping, how everyday tech can be weaponised, or why your city or workplace might be normalising surveillance, this piece and the Surveillance Watch resource save you the legwork. Properly eye‑opening and useful.

Source

Source: https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2025/11/08/mozilla_fellow_al_shafei/