Austrian Interior Ministry Using Cobwebs Surveillance Software

Citizen Lab researcher Wolfie Christl told Der Standard that Austria’s Interior Ministry purchased Tangles for €900K — a social-media and web surveillance tool developed by Cobwebs and sold via Penlink — and may also have bought WebLoc for mobile-device tracking; the ministry has not explained how the tools will be used, prompting expert concerns about potential unlawful or mass surveillance and misuse of behavioural data, with the report noting that U.S. ICE also uses these products.