For a year, Greek intelligence tapped telephone conversations of US citizen Artemis Seaford, an employee of the Meta security service. The New York Times writes about this, citing documents received from informed officials. This is the first known case of an American citizen being the victim of tracking technology in a European Union country.
“This suggests that the illegal use of spyware goes beyond the use of authoritarian governments against opposition figures and journalists and has begun to infiltrate European democracies, even trapping a foreigner working for a large global corporation,” writes The New York Times.
The Predator spyware planted on a Meta employee's phone is sold by an Athens company and exported from Greece, in violation of European Union laws. At the same time, the Greek government denies the use of Predator. “The Greek authorities and security services have never acquired or used the Predator surveillance software. Assuming otherwise is wrong,” government spokesman Janis Ikonomou wrote in an email. "The alleged use of this software by non-governmental organizations is under judicial investigation."
European Union lawmakers have launched their own investigation into the incident.