Mexico Has Its Spyware. A Reporter Has a Few Phones to Juggle.<br />I’m pretty sure I was sent Pegasus, the spyware purchased by the Mexican government, and though I’ve wiped that phone and replaced it, I’m cautious.<br />When I was previously in Kabul, Afghanistan, a few of the other reporters teased me for using it,<br />but I’ve found it reassuring to always have my whereabouts available when I’m in remote areas without any service — especially if it’s a violent area or one where kidnapping is a possibility.<br />Twice in the last two years I’ve been sent on breaking stories from vacation, without any of my tech tools.<br />There’s no doubt it is using technology for surveillance, nor is there any doubt<br />that it is paying exorbitant sums for it, as seen by various contracts made public and emails related to the government’s purchases of Hacking Team software that leaked a few years back.<br />Lots has been written about the booming tech scene in Mexico, in particular in the city of<br />Guadalajara, which is the latest place to be given some kind of Silicon Valley moniker.
