Samsung Embeds Israeli Surveillance App on Phones Across MENA
Rabat_ Social Media Exchange (SMEX)—a nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing human rights in digital spaces across West Asia and North Africa — is warning that Israeli-linked software secretly embedded in Samsung phones across the MENA region poses a serious surveillance threat.
According to SMEX, Samsung's A and M series devices either come preloaded with the app 'Aura' or install it automatically through system updates, without the user's consent. The application reportedly collects a wide range of personal and device-specific data, including IP addresses, device fingerprints, hardware details, and network information.
These data points, SMEX warns, can be used to easily identify users—especially when location tracking is enabled on any apps installed via Aura. This creates a grave security risk in a region where Israel has repeatedly used technology as a tool of surveillance and violence.
While the app's privacy settings claim users can disable data collection by turning off 'AppCloud' in the app list, deletion requires submitting a form that does not exist—effectively making it impossible to fully remove unless the user possesses advanced technical knowledge.
In 2022, Samsung MENA partnered with Israeli tech company IronSource, integrating its Aura software into Galaxy A and M series phones across the region. The partnership was publicly marketed as a way to 'enhance user experience' with AI-powered apps and content suggestions.
However, the scale and stealth of the data collection have triggered growing concern, which became terrifyingly real in September 2024, when Israel carried out a terrorist attack in Lebanon using booby-trapped pagers and walkie-talkies allegedly linked to Hezbollah members.
These devices were remotely detonated in public spaces, killing 42 people, including children and health workers, and injuring over 3,500—many left with long-term serious physical injuries and psychological trauma.
Disturbingly, the attack was praised by pro-Israel politicians and Western media outlets—a reaction that ignored the chilling implications for anyone with a cellphone. If digital proximity to a targeted individual is enough to get you killed, then no one is safe from the expanding reach of Israel's tech-driven warfare.
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