NSO Group, the controversial Israeli spyware firm, has released a new transparency report that it says marks a “new phase of accountability,” even as critics question its substance and timing. The report comes amid renewed efforts by the company to rebrand itself and gain access to the U.S. market, following years of allegations linking its surveillance tools to human rights abuses worldwide. Unlike previous disclosures, however, the latest report offers broad assurances without providing verifiable data to support its claims.

Analysts note that the document omits key details that had appeared in earlier transparency reports, including figures on customers investigated, suspended, or terminated for misuse of NSO’s technology. While the company reiterates commitments to human rights standards and oversight mechanisms, it does not disclose how these safeguards are enforced in practice. Observers argue that this lack of specificity weakens the credibility of NSO’s stated reforms.

The report is also viewed against the backdrop of significant corporate changes. Last year, a group of U.S. investors acquired NSO, triggering a leadership overhaul that saw former U.S. official David Friedman appointed executive chairman, the departure of CEO Yaron Shohat, and the exit of co-founder Omri Lavie. Friedman wrote in the report that NSO’s mission is to make the world safer when its products are used “in the right hands,” though the company did not identify any countries where it currently operates.

Digital rights advocates remain unconvinced. Natalia Krapiva, senior tech-legal counsel at Access Now, described the report as part of a broader campaign to persuade U.S. authorities to remove NSO from the Commerce Department’s Entity List, which restricts American companies from doing business with the firm. She warned that similar efforts by spyware companies in the past—often involving leadership changes and ethics statements—have failed to prevent continued abuses. “This is window dressing,” she said, urging U.S. officials not to be swayed by what she called empty gestures.

Further criticism came from John Scott-Railton of The Citizen Lab, who said the report provides no data that would allow independent verification of NSO’s claims. He contrasted the latest disclosure with earlier reports in which the company cited investigations, customer terminations, and tens of millions of dollars in lost revenue due to human rights concerns. NSO declined to provide updated figures when asked, reinforcing concerns that its latest transparency push signals not accountability, but a strategic effort to rehabilitate its image without meaningful change.

Source: Techcrunch