NSO Group published a new transparency report on Wednesday, presenting what the spyware company described as a new phase of accountability, while omitting customer and enforcement data that had appeared in its previous disclosures.
Report Omits Customer And Enforcement Metrics
NSO Group, a prominent vendor of government surveillance tools, said the report outlines commitments to human rights and internal controls. Unlike earlier annual reports, the document does not disclose how many customers the company rejected, investigated, suspended, or terminated over alleged human rights abuses.
The report also does not include evidence to substantiate its stated commitments, nor does it list the total number of NSO customers, a figure that had been consistently included in past transparency reports.
Analysts Link Report To U.S. Entity List Efforts
Experts who track the spyware industry said the report aligns with NSO’s broader effort to be removed from the U.S. government’s Entity List, which restricts American companies from doing business with the firm.
NSO has been on the Entity List since the Biden administration imposed the designation. After Donald Trump returned to office last year, the company increased its lobbying efforts, though it had not succeeded as of May.
Leadership Changes And Ownership Shift
NSO has undergone significant changes since a group of U.S. investors acquired the company last year. Former Trump administration official David Friedman was appointed executive chairman. CEO Yaron Shohat stepped down, and Omri Lavie, the last founder still involved with the company, departed, according to reporting by Haaretz.
In the report, Friedman wrote that NSO’s products make the world safer when used by appropriate customers, without naming any countries where the company operates.
Comparison With Earlier Transparency Reports
Previous NSO transparency reports included more detailed disclosures. In a report covering 2024, the company said it opened three investigations into possible misuse, cut ties with one unnamed customer, and imposed remediation measures on another, including human rights training and activity monitoring. NSO did not provide details about the third investigation.
That same report said NSO rejected more than $20 million in potential new business due to human rights concerns. In an earlier report covering 2022 and 2023, NSO said it suspended or terminated six government customers, resulting in $57 million in lost revenue. In 2021, the company reported disconnecting five customers since 2016, with estimated revenue losses exceeding $100 million.
None of these figures appear in the newly released report covering 2025.
Featured image credits: Goodfon
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