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Rather, the Court held that NSO Group “retained some role” in the operation of their “Pegasus” spyware, “even if it was at the direction of their customers.” Accordingly, the Court denied the defendants’ motion to dismiss the plaintiffs’ complaint in all but one cause of action, concerning trespass to movable personal property. The Court rejected the defendants’ argument that they had a limited role in the surveillance of the plaintiff’s users. The complaint asserted that spyware developed by NSO Group had been used to infect 1,400 mobile devices, enabling the surveillance of the communications of a targeted group of WhatsApp users.
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The United States District Court for the Northern District of California held that the lawsuit filed by WhatsApp and its parent company Facebook may proceed against the Israeli mobile surveillance software company, NSO Group.
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