Executive at Swiss tech company said to operate secret surveillance operation

There’s been a boom in technology tools that let governments hack, track and otherwise monitor people’s phones and communications, and the market for mobile phone surveillance technology has been valued as high as US$12bil. — Photo by Hugh Han on Unsplash

The co-founder of a company that has been trusted by technology giants including Google and Twitter to deliver sensitive passwords to millions of their customers also operated a service that ultimately helped governments secretly surveil and track mobile phones, according to former employees and clients.

Since it started in 2013, Mitto AG has established itself as a provider of automated text messages for such things as sales promotions, appointment reminders and security codes needed to log in to online accounts, telling customers that text messages are more likely to be read and engaged with than emails as part of their marketing efforts.