Pakistan is operating one of the most extensive and intrusive mass surveillance systems in the world, enabled by a global network of technology firms from China, Europe, North America and the United Arab Emirates, according to a major new investigation by Amnesty International.
The report, titled “Shadows of Control”, reveals how the Pakistani state has built a vast digital surveillance infrastructure using foreign-supplied tools that allow intelligence agencies to monitor millions of citizens, block online content, and suppress dissent with near-total impunity.
At the core of this apparatus are two powerful systems: the Web Monitoring System 2.0 (WMS 2.0), a national internet firewall capable of inspecting and blocking two million active online sessions at once, and the Lawful Intercept Management System (LIMS), a phone-tapping network that can simultaneously monitor at least four million mobile devices.
Together, these systems give Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and military unprecedented access to private communications, including phone calls, text messages, emails, and browsing histories. The report warns that the combined effect of these technologies has created a climate of fear and self-censorship, particularly among journalists, activists, and political opponents.
The investigation, conducted over the past year in collaboration with media partners including Paper Trail Media, DER STANDARD, Follow the Money, The Globe and Mail, and the Tor Project, traces the origins of these surveillance systems to a shadowy international supply chain. The first version of the Web Monitoring System, known as WMS 1.0, was installed in 2018 using technology from Canadian firm Sandvine, now rebranded as AppLogic Networks. Trade data reviewed by Amnesty shows that Sandvine supplied equipment to Pakistani companies with close ties to the government, including Inbox Technologies, SN Skies Pvt Ltd, and A Hamson Inc. However, after growing scrutiny and a shift in corporate policy, Sandvine exited the Pakistani market in 2023.
Its replacement came from China. A leaked dataset, referred to as the Geedge dataset, revealed that the upgraded WMS 2.0 was built using technology from Geedge Networks, a Beijing-based company with links to China’s state-backed digital infrastructure. Amnesty International assesses that Geedge’s system is a commercial export version of China’s “Great Firewall,” the same tool used to censor the internet within China. This system is further enhanced by hardware from U.S.-based Niagara Networks and software components from Thales, a French defence and cybersecurity firm, illustrating how Western technology is being integrated into a Chinese-style censorship model.
Meanwhile, the LIMS system relies on interception technology developed by German company Utimaco, deployed through monitoring centres operated by Datafusion, a firm based in the UAE. Once a phone number is entered into the system by state agents—including officers from the ISI—the authorities can access call records, track real-time location, read text messages, and monitor which websites are visited. Even when users access sites via encrypted HTTPS connections, metadata revealing the websites they visit remains exposed. If the connection is unencrypted (HTTP), the full content can be viewed. With all four major telecom providers in Pakistan mandated to connect to LIMS, the potential scale of surveillance is staggering.
Amnesty International warns that in the absence of legal safeguards, independent oversight, or transparency, these systems amount to unlawful and indiscriminate surveillance. The Pakistani legal framework offers little protection: while laws such as the Fair Trial Act require warrants for interception, these provisions are routinely ignored. The Pakistan Telecommunications Authority (PTA) has openly acknowledged ordering telecom companies to install LIMS for use by “designated agencies,” yet intelligence and defence ministries continue to deny having any phone-tapping capabilities—a contradiction highlighted during a 2024 Islamabad High Court case filed by Bushra Bibi, wife of imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan, after her private calls were leaked online.
The human cost of this surveillance state is already evident. A journalist interviewed for the report described living in constant fear, saying that after publishing a story on corruption, anyone he contacted—even over WhatsApp—was questioned by authorities. “Now I go months without speaking to my family,” he said, fearing retaliation against his loved ones. His experience reflects a broader pattern of intimidation that has led to widespread self-censorship and a shrinking of civic space, particularly in regions like Balochistan, where prolonged internet blackouts and military operations have drawn international criticism.
Amnesty’s investigation also underscores the complicity of foreign governments and corporations. Of the 20 companies contacted, only Niagara Networks and AppLogic Networks responded, both stating they comply with export regulations and do not control how their products are used. Datafusion and Utimaco replied to initial queries but declined to engage further when presented with the full findings. Government agencies, including export control bodies in Germany and Canada, acknowledged receipt of Amnesty’s letters but refused to answer substantive questions. The Pakistani government did not respond at all.
Experts warn that Pakistan’s surveillance model represents a dangerous precedent. “Having both mass phone interception and nationwide internet filtering is extremely rare and deeply troubling from a human rights perspective,” said Ben Wagner, Professor of Human Rights and Technology at IT:U Austria. “It suggests that such tools are becoming easier to implement, and that greater restrictions on freedom of expression and privacy may become more common globally.”
Amnesty International is now calling for an immediate halt to the use of LIMS and WMS 2.0 for mass surveillance, a full public inquiry into their deployment, and binding international regulations to prevent the export of surveillance technology to countries with poor human rights records. “This is not just a Pakistani problem,” said Agnès Callamard, Secretary General of Amnesty International. “It is a global failure—one that allows a profitable economy of oppression to thrive, where companies profit and states look away, while ordinary people pay the highest price.”
The report, “Shadows of Control”, stands as a stark warning: in the digital age, surveillance knows no borders—and without urgent action, the shadows now falling over Pakistan could soon stretch much further.