The government of Ghana allegedly paid an Israeli surveillance firm more than $2 million in 2021, according to Bright Simons, the Vice President of IMANI-Africa responsible for Research and Education.

Simons claims that Rayzone, a company that specializes in espionage technologies, received more than $2 million from the government in the pretense of fighting cybercrime.

“In the name of fighting cybercrime, the govt of Ghana paid more than $2 million in 2021 to an Israeli company, Rayzone, which specialises in tapping phones, snooping on people & advanced spyware. Recall that officials of the prev[ious] govt (government) were jailed for bungling a similar deal,” Bright Simons shared in a Twitter post on Tuesday, August 1, 2023.

In the meantime, a Bloomberg report from May 2023 accused Rayzone Group of utilizing data intended for advertisers to aid law enforcement in tracking individuals using their mobile phones via a device called Echo.

The private Israeli spy business allegedly used a flaw in a mobile phone network to enable their clients to monitor people all around the world, according to a report by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism and the UK Guardian.

According to the study, Rayzone was able to "geolocate" mobile phone users all across the world by gaining access to a global messaging system.

Data protection groups are alarmed by Rayzone's actions because they believe the corporation is illegally assisting governments in invading the privacy of the general population.