The End of Secure Communication
For several years, the Starlink device served as the last refuge for users across various countries. The device gave protesters in countries ruled by dictatorial regimes an opportunity to connect to the internet, supported Ukrainian military operations during the war, and secured free communication entirely independent of government censorship. That equation has now shifted, and this secure connection has turned into a target breached by Israeli software that tracks users in various countries. In its reports, the newspaper “Haaretz” stated that two Israeli companies succeeded in developing a technology that precisely pinpoints the locations of Starlink devices and identifies who is carrying them.
The Mechanism for Collecting Digital Traces
The roles of this device have shifted, turning it into a genuine trap for its users. The newly developed technology does not need to breach Starlink’s internal system or to directly spy on the text of the messages exchanged; rather, it relies entirely on collecting the digital traces you leave behind and tracking them to determine your geographic location. Your mobile phone exposes your personal location without you having the slightest sense of it. The system detects and examines the unique advertising code embedded in your device the moment you browse everyday applications such as the TikTok app while connected to the Starlink network, and through this advertising data the system extracts the details of your location with precision.
Enormous Tracking Figures
These software systems place around one million devices under continuous surveillance, which has made the identities of around 200,000 users fully known to the tracking parties. One of those companies operates a software system bearing the name “Stargatz,” which currently monitors about one million communication stations belonging to the Starlink company, and has already identified the personal data of around 200,000 users in various parts of the world.
Human Rights Warnings Threaten Civilians
Space-based security is in retreat today, and satellite internet is no longer an impregnable refuge for the vulnerable. Human rights organizations have issued urgent warnings stating that this system threatens the lives of civilians and those working in the field of journalism inside besieged areas and zones of armed conflict, following the loss of the secrecy and security element of their communications. After all of this, do you still believe there is a single means of communication on the internet that can remain 100% secure? The technical reality clearly confirms that there is no secure signal whatsoever.
