How First Wap Tracks Phones Around the World
Key Takeaways
- Lighthouse Reports uncovered a vast archive of deep web data detailing the global phone tracking activities of the company First Wap.
- First Wap, headquartered in Jakarta and run by European executives, operates a significant, previously low-profile, phone tracking empire.
- The company's primary surveillance tool is called Altamides, capable of untraceable global location tracking and intercepting communications, including encrypted apps.
- The exposed data showed First Wap's technology was used against high-profile targets such as Rwandan dissidents and a journalist investigating corruption in the Vatican.
- The investigation positions First Wap in the 'middle tier' of the surveillance industry, operating with less scrutiny than elite spyware firms but enabling surveillance on a broader scale.
In the spring of 2024, Lighthouse Reports discovered a massive deep web archive detailing the operations of First Wap, a surveillance company headquartered in Jakarta but managed by European executives. This archive contained thousands of phone numbers and hundreds of thousands of locations globally, marking a leak far more extensive than previous telecom targeting data leaks. The investigation, dubbed 'Surveillance Secrets,' revealed that First Wap's tracking tech was used against Rwandan dissidents, a Vatican corruption journalist, and a targeted businessman. First Wap operates in the often-overlooked middle tier of the surveillance industry, between elite spyware firms like NSO Group and basic OSINT tools. Their primary product, Altamides, allows for untraceable global phone number tracking, text/call interception, and even breaching encrypted apps like WhatsApp. Analyzing 1.5 million rows of telecom data, researchers had to develop new methods since standard spyware investigation tools were inapplicable to this type of firm.
