Very quickly before we get into this week’s edition, I wanted to remind you about our campaign to expose climate crimes, in partnership with the Big Give. 

Want to know more? Scroll to the bottom of this email to find out how we’re applying pressure – and how your support will be doubled at no extra cost to you.

Closing the loophole allowing criminals to intercept phone calls

On the face of it, the 2018 capture of a Dubai princess on a yacht off the coast of India has little to do with a ban imposed by Ofcom this week on the leasing of phone numbers.

But the renting of so-called “global titles” – a special type of number used by mobile phone companies to route messages around the world – was at the heart of a huge story we published back in 2020. It featured the incredible story of Princess Latifa al-Maktoum’s attempted escape from her father, Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed. 

Latifa had fled the United Arab Emirates on a chartered yacht, claiming that her father had beaten, sedated and held her in solitary confinement over a period of years (allegations he denied). 

We revealed that in their pursuit of the princess, the Emiratis used a global title in the Channel Islands to tap into a worldwide phone network – and locate the mobile belonging to the captain of her yacht.

This episode was just the tip of the iceberg. Global titles have not only enabled criminals to track people across the world but also to intercept calls and other private data, including bank details and emails.

I remember that investigation taking months and months to get over the line.

Our reporter had built a stellar reputation in handling the most sensitive sources with access to data from inside the telecoms industry. He was able to speak to sources with first-hand knowledge of what was happening and could tell him how signals were sent to the captain’s phone.

This week, Ofcom banned the leasing of global titles by mobile phone companies.

This is a significant piece of impact. Ofcom rightfully celebrated its “world-leading” ban, which includes Jersey and Guernsey, as the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man fall under its jurisdiction.

Ofcom’s 116-page statement explaining its ban cited our findings on Rayzone, an Israeli cyberintelligence provider that accessed the same global title used to try and find Princess Latifa. 

At the time, we reported that Rayzone’s website advertised “boutique intelligence-based solutions for national agencies” aimed at countering terrorism and crimes that “pose a direct threat to the security of citizens worldwide, and to international stability and prosperity”. The company offered services to its clients including interception and location tracking, we reported. Rayzone vehemently denied any role in the operation to capture Princess Latifa.

Ofcom pointed out that we found data showing that Rayzone enabled the targeting of more than 60 countries.

“This technique, which is actively used by unregulated commercial companies, poses privacy and security risks to everyday users,” said Ollie Whitehouse, the chief technical officer of the NCSC, this week. “We urge our international partners to follow suit in addressing it.”

Factchecked!

Each week we reveal a fascinating fact from our reporting…

Did you know?

Climate change could make it too risky for insurance companies to offer coverage for many things, which would lead to fewer loans being approved for uninsured properties or projects.

Find out more

A board member at Allianz (one of the world’s largest insurance groups) recently stressed the urgency of stopping climate change before it destroys society. 

Allianz has taken steps to limit emissions by refusing to insure new oil and gas fields – but its asset management firms still support companies involved in fossil fuel extraction. 

Read more here.

Exposing climate crimes in the lead-up to COP30

COP30 in Brazil is going to be a big one. 

The recent erosion of commitments to net zero is pretty staggering, and many banks and companies are working against those commitments anyway. So it’s serious. COP30 is supposed to tackle a gnarly question: how can rich countries finance green initiatives in poorer countries? 

We have exposed the food companies, fossil fuel producers and banks for their wanton destruction of the planet. It’s one of our strongest areas. And we’ve driven change on that front. Nestlé, for instance, dropped some of their beef suppliers after we revealed that they were driving deforestation in the Amazon.

Now we’re going after the next wave of threats. We can’t give too much away just yet, but the team has already recently exposed how major US trading firm StoneX bought illicit gold from the Amazon, where gold mining is incredibly destructive to the environment. 

The investigation triggered an outcry, with some campaigners demanding London-based rugby team Saracens drop StoneX as a sponsor. (StoneX says it is a responsible member of the global precious metals industry and conducts extensive due diligence.)

We're all used to hearing how bad the state of the environment is. But what’s coming up is ambitious, vital and hugely compelling. 

This week, we launched a big campaign to help fund this work. We can’t do it alone and need everyone to lean in where they can. We will expose the worst climate crimes and disrupt the dangerous disinformation that means efforts to stem climate change are pushed back. 

We will work with our impact producers to make sure that not only do we reveal the wrongdoing, but also that our findings get into the right hands. That could be policy makers, advocates, affected communities or the right companies. 

This week we are raising £20,000. We’ve made a good start, with £3,246 raised so far. If you can, please join in. The best bit is that the Big Give will double all donations we receive, at no extra cost to you. With that, we’ll be able to expose wrongdoing, hold the powerful to account and make sure there is real change.