A surveillance technology that can identify the location of a phone anywhere in the world in just seconds with only a telephone number has been detected in 25 countries, some with chequered records on human rights, according to research released Tuesday.

The tech was supplied by the Israeli business Circles, claimed Citizen Lab, a University of Toronto organization that has long tracked the activities of surveillance companies. Circles is a sister company of NSO Group, an iPhone and Android spyware developer that is currently being sued by Facebook over attacks on the WhatsApp accounts of 1,400 users and has been criticized for selling to nations who went on to spy on activists, journalists and other citizens.