For decades, the FBI has secretly used hacking tools and spyware to intercept communications, but the public never had a clear picture of how frequently such methods were deployed. That is set to change in 2029, when the U.S. judiciary begins publishing official counts.
The FBI has relied on hacking techniques and spyware since at least 1998, according to existing records, yet no public data has ever tracked how often federal agencies employed these surveillance methods. The lack of transparency has made it difficult for civil liberties groups and lawmakers to assess the scale of the government’s hacking capabilities.
That gap will be closed starting in 2029, when the U.S. judiciary will publicly disclose the exact number of times judges authorized wiretaps carried out with hacking tools and spyware. These methods fall under the government’s classification of network investigating techniques, commonly shortened to NITs.
While the move does not expand or limit the use of such surveillance, it marks a significant step toward accountability. For the first time, researchers and the public will have concrete figures showing how often the government seeks judicial approval to break into devices or intercept live communications using these covert tools.
The announcement comes amid growing debate over the balance between national security and privacy, particularly as surveillance technology advances and becomes more accessible to law enforcement.
The forthcoming disclosure represents a rare window into a historically secretive area of federal surveillance. By 2029, the public will finally be able to measure the government’s reliance on spyware and hacking tools in wiretap operations, a development that could reshape conversations about digital privacy and government oversight.
