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Shay Attias

Co-founder & CTO of Cobwebs Technologies (merged into PenLink)

Former member of IDF special units who co-founded Cobwebs Technologies in 2015 as CTO. The Israeli surveillance firm merged into PenLink after Spire Capital's 2023 acquisition.

On the record

    Companies

    Incidents in their orbit

    Abuse

    Warrantless location tracking for ICE

    2026

    Reporting documented PenLink supplying ICE and DHS with Webloc location tracking and Tangles OSINT, letting agents follow phones and social accounts without a warrant. Flatwater Free Press reported ICE signed a $2.3 million contract to use the two tools, which were described as deployed during high-profile immigration crackdowns in cities like Minneapolis.

    Lawsuit

    Reverse public-records suit to keep police tools secret

    2025

    According to the EFF, Pen-Link filed a 'reverse' public-records lawsuit in late 2024 against the San Joaquin County (CA) Sheriff's Office to block release of its contracts, claiming its product names and prices were trade secrets and citing terms that purport to bar customers from disclosing use of its technology without the company's consent. EFF intervened, and a 2025 settlement forced disclosure — records showed the Sheriff paid $180,000 for a two-year subscription to the Tangles Web Intelligence Platform.

    Sources