Digital rights group Access Now on Thursday began circulating a petition urging Blackstone Group to abandon any plan to invest in Israeli firm NSO Group, a maker of spyware for mobile devices, following a report that such a deal may be imminent.

Israel’s Calcalist business newspaper on Sunday said that Blackstone is in advanced talks to pay $400 million for 40 percent of privately held Israeli firm NSO Group.

NSO has come under international scrutiny in recent months amid allegations the Mexican government has used NSO’s Pegasus mobile spyware to illegally target private citizens. Mexico’s government is investigating the claim, though Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto has said the accusations are false.

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