AI Calls for Moratorium on Sale of Surveillance Technology
Amnesty International calls for an immediate moratorium on the export, sale, transfer, and use of surveillance technology until a human rights-compliant regulatory framework is in place.
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Amnesty International warns of the dangers that the poorly regulated spyware industry poses to human rights
Amnesty International is calling for an immediate moratorium on the export, sale, transfer, and use of surveillance technology "until there is a human rights-compliant regulatory framework in place."
Amnesty International said the allegations of governments using surveillance technology provided by the Israeli NSO Group to spy on journalists, activists, and heads of state "have exposed a global human rights crisis."
The NGO warned in a Friday statement of the "impact of the poorly regulated spyware industry on human rights worldwide."
"Not only does [the systematic targeting of human rights activists, journalists, and lawyers] expose the risk and harm to those individuals unlawfully targeted, but also the extremely destabilizing consequences on global human rights and the security of the digital environment at large," said Amnesty International Secretary-General Agnes Callamard.
"NSO Group is just one company," warned Callamard. "This is a dangerous industry that has operated on the edges of legality for too long, and this cannot be allowed to continue," she added.
The Secretary-General continued, "Now, we urgently need greater regulation over the cyber-surveillance industry, accountability for human rights violations and abuses, and greater oversight over this shadowy industry."
The NGO also called for "an immediate moratorium on the export, sale, transfer, and use of surveillance technology until there is a human rights-compliant regulatory framework in place."
Amnesty International and Forbidden Stories worked together with several news agencies, such as The Washington Post, The Guardian, and Le Monde to publish leaks stating that there are more than 50,000 records of phone numbers that NSO clients selected for surveillance since 2016.
Pegasus spyware targeted prominent and influential figures all around the globe, including politicians and journalists.
Through the leaked data and the investigations carried out by Forbidden Stories and its media partners, the NGO and its partners were able to identify potential NSO clients in 11 countries: Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Hungary, India, Kazakhstan, Mexico, Morocco, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Togo, and the United Arab Emirates.
