Commercial spyware under fire

A joint statement has been made by 11 countries concerning the need to fight the unlawful and highly damaging use of commercial spyware.

The countries making the statement

Those involved are the governments of Australia, Canada, Costa Rica, Denmark, France, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States who recognise the threat posed by the misuse of commercial spyware and the need for strict domestic and international controls on the proliferation and use of such technology.

They argue that commercial spyware has been misused across the world by authoritarian regimes and in democracies in order to target and intimidate perceived opponents and facilitate efforts to curb dissent.

Governments admit to using spyware

Whilst admitting that each of the governments involved does actually use commercial spyware, they undertake to establish robust guidelines and procedures to ensure that any commercial spyware use by those governments is consistent with respect for universal human rights, the rule of law, and civil rights and civil liberties.

Tellingly, they are committed to ensure that new spyware is not exported to potential abusing countries and they will be inviting other ‘democratic’ countries to join this campaign in order to also stop the misuse of such spyware by industry and investment firms.