A new report by Human Rights Watch found that European companies have sold controversial surveillance technologies to countries known for violating human rights, despite EU regulations introduced in 2021 to rein in exports of the technology. The report highlights the inconsistency of enforcement and the risks of these technologies being used to spy on journalists, activists, and critical voices.
The global market for commercial spyware and other surveillance tools has grown in recent years, driven by rising demand from governments, even as high-profile scandals involving abuses of the technology have sparked international outcry.
European companies have sold controversial surveillance technologies to countries known for violating human rights, a new report has found. The findings indicate that European Union regulations introduced in 2021 to rein in exports of the technology are not being properly enforced, according to the report, published Tuesday by Human Rights Watch.
The New York-based nonprofit obtained trade data and found that at least six EU member states – including Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland and Poland – had sold surveillance technologies to more than two dozen countries with documented histories of human rights violations, including repression of activists and journalists.
Europe has tightened controls on spyware exports, mandating risk assessments of customers before sales, but enforcement has been inconsistent, according to Human Rights Watch’s report.
'European surveillance tech is being licensed for export to countries with long, well-documented histories of using similar technology to violate rights, and presents serious risks of being used by those governments to spy on journalists, activists and other critical voices,' said Zach Campbell, a senior researcher at Human Rights Watch. 'It is apparent that European institutions that should be controlling these exports are failing to do so.
' The European Commission attaches great importance to the issue of cyber-surveillance items, which is why the EU has significantly strengthened export controls for such items. Export controls, which are enforced by member states, need to be regularly updated to adjust to evolving security risks and threats. The data analysed by Human Rights Watch did not specify the names of the companies that manufactured the surveillance technology or reveal the specific end users in the destination countries.
The group obtained the export records through freedom of information requests, which provide only a partial picture of sales across the bloc. Several European countries it said were known to export surveillance equipment – including France, Germany, Greece, Italy, and Spain – declined to share their data. According to the report, Bulgaria exported a variety of surveillance technologies to authorities in more than 20 countries, including Azerbaijan, United Arab Emirates, Vietnam, Uganda and Jordan.
These countries receive low freedom scores according to nonprofit Freedom House, which charts political rights and civil liberties across the world. The technologies Bulgaria exported included intrusion software, a term used to describe spyware that law enforcement agencies use to covertly hack into phones or computers, and telecommunications interception tools, which enable authorities to eavesdrop on phone calls.
Bulgaria is home to a prominent surveillance technology company named Circles, which sells products used to track mobile phones and was previously affiliated with the Israeli spyware company NSO Group, according to the report. It’s not clear whether Circles was responsible for the exports highlighted by Human Rights Watch. Representatives for Circles did not respond to requests for comment.
A Bulgarian government representative said in a statement to Human Rights Watch that it maintains a consistent policy of zero tolerance for abuses and strictly monitors compliance with the established rules. In addition, Poland approved the sale of phone eavesdropping systems to Rwanda – which also has a low freedom score – in 2023, according to the report.
A Polish government representative told Human Rights Watch that the country considers the risk of possible misuse of goods in a third country before approving an export. In the case of the sale to Rwanda, the representative added, 'no such risk was identified.
' In 2021, the EU passed new legislation regulating the sale of surveillance technologies. That development came after a series of scandals involving European companies supplying governments in the Middle East and North Africa with spy tools, which authorities used to target critics. Human Rights Watch said in its report that its findings showed that the EU’s regulations have failed to prevent dangerous surveillance technologies getting into the hands of those with track records of using them to violate rights
Surveillance Technology Export Controls Human Rights Violations Bulgaria Poland Circles NSO Group Freedom House Middle East And North Africa EU Regulations European Commission Zach Campbell European Institutions Export Records Freedom Of Information Requests Partial Picture Of Sales
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