The illegal use of spy software is a real and worrying European problem. The European Parliament is therefore making recommendations to do something about it. “The investigation is ready,” says D66 MEP Sophie in ‘t Veld. “But the work of this Parliament is not yet.”
A special investigative committee spent a year investigating the misuse of spy software such as Pegasus. That is Israeli-made spy software. Pegasus made the news when it turned out that the software was being used to spy on journalists and political critics, among other things.
A report was adopted by a large majority in Parliament on Monday evening that addresses the illegal use of spyware in the European Union. The abuse takes place in Poland and Hungary, among others, according to the report.
In Hungary, spyware is being used as part of “a strategic government campaign to thwart freedom of media and freedom of expression”. In Poland, spy software is used to eavesdrop on government critics.
Greece and Spain are also mentioned as countries that illegally use spyware. There appears to be a lot of trade in software in Cyprus.
Everyone spies, including the Netherlands
It was previously known that spy software is also used in the Netherlands. For example, from November 2014 to December 2016, two companies had ties with the NSO Group. That is the Israeli maker of the famous spyware Pegasus.
The Ministry of Defense also had plans to sign a contract with WiSpear in 2019. That is a company owned by Tal Dilian, an organization that also owns the maker of Predator spyware. It is not known whether the ministry actually signed the contract and whether it was granted access to the spyware.
In addition, the AIVD is said to have helped the Dutch police last year to find a suspect in a crime case. Pegasus would have been used for this. The report does not state whether this actually happened.
At the end of last year, In ‘t Veld already expressed her dissatisfaction that governments and authorities of governments hardly cooperate with the committee’s investigation.
It is now the European Commission’s turn
It is therefore very important that the investigation has now been completed and that the European Parliament has adopted the report. The European Commission and the European Council must now react to the results. “They can no longer remain silent,” she says. “Because silence is complicity.”
Parliament makes recommendations to the Commission on how to deal with the problem. Because the work is not done yet, says In ‘t Veld. “No victim has been justiced yet. The human rights violations with spyware sold from the EU have not been investigated. No government has yet been held accountable for its actions.”
The rapporteur calls spyware a major threat to democracy as long as there are no strict rules and enforcement. “As spyware becomes cheaper to deploy, more people can and will become victims. We must all reduce this threat.”
2023-05-08 18:51:09
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