The EU executive tells member countries national security isn’t a blank check to justify spyware use.

European Union countries can’t call on national security as a blank check to justify their use of spyware, the European Commission said in a document seen by POLITICO.

Governments that decide to use intrusive surveillance software, like NSO Group’s Pegasus "cannot exercise their responsibility in a way that undermines the effectiveness of EU law” on data protection and privacy, said the draft communication, written in response to a European Parliament committee report on spyware.

National security has been used as an excuse by some EU governments that have used spyware to collect information from phones and other devices belonging to lawyers, journalists and even opposition politicians.

In Spainat least 65 Catalan separatist politicians have been targeted by spyware. In Greece, a scandal erupted when the government acknowledged it had wiretapped an opposition leader’s phone. There are also cases in Poland and Hungary of spyware being used against activists and journalists.

14 points

Said the commission that wanted (and probably still wants) to force applications to break their encryption for „law and order“…?

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4 points
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But that’s to save the children!

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1 point

Some people won’t even think of the children! SMH

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2 points

What about you, EU

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