Post by account_disabled on Mar 15, 2024 22:11:26 GMT -8
The institutions of the European Union - Council, Commission and European Parliament - will carry out what could be their final negotiation to approve a European directive that forces companies to take responsibility for their impacts on human rights. Amnesty International, together with other civil society organizations, have worked in coalition for months so that the result of the process is an effective instrument and that companies comply with their obligation to identify, prevent and mitigate their impacts on human rights and ensure the victims' access to remedy, what has been called due diligence. We will see if what is agreed will serve to truly protect human rights and the environment, or if, on the contrary, companies will be able to continue operating without assuming their responsibilities. Although the European Union has so far failed to take adequate measures against the most invasive forms of spyware, the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) could offer a crucial opportunity for the EU to curb rampant abuses of spyware. human rights in the surveillance technology sector.
Activists protest against Pegasus spying in Calcutta, India . © Indranil Aditya/NurPhoto In 2021 the Pegasus project exposed how governments around the world have used the NSO Group's highly invasive Pegasus spy software to illegally spy on human rights activists, political leaders, journalists and lawyers. Pegasus spy software was used as a tool to intimidate and attempt to silence brave people around the world. Prominent journalist Nuria Piera described the feeling of being the target BYB Directory of this technology: “It's like being in quicksand. “It really affects your sense of freedom, how free you feel to give your opinion.” Digital forensics have confirmed that Pegasus has targeted journalists in at Amnesty International's Security Lab, entitled “Predator Files” , has revealed that a suite of surveillance technologies developed and sold by the European Union-based Intellexa alliance, including a highly invasive surveillance technology called “Predator,” are being marketed on a near-industrial scale around the world.
Amnesty protest in London against NSO © Amnesty International Predator spyware can silently infect nearby devices or spread via malicious links. Once infection occurs, Predator can, like Pegasus before it, access uncontrolled amounts of data on the target device: reading messages, accessing the microphone, documents, photos, contacts and call logs. Whatever it is, Predator can probably access it, while the user is completely unaware of its presence. The Predator Files investigation by EIC and Amnesty International has revealed that Predator has been used to attack European Union officials, including the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, as well as activists and academics based in the EU. In total, it was found that between February and June 2023, 50 social media accounts belonging to 27 individuals and 23 institutions around the world were targeted. This misuse of spyware not only harms the rights of the affected persons but, in the words of the PEGA committee (Committee of Inquiry in charge of Examining the Use of the Pegasus Surveillance Spy Program and Other Equivalent Programs) of the European Parliament, “constitutes “a serious violation of all the values of the European Union, testing the resilience of the rule of law in Europe.
Activists protest against Pegasus spying in Calcutta, India . © Indranil Aditya/NurPhoto In 2021 the Pegasus project exposed how governments around the world have used the NSO Group's highly invasive Pegasus spy software to illegally spy on human rights activists, political leaders, journalists and lawyers. Pegasus spy software was used as a tool to intimidate and attempt to silence brave people around the world. Prominent journalist Nuria Piera described the feeling of being the target BYB Directory of this technology: “It's like being in quicksand. “It really affects your sense of freedom, how free you feel to give your opinion.” Digital forensics have confirmed that Pegasus has targeted journalists in at Amnesty International's Security Lab, entitled “Predator Files” , has revealed that a suite of surveillance technologies developed and sold by the European Union-based Intellexa alliance, including a highly invasive surveillance technology called “Predator,” are being marketed on a near-industrial scale around the world.
Amnesty protest in London against NSO © Amnesty International Predator spyware can silently infect nearby devices or spread via malicious links. Once infection occurs, Predator can, like Pegasus before it, access uncontrolled amounts of data on the target device: reading messages, accessing the microphone, documents, photos, contacts and call logs. Whatever it is, Predator can probably access it, while the user is completely unaware of its presence. The Predator Files investigation by EIC and Amnesty International has revealed that Predator has been used to attack European Union officials, including the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, as well as activists and academics based in the EU. In total, it was found that between February and June 2023, 50 social media accounts belonging to 27 individuals and 23 institutions around the world were targeted. This misuse of spyware not only harms the rights of the affected persons but, in the words of the PEGA committee (Committee of Inquiry in charge of Examining the Use of the Pegasus Surveillance Spy Program and Other Equivalent Programs) of the European Parliament, “constitutes “a serious violation of all the values of the European Union, testing the resilience of the rule of law in Europe.