"EU catches up, takes steps to control export of intrusion spyware, IP monitoring", 7 Nov 2014

Reporters Without Borders, Privacy International, Digitale Gesellschaft, FIDH, and Human Rights Watch welcome news that the European Commission will move ahead and add specific forms of surveillance technology to the EU control list on dual use items, thus taking steps to finally hold companies to account who sell spy equipment and enable human rights abuses...Many NGOs including, including those in the Coalition Against Unlawful Surveillance Exports (CAUSE), of which Privacy International is a member, have long campaigned on the damaging implications that surveillance technologies have on undermining fundamental human rights. This work has driven surveillance technology to be taken seriously as an issue at national, EU and international levels...While we welcome this move to bring the EU into line with the 2013 Wassenaar updates and more into line with other international export regimes, it has come at a slow speed and more needs to be done...