UN Calls For Stricter Regulation Of Surveillance Technology Amid Israeli Spyware Scandal

The United Nations is urging greater oversight of surveillance technology after a journalistic investigation revealed that government agencies are using software developed by the Israeli NSO Group to spy on activists and reporters worldwide, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet said on Monday

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 19th July, 2021) The United Nations is urging greater oversight of surveillance technology after a journalistic investigation revealed that government agencies are using software developed by the Israeli NSO Group to spy on activists and reporters worldwide, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet said on Monday.

According to an investigation by seventeen media outlets from the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany and other countries, NSO Group's software Pegasus was used to hack smartphones which belonged to human rights activists and lawyers, journalists, business executives, and even two women who were close to journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who was assassinated at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in October 2018.

"These reports... confirm the urgent need to better regulate the sale, transfer and use of surveillance technology and ensure strict oversight and authorization. Without human rights-compliant regulatory frameworks there are simply too many risks that these tools will be abused to intimidate critics and silence dissent," Bachelet said in a statement.