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Three years have passed since the Pegasus scandal first broke into the public.
Yet, we still haven’t fixed the surveillance industry.
Quite the opposite, actually: the spyware problem keeps getting bigger.
A ban, that’s right.
For its very nature, in fact, spyware tools are incompatible with the concept of privacy.
Everybody can be a target our phones as the front door into the most private side of our lives.
Should spyware be a legit market?
While software capabilities may differ, these tools aim to collect all sorts of sensitive information.
Pegasus is a perfect example as it harvestszero-click attackswhile leaving minimum trace on the infected rig.
This means that not even security software like thebest VPNorantivirusapps can fully protect you against this increasing threat.
So far, however, there’s been a longer list of authorities abusing its use.
Let’s look at how the Pegasus scandal unfolded.
The Pandora’s box finally opened up in 2021 over50,000 phones around the worldhad been compromised.
The Big Tech giant tracked around 40 Commercial Surveillance Vendors (CSVs) operating worldwide.
All in all, the proliferation of spyware “causes real-world harm,” said experts.
For instance, companies have increasingly turned to what’s known asbosswareto better monitor their remote employees.
While the implementation details depend on the country, work productivity monitoring apps are perfectly legal.
Yet, the room for abuse remains wide open.
Spyware can be a very dangerous tool in the hands of hackers, stalkers, and criminals, too.
Think what an abusive partner can do by using such an app.
Well, the truth when it comes to spyware is more complex than that.
Lawmakers have failed so far to develop a legal framework able to mitigate the societal harm posed by spyware.
We already mentioned how the EU got caught up right in the middle of the spyware mess.
According to the EDPS, such intrusive technology is de-facto incompatible with EU law.
You simply cannot.
Discussions do not suffice.
We expect action."
