Smartphones at Risk Under Draft EU Controls Over Surveillance Devices

‘The European Union is considering putting further controls on so-called dual-use electronic products that can be used as weapons or used to track people and their data by the authorities – as happened during the Arab Spring.
According to the European Council’s Arms Exports Common Position 2008/944/CFSP and other directives, the EU can adopt controls “to prevent the export of military technology and equipment that might be used for undesirable purposes such as internal repression or international aggression, or contribute to regional instability.”
This could be used to prevent the export of devices — such as smartphones — that have location services abilities that can be used for both civilian and military purposes. The issue has become more important since the revelations by Privacy International that many people have been targeted by expensive and sophisticated spyware from the Italian surveillance company Hacking Team.’
Read more: Smartphones at Risk Under Draft EU Controls Over Surveillance Devices