EU's privacy watchdog, the European Union Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) has urged EU officials to ban the use and deployment of NSO Group's Pegasus commercial spyware across Europe.
“The ban on the development and the deployment of spyware with the capability of Pegasus in the EU would be the most effective option to protect our fundamental rights and freedoms,” the EDPS said in a statement on Tuesday.
EDPS' warning comes amid increasing cases of misusing of surveillance technologies meant to help intelligence and law enforcement agencies combat terrorism. While the EDPS doesn’t make decisions for member countries, it is an independent authority that advises EU lawmakers on data protection and privacy topics.
Developed by Israeli software company NSO Group, Pegasus software has the ability to track a user’s mobile phone. The software allegedly was supplied to governments that used it to spy on political dissidents, journalists and human right activists, and that resulted in the US blacklisting the NSO Group in November last year.
The ESPS said that a tool as advanced as Pegasus should not be allowed to be used inside Europe without any restrictions or supervision.
"National security cannot be used as an excuse to an extensive use of such technologies nor as an argument against the involvement of the European Union," the EDPS said.
