Governing the Global Proliferation of Digital Surveillance Technologies: Lessons from the EU

Abstract

The chapter engages with the EU’s legal discourse surrounding the regulation of digital surveillance technologies or so-called spyware. It does so by focusing on the EU’s attempt to regulate the international sale of digital surveillance technologies. The urgent need for rule-based control of the global surveillance technologies market has been on the agenda of the UN, EU, governments, NGOs, and research institutions. Within the EU, a particular legal instrument, known as dual-use export control, has come under the spotlight as a tool to mitigate human rights risks associated with the sale and transfer of spyware. While the field of law has developed to mitigate military risks within the EU’s security and defense policies, it has not yet sufficiently evolved to address the multifaceted human rights risks that the sale of surveillance technologies may pose to the destination countries