Hacking Team Leaks Reveal Spyware Industry's Growth, Negligence of Human Rights
This week’s document leak from surveillance software vendor Hacking Team provided new details on the burgeoning growth of a private surveillance industry which has spread globally without any meaningful oversight. While revealing many new and concerning aspects of Hacking Team’s activities, it also confirmed a number of theories we’ve long suspected about their operations.
These revelations, which Privacy International’s Deputy Director Eric King has called “the equivalents of the Edward Snowden leaks for the surveillance industry,” have clear geopolitical significance, and it’s likely the story will continue to unfold as journalists and researchers around the world begin to unpack the trove of documents and emails contained within the leak and put them in context.
At this early stage, however, there are a few new insights worth noting. We’ve learned that Hacking Team’s client list is much longer than previously thought: the Citizen Lab’s extensive research on Hacking Team identified twenty-one current or former government users of Hacking Team’s Remote Control System spyware. The new leaks indicate at least thirty-eight current or former government users.
