Leak uncovers global abuse of cyber-surveillance weapon
Glad to see reporting on this, but struggling to understand how it's so much more outrageous than the UK's own behaviour in this regard vis-a-vis Gamma Group and the Finspy / Finfisher products.<p>For example:<p>> Despite rules saying the UK should not export security goods to countries that might use them for internal repression, ministers have signed off more than £75m in such exports over the past five years to states rated “not free” by the NGO Freedom House.<p>> The 17 countries include China, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, as well as the United Arab Emirates, which was the biggest recipient of licences totalling £11.5m alone since 2015.<p>> Human rights groups said the UK was developing a reputation for not conducting proper checks on who it sold arms to, while Labour called on the government to show it is working to prove that it is complying with its own rules against arming dictators.<p>- UK selling spyware and wiretaps to 17 repressive regimes including Saudi Arabia and China[1]<p>Or just search[2] for "gamma" and "privacy international"<p>1: <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/uk-spyware-wiretaps-saudi-arabia-china-bahrain-uae-human-rights-a9613206.html" rel="nofollow">https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/uk-spyware-wi...</a><p>2: <a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=%22gamma%22+%22privacy+international%22&tbs=cdr%3A1%2Ccd_min%3A1%2F1%2F2015%2Ccd_max%3A" rel="nofollow">https://www.google.com/search?q=%22gamma%22+%22privacy+inter...</a>