The European Commission has evidence that EU governments have been issuing licenses seemingly without conducting serious human rights due diligence, and yet appears to have taken no action. Read more from HRW:

Bulgaria Licensed Surveillance Exports to Rights Violators

The Bulgarian government between 2018 and 2023 licensed exports of surveillance equipment to countries that were likely to use it for internal repression or to commit serious human rights violations.

hrw.org

HRW investigation shows the Bulgarian government licensed exports of surveillance equipment to countries that were likely to use it for internal repression or to commit serious human rights violations ⤵️ www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Circles Sold Phone Spy Tools to Repressive States, Report Says

A Bulgaria-based company sold controversial surveillance technology to governments in countries with records of repression, enabling authorities to track mobile phones and eavesdrop on private communi...

bloomberg.com

Ryan Gallagher@rjgallagher.co.uk · 3mo ago

Documents reveal that a European company linked to Israeli spyware seller NSO Group has been exporting surveillance technology to government agencies in repressive countries for years, despite EU regulations intended to curb such sales: www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Documents reveal that a European company linked to Israeli spyware seller NSO Group has been exporting surveillance technology to government agencies in repressive countries for years, despite EU regulations intended to curb such sales: www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Circles Sold Phone Spy Tools to Repressive States, Report Says

A Bulgaria-based company sold controversial surveillance technology to governments in countries with records of repression, enabling authorities to track mobile phones and eavesdrop on private communi...

bloomberg.com

New: In 2018-2023 Circles was licensed by the Bulgarian government to export surveillance tools to a long list of countries with well-documented histories of using similar tools to spy on journalists, activists, dissenters and others. (illustrations by the great @glennharvey.bsky.social)

The Commission will evaluate the recast #DualUseRegulation in 2026. We need: 
 • stronger due diligence
 • real transparency
 • accountability for exports
 • safeguards to stop 🇪🇺 technology enabling repression worldwide #HumanRights don’t stop at our borders. 9/9

NEW: The EU has failed to prevent member states from exporting surveillance technology to governments with well-documented histories of using technology to spy on activists, journalists, and other critical voices. Read the new report from HRW:

European Union: Surveillance Technology Sold to Rights Violators

The EU has failed to prevent member states from exporting surveillance technology to governments with histories of using technology to spy on activists, journalists, and other critical voices.

hrw.org

New @hrw.org report: European Union countries exports surveillance tech to governments around the world with well-documented histories of using similar tech to spy on activists, journos and other critical voices. And we've got the receipts.

NEW: A @hrw.org report published today finds that despite a regulatory framework designed to prevent abuses, 🇪🇺EU is currently doing **too little** to prevent sales & transfers of #surveillance technology by its members to governments with a track record of serious human rights violations. 🧵

🚨The EU exports surveillance tech to governments around the 🌏 with well-documented histories of using tech to spy on activists, journos and other critical voices. The EU has a law to control the trade but doesn't. And we have receipts. 🚨New report @hrw.org on May 12, message me for embargoed info.

Does it surprise anyone that body cam footage caught an agent using ChatGPT to compile an incident report?

Bellingcat@bellingcat.com · 6mo ago

Bellingcat and our partners at @evidentmedia.org and @calmatters.org have tracked US Border Patrol agents, analysing over 85 hours of footage taken across the country to try and unpack the circumstances around multiple use-of-force incidents. www.bellingcat.com/news/2026/03...

🇬🇷Greece’s top administrative court has ordered the intelligence service EYP to hand over the file on the surveillance of @nasoskoukakis.bsky.social. www.ekathimerini.com/news/1297105...

Council of State orders intelligence service to hand over file on surveillance of journalist’s comunications | eKathimerini.com

Greece’s highest administrative court on Thursday postponed a ruling in a case brought by investigative journalist Thanasis Koukakis over access to records related to the surveillance of his communica...

ekathimerini.com

The Pentagon's rift with Anthropic signals a clear and alarming intent to use AI for autonomous weapons and mass surveillance. @hrw.org is calling on states at the UN this week to ban and regulate autonomous weapons. @verityc.bsky.social is at negotiations. Our dispatch: www.hrw.org/news/2026/03...

US Military’s Dangerous Slide Toward Fully Autonomous Killing

The United States Department of Defense’s decision on February 27 to reject the artificial intelligence company Anthropic’s ethical red lines for AI for military use is a clear sign that the Pentagon ...

hrw.org

I'm at the #UN meeting on autonomous weapons systems with partners from @stopkillerrobots.bsky.social - states have the opportunity to draw legal red lines around emerging weapons systems. Will they? New @hrw.org dispatch with @abacci.bsky.social www.hrw.org/news/2026/03...

US Military’s Dangerous Slide Toward Fully Autonomous Killing

The United States Department of Defense’s decision on February 27 to reject the artificial intelligence company Anthropic’s ethical red lines for AI for military use is a clear sign that the Pentagon ...

hrw.org

"This ruling is an important moment of accountability against the executives of companies that develop and sell dangerous surveillance technology. Now the Greek judiciary needs to hold state officials accountable for ordering its use." - @evacosse.bsky.social & @notzachcampbell.bsky.social

Greek Court Finds Spyware Executives Guilty

An Athens court in a landmark ruling on February 26 delivered the first convictions in Greece’s “Predatorgate” scandal.

hrw.org

“Allowing masked, unidentified agents to roam communities & apprehend people w/out identifying themselves erodes trust in the rule of law & creates a dangerous vacuum where abuses can flourish, exacerbating the brutality of the arrests.” @belkiswille.bsky.social @hrw.org www.hrw.org/news/2025/12...

US: Masked Federal Agents Undermine Rule of Law

United States federal immigration enforcement agents now commonly operate masked and without visible identification, compounding the abusive and unaccountable nature of the Trump administration’s mass...

hrw.org

Curious what other dystopian tech European Union R&D money is funding? There's a data platform for this: opensecuritydata.eu It's got receipts on EU funding for phone hacking tools, attempts to break encryption with quantum computing (lol), swarming border drones and, unfortunately, lots more.

Follow the Money EU@ftm.eu · 11mo ago

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗰𝘁𝘀 𝗔𝗻𝗸𝗮𝗿𝗮, 𝗕𝗲𝗶𝗷𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗕𝗿𝘂𝘀𝘀𝗲𝗹𝘀? EU research money, a Chinese firm and Turkish surveillance tech. A company part-owned by China’s ZTE still gets EU funding – while its servers help Turkey monitor protesters. 💶 How did EU money end up funding repression? Read more:

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗰𝘁𝘀 𝗔𝗻𝗸𝗮𝗿𝗮, 𝗕𝗲𝗶𝗷𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗕𝗿𝘂𝘀𝘀𝗲𝗹𝘀? EU research money, a Chinese firm and Turkish surveillance tech. A company part-owned by China’s ZTE still gets EU funding – while its servers help Turkey monitor protesters. 💶 How did EU money end up funding repression? Read more:

Turkey ramps up surveillance of its citizens – with a hand from Brussels

A Turkish firm which has been backed by EU research funds is supplying facial recognition equipment to Ankara. The company’s controlling shareholder is Chinese tech giant ZTE, classified by Brussels a...

ftm.eu

Researchers pointed a satellite dish at the sky for 3 years and monitored what unencrypted data it picked up. The results were shocking: They obtained thousands of T-Mobile users' phone calls and texts, military and law enforcement secrets, much more: www.wired.com/story/satell... 🧵👇

Satellites Are Leaking the World’s Secrets: Calls, Texts, Military and Corporate Data

With just $800 in basic equipment, researchers found a stunning variety of data—including thousands of T-Mobile users’ calls and texts and even US military communications—sent by satellites unencrypte...

wired.com

Microsoft should suspend business activities that are contributing to grave human rights abuses and international crimes by the Israeli military and other Israeli government bodies. There is no time to delay.

Israel/Palestine: Microsoft Should Avoid Contributing to Rights Abuses

Microsoft should suspend business activities that are contributing to grave human rights abuses and international crimes by the Israeli military and other Israeli government bodies, Human Rights Watch...

hrw.org

A federal agent used a local cop's password for Flock to do an immigration-related search without his knowledge. Illegal in Illinois and at the very least a Flock terms of service violation. Of course they're all just joking about it though: www.404media.co/feds-used-lo...

Feds Used Local Cop's Password to Do Immigration Surveillance With Flock Cameras

A DEA agent used a local cop's password "for federal investigations in late January 2025 without [the cop's] knowledge of said use."

404media.co

The UK gov plans to experiment with facial age estimation tech on vulnerable young people. But refugee children need care, not algorithms. This tech isn't the solution - instead, it creates new potentially life-changing risks, as @techchildrights.bsky.social and I write. www.hrw.org/news/2025/07...

UK Plans AI Experiment on Children Seeking Asylum

The United Kingdom’s announcement on July 22 that it would use AI face-scanning technology to evaluate whether an asylum seeker is under age 18 threatens to harm children seeking refuge.

hrw.org

Stand by this: www.politico.com/newsletters/...

NEW: Spyware maker Paragon says its $2M contract with ICE is still inactive, so the company hasn’t provided its surveillance tech to the agency. If the U.S. govt approves it, Paragon will face the dilemma of whether to work with an agency that’s very different from 2024, when contract was signed.

Can an ‘ethical’ spyware maker justify providing its tech to ICE? | TechCrunch

Analysis: In calling itself an ethical spyware vendor, Paragon has opened itself up to scrutiny of its government customers.

techcrunch.com

Here is how #Frontex unlawfully shared thousands of people’s personal data with #Europol Investigation conducted by Solomon, the French newspaper Le Monde, the Spanish newspaper El País, and the German outlet Netzpolitik. wearesolomon.com/mag/format/i...

Frontex unlawfully shared thousands of people's personal data with Europol

Under the banner of fighting migrant smuggling, Frontex has collected, and unlawfully siphoned to Europol, personal data for years—quietly drawing thousands of migrants, as well as EU citizens aiding ...

wearesolomon.com

The CEO of Flock wrote a blog about our "recent clickbait-driven reporting and social media rumors that mischaracterize Flock’s LPR devices" then proceeded to explain how our reporting directly resulted in extensive changes to how police are allowed to use Flock www.404media.co/flock-remove...

Flock Removes States From National Lookup Tool After ICE and Abortion Searches Revealed

Following 404 Media’s reporting and in light of new legislation, automatic license plate reader (ALPR) company Flock has stopped agencies reaching into cameras in California, Illinois, and Virginia.

404media.co

A must-read report form @dmehro.bsky.social that @wired.com made free to read because it is based on government documents (it's their policy to make FOIA-based reporting free as well). Thank you for making important journalism based on public records available to all.

WIRED@wired.com · last yr.

At the start of the year, WIRED made a commitment to stop paywalling articles primarily based on public records obtained through the Freedom of Information Act @freedom.press. This includes this critical piece here. The US Is storing migrant children’s DNA in a criminal database:

New from 404 Media: ICE is tapping into a nationwide AI camera network, data we got shows. Flock's automatic license plate readers (ALPRs) in thousands of communities. Data shows "ICE", "immigration" as reasons for use. Local cops doing lookups for ICE, no warrant www.404media.co/ice-taps-int...

ICE Taps into Nationwide AI-Enabled Camera Network, Data Shows

Flock's automatic license plate reader (ALPR) cameras are in more than 5,000 communities around the U.S. Local police are doing lookups in the nationwide system for ICE.

404media.co

This week, news emerged that UK police have been issued guidance on investigating unexpected pregnancy loss that includes seizing digital devices, checking internet searches and health apps, such as menstrual cycle and fertility trackers. observer.co.uk/news/nationa...

My latest on the clean OPSEC saga: TeleMessage customers include DC Police, Andreesen Horowitz, JP Morgan, and hundreds more micahflee.com/telemessage-...

TeleMessage customers include DC Police, Andreesen Horowitz, JP Morgan, and hundreds more

I've been digging through the 410 GB of Java heap dumps from TeleMessage's archive server, provided by DDoSecrets. Here's a description of the dataset, some of my initial findings, details about an up...

micahflee.com

SCOOP: In Feb, federal agencies "lost" many #FOIA requests but you probably had no idea. It turns out that the FOIAs disappeared due to an "insider threat attack" by 2 employees at a software company who were previously convicted of hacking into the State Dept 🧵 🎁 www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Probe Found Security Lapses Led to US Contractor’s Data Breach

Failures in cybersecurity practices at a software company that helps federal agencies manage investigations and FOIA requests allowed two convicted hackers to delete databases, according to internal d...

bloomberg.com