Intrusive Surveillance Technologies Next On The Agenda For The EDPS

In an Opinion and press release issued 15 December 2015, the European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS), Giovanni Buttarelli, urged caution over the trade and use of covert monitoring technologies. The Opinion focussed on those surveillance tools which are designed, marketed and sold for mass surveillance, intrusion and exfiltration. It warned that more needs to be done to address how the market for surveillance technologies is monitored and the safeguards in place; otherwise the Digital Single Market will not be able to succeed.

Concerns over surveillance technologies relate to the potential they have for human rights abuses through their 'dual' use. It is widely accepted that surveillance technologies can be used as legitimate instruments by law enforcement authorities; however, they can also be used to circumvent security measures in electronic communications and data processing. This tension may be considered a challenge to an individual's fundamental rights; for