The European Union on Monday agreed to tighten up rules for the sale and export of cyber-surveillance technology.
EU lawmakers and the European Council reached a provisional deal to update controls of so-called dual-use goods such as facial recognition technology and spyware to prevent them from being used to violate human rights.
Under the new rules, European companies will have to apply for government licenses to export certain products and they'll have to meet criteria that have been beefed up to include requirements to consider whether the sale poses a risk to human rights.
EU countries will also have to be more transparent by publicly disclosing details about the export licenses they grant. And the rules can also be swiftly changed to cover emerging technologies.
Dual-use technology could also include high-performance computers, drones and certain chemicals.
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Meh. Saudi Arabia is under a German arms embargo and yet still manages to buy German arms. The sellers of surveillance tech will find ways to circumvent these new rules.