Lawmakers say EU isn't tackling phone surveillance scandal - ABC News

BRUSSELS -- The European Parliament's enquiry committee investigating the usage of surveillance spyware by the bloc's governments said Tuesday the EU's enforcement limb and subordinate countries are failing to decently tackle a surveillance ungraded that has targeted absorption politicians and journalists.

In a draught study published Tuesday, the committee investigating Pegasus said the European Council and nationalist governments "are practicing omertà" — oregon a codification of soundlessness — and regretted that the European Commission lone shared “reluctantly and piecemeal" accusation concerning spyware attacks connected its ain employees.

A spokesperson for the Commission responded that immoderate effort from nationalist information services to illegally entree information of citizens “is unacceptable" and insisted it has already started taking enactment to support journalists from the usage of spyware.

The Parliament committee has been investigating the usage by governments of Israel’s Pegasus spyware and different invasive surveillance tools, viewing specified exertion arsenic a menace to ideology successful the 27-nation bloc.

Pegasus was developed by Israel’s NSO Group and is designed to breach mobile phones and extract immense amounts of accusation from them, including substance messages, passwords, locations and microphone and camera recordings.

The institution markets the exertion arsenic a instrumentality to people criminals, but galore cases person been discovered worldwide of governments utilizing it against dissidents, journalists and governmental opponents.

According to EU lawmakers, the NSO Group has sold its products successful astatine slightest 14 EU countries.

“In astatine slightest 4 subordinate states, Poland, Hungary, Greece, and Spain, determination has been illegitimate usage of spyware, and determination are suspicions astir its usage successful Cyprus," they said, adding that Cyprus and Bulgaria service arsenic the export hub for spyware.

“Member State governments person mostly declined the invitation to cooperate with the PEGA committee," lawmakers said. “Some governments downright refused to cooperate, others were affable and polite but did not truly stock meaningful information. Even a elemental questionnaire sent to each subordinate states astir the details of their nationalist ineligible model for the usage of spyware, has hardly received immoderate important answers."

The committee besides deplored that Europol, the EU's transgression agency, did not commencement an probe into the matter.

“Only aft being pressed by the European Parliament, it addressed a missive to 5 Member States, asking if a constabulary enquiry had started, and if they could beryllium of assistance," lawmakers said successful their draught report.

Following debates with governmental groups from the Parliament and the imaginable summation of amendments, a ballot connected the committee's last findings volition beryllium held adjacent year.