IGF 2020 WS #278 Updating International Approaches to Spyware Trade

Description:

Many countries have enacted export controls on dual-use technologies, including surveillance and spyware technologies, to regulate their potential harmful use and contribute to the stability and trust in the international system. There are also regional and international regulations and frameworks concerning spyware and dual use, largely focused on export controls, such as the EU Dual-Use Regulation and the Wassenaar Arrangement. The effectiveness of these regimes and frameworks has been repeatedly tested as the use of invasive spyware technologies by authoritarian governments has proliferated, resulting in egregious human rights violations around the world. These violations do not fall equitably, but rather target human rights defenders, journalists, and women and girls specifically. Civil society has been calling for stronger export controls, more accountability and greater transparency from governments and companies to address and prevent these violations in the future. This workshop is aimed at identifying the gaps in existing approaches to spyware trade, the ways in which policy and regulation can contribute towards bridging those gaps, as well as highlighting the roles that different stakeholders can play in these efforts. To that end, we will convene representatives from the UN, EU, civil society, as well as companies, to discuss the national regimes, EU export control regulation, international agreements, as well as efforts by private companies. The gendered impacts of the sub-sector of “stalkerware” and other tools facilitating intimate partner violence will receive particular attention. We will allow 5 minutes for an introduction, 10 minutes for each of the 4 speakers to present and then address questions from the moderator and the audience.