European Parliament debates “Pegasus” spyware – MEP Dr. Patrick Breyer: “Give Cybersecurity priority over surveillance and corporate interests!”
Today, MEPs at the European Parliament in Strasbourg discussed the scandal surrounding “Pegasus”, a spyware program developed in Israel. Sadly, Pegasus is not the only commercial spyware on the market, and many companies who develop such software are based in Germany. Speaking out about the scandal, MEP Patrick Breyer said:
“Mrs President, we all want to keep our messages and photos safe from hackers and prying eyes, but our Governments and Europol prefer to make use of dangerous security vulnerabilities to spy on citizens, rather than having them fixed.
The purchase of exploits and of spyware contributes to funding organised crime.
You are also attacking the protection of our electronic communications in the ePrivacy reform.
And what has the Commission done about this? Rather than holding manufacturers to account for the security vulnerabilities in their products, and keeping us all safe, they have proposed we introduce mass surveillance and more security vulnerabilities by breaking encryption technology in the name of the fight against child pornography – Unbelievable!
European Citizen’s demand you finally put the safety of our mobile phones and personal information above your appetite for surveillance and above corporate interests.”
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