In a recent executive order, President Joe Biden has taken a stand against the purchase and use of certain types of spyware that have been employed by governments around the world to monitor and surveil their own populations.
The US President’s new rule, “Prohibiting the Purchase and Use of Certain Spyware Technology”, was issued on March 3rd and bans US government agencies from buying, helping to build, or transferring to a foreign government any kind of spyware technology that could be used to track and harm human rights activists, journalists and other innocent citizens in the target country.
The executive order covers software and devices used to track a person’s physical location, digital activity, or communication without their knowledge. It also bans U.S. use of certain technologies similar to those developed by the malicious exploit vendor Hacking Team that exploited Apple’s “Secure Enclave” chip in order to allow spyware to circumvent security measures.
Additionally, the order requires the Director of National Intelligence to disclose how the US gathers, stores, uses and shares information obtained through spyware and other foreign intelligence sources.
This executive order has been applauded by privacy and human rights activists, as well as by cybersecurity experts across the world. The rule marks the Biden administration’s commitment to protecting the civil liberties and privacy of the citizens that it protects. It is also the latest in a series of executive orders issued by the Biden administration, focused on rectifying some of the most controversial surveillance practices implemented during the Trump era.
Although some argue that the rule’s definition of what constitutes “spyware” is overly broad, many experts have praised the order for setting a new, necessary standard for US cybersecurity. By banning the US from buying and using other countries’ spyware technologies, the Biden administration is sending a message to other governments and organizations that they should not use these tools against American citizens, or anyone else, in the future.