Thread by @BigBrotherWatch

🚨Major leak reveals private spyware used to hack journalists, activists + politicians around the world - even w possible links to assassinations.

"Nothing to hide, nothing to fear"? Think again.

#PegasusProject

@AmnestyTech @FbdnStories @citizenlab 👏

theguardian.com/world/2021/jul…

Whilst these revelations are expected to concern foreign governments, it is important to understand this in the context of our own surveillance.

In recent years, the UK has acquired totalitarian-style surveillance powers under the guise of counter-terrorism - including hacking.

UK surveillance is arguably the most expansive system of any democracy in history. Safeguards are threadbare. The state has the power to hack devices of any individual, group, or even a nation. There is no requirement for reasonable suspicion of a criminal offence.

There is a huge market for hacking tools - and the UK has no moral authority on the issue.

An immediate moratorium on the sale & export of privately developed surveillance software, pending the development of a human rights compliant regime (see @davidakaye ) would be a start -

but it's not enough. Our democracy has failed to respect the right to privacy, recognise the dangers of extreme surveillance, or pay caution to the international precedents it sets. Only 69 MPs voted against the Investigatory Powers Act in 2016.

We need a political shift - that's what we're working towards and what we hope #PegasusProject does.

Want to know more about #Pegasus phone hacking?

We contributed to this documentary by @AJEnglish @AJListeningPost ⬇️

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