Report: European Union Member States are Exporting Dangerous Surveillance Technology

Author: Ana Budeanu

May 15, 2026

HRRC is encouraged by European Union efforts to establish rules on exporting and licensing surveillance technology. However, we emphasise that policies regarding surveillance technology must be regularly updated to better protect human rights amid ever-changing technologies.

HRW states that the EU should regulate surveillance technology better [Image source: Unsplash]

On May 12, Human Rights Watch (HRW) published a report on the state of surveillance technology in the European Union (EU), which it argues can be used to violate the fundamental rights of citizens due to the lack of regulatory framework in EU laws.

In the report, “Looking the Other Way: EU Failure to Prevent Surveillance Exports to Rights Violators”, HRW found that the EU has inadvertently allowed member states to sell surveillance technology to other non-member states known for using such technology to spy on journalists, activists and government critics.

In analyzing licensing and export of surveillance technology from over half of the 27 Member States of the EU, the report found that the licensing of the surveillance technology had largely been carried out by the national authorities of EU member states, though EU authorities do regulate the export of the most intrusive surveillance technology.

The EU regulates certain types of surveillance technology under a law named the Dual-Use Regulation,  Since 2024, the EU has also issued a recommendation establishing guidelines for how member states should report their export data. Despite this, HRW has found clear evidence that EU Member States have exported surveillance technology to countries such as Azerbaijan and Rwanda which have a strong record of human rights abuses.

New guidelines on licensing and exporting surveillance technology, which would require due diligence into the likelihood of the said technology being used to violate rights of citizens, are one method HRW recommends to curb potential abuse.

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Glossary

• Activist - one who advocates or practices activism: a person who uses or supports strong actions (such as public protests) in support of or opposition to one side of a controversial issue 

• Authority - a governmental agency or corporation to administer a revenue-producing public enterprise 

• Due Diligence - the care that a reasonable person exercises to avoid harm to other persons or their property 

• European Union - economic, scientific, and political organization consisting of Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Germany, Denmark, Greece, Ireland, Spain, Portugal, Austria, Finland, Sweden, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Bulgaria, Romania, and Croatia 

• Export - to carry or send (something, such as a commodity) to some other place (such as another country) 

• Fundamental rights - a right that is considered by a court (as the U.S. Supreme Court) to be explicitly or implicitly expressed in a constitution (as the U.S. Constitution). 

• Licensing - a grant by the holder of a copyright or patent to another of any of the rights embodied in the copyright or patent short of an assignment of all rights 

• Regulatory Framework - making or concerned with making official rules about what is acceptable in a particular business, activity, etc. //in a structured way

• Surveillance - an act or period of watching for signs of activity, danger, or opportunity 

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References

1. https://www.hrw.org/news/2026/05/12/european-union-surveillance-technology-sold-to-rights-violators

2. https://github.com/HumanRightsWatch/EU-surveillance-export-data

3. https://www.hrw.org/video-photos/video/2026/05/12/european-union-fails-to-control-surveillance-exports

4. https://www.hrw.org/report/2026/05/12/looking-the-other-way/eu-failure-to-prevent-surveillance-exports-to-rights

5. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:32021R0821