Skip to main content ●About ●Contact ●Press ●People ●Opportunities ●EFF's 35th Anniversary ●Issues ●Free Speech ●Privacy ●Creativity and Innovation ●Transparency ●International ●Security ●Our Work ●Deeplinks Blog ●Press Releases ●Events ●Legal Cases ●Whitepapers ●Podcast ●Annual Reports ●Take Action ●Action Center ●Electronic Frontier Alliance ●Volunteer ●Tools ●Privacy Badger ●Surveillance Self-Defense ●Certbot ●Atlas of Surveillance ●Cover Your Tracks ●Street Level Surveillance ●apkeep ●Donate ●Donate to EFF ●Giving Societies ●Shop ●Sponsorships ●Other Ways to Give ●Membership FAQ ●Donate ●Donate to EFF ●Shop ●Other Ways to Give

Email updates on news, actions, and events in your area. Join EFF Lists ●Copyright (CC BY) ●Trademark ●Privacy Policy ●Thanks Electronic Frontier Foundation Donate Electronic Frontier Foundation ●About ●Contact ●Press ●People ●Opportunities ●EFF's 35th Anniversary ●Issues ●Free Speech ●Privacy ●Creativity and Innovation ●Transparency ●International ●Security ●Our Work ●Deeplinks Blog ●Press Releases ●Events ●Legal Cases ●Whitepapers ●Podcast ●Annual Reports ●Take Action ●Action Center ●Electronic Frontier Alliance ●Volunteer ●Tools ●Privacy Badger ●Surveillance Self-Defense ●Certbot ●Atlas of Surveillance ●Cover Your Tracks ●Street Level Surveillance ●apkeep ●Donate ●Donate to EFF ●Giving Societies ●Shop ●Sponsorships ●Other Ways to Give ●Membership FAQ ●Donate ●Donate to EFF ●Shop ●Other Ways to Give

Surveillance Technologies

For years, there’s been ample evidence that authoritarian governments around the world are relying on technology produced by American, Canadian, and European companies to facilitate human rights abuses. From software that enables the filtering and blocking of online content to tools that help governments spy on their citizens, many such companies are actively serving autocratic governments as "repression’s little helper." The reach of these technologies is astonishingly broad: governments can listen in on cell phone calls, use voice recognition to scan mobile networks, read emails and text messages, censor web pages, track a citizen’s every movement using GPS, and can even change email contents while en route to a recipient. Some tools are installed using the same type of malicious malware and spyware used by online criminals to steal credit card and banking information. They can secretly turn on webcams built into personal laptops and microphones in cell phones not being used. And all of this information is filtered and organized on such a massive scale that it can be used to spy on every person in an entire country. This is a phenomenon that spans the globe and implicates dozens of corporations. Over the past year, and partly in response to the uprisings that have swept the Arab world, concerns about these exports have been amplified in media reports and by digital rights organizations, sparking a debate as to the appropriate course of action. For example, Narus, a Boeing subsidiary, was revealed to have sold to Egypt sophisticated equipment used for surveillance. California’s BlueCoat Systems, Inc was found to have equipment being used in Syria. Germany-based Trovicor has sold technology to a dozen Middle Eastern and North African countries, including Bahrain, dozens of activists were tortured before and after being shown transcripts of their text messages and phone conversations captured from this technology. Cisco Systems is facing litigation in both Maryland and California based on its alleged sales of surveillance equipment to the Chinese to track, monitor and otherwise facilitate the arrest, detention, or disappearance of human rights activists and religious minorities who have been subjected to gross human rights violations. EFF has issued a petition calling on Cisco to stop aiding China's human rights abuses. The Electronic Frontier Foundation believes that it's time for Western governments to investigate companies that have allegedly assisted in human rights violations, and the technology companies selling mass surveillance equipment must step up and ensure that they aren’t assisting foreign governments in committing human rights violations against their own people. EFF has proposed the EU and US governments adopt robust "Know Your Customer" standards. A blueprint of our proposed standards, including detailed definitions and implantation guidelines, is available here. See also: ●EFF's Surveillance Self-Defense International project ●Bloomberg’s Wired For Repression investigative series ●The Wall Street Journal’s Censorship Inc. investigative series ●WikiLeaks’ SpyFiles ●Privacy International’s Surveillance Who’s Who project

Protect digital privacy and free expression. EFF's public interest legal work, activism, and software development preserve fundamental rights. Protect digital privacy and free expression. EFF's public interest legal work, activism, and software development preserve fundamental rights. DONATE TO EFF

EFF Related Content: Surveillance Technologies

An illustration of patrol car with a Texas flag scanning a yellow car.

Deeplinks Blog byDave Maass, Rindala Alajaji | October 7, 2025

Flock Safety and Texas Sheriff Claimed License Plate Search Was for a Missing Person. It Was an Abortion Investigation.

New documents and court records obtained by EFF show that Texas deputies queried Flock Safety's surveillance data in an abortion investigation, contradicting the narrative promoted by the company and the Johnson County Sheriff that she was “being searched for as a missing person,” and that “it was about her safety.”... ●Read more about Flock Safety and Texas Sheriff Claimed License Plate Search Was for a Missing Person. It Was an Abortion Investigation.

Deeplinks Blog byJennifer Lynch | September 29, 2025

EFF Urges Virginia Court of Appeals to Require Search Warrants to Access ALPR Databases

This post was co-authored by EFF legal intern Olivia Miller.For most Americans—driving is a part of everyday life. Practically speaking, many of us drive to work, school, play, and anywhere in between. Not only do we visit places that give insights into our personal lives, but we sometimes use vehicles... ●Read more about EFF Urges Virginia Court of Appeals to Require Search Warrants to Access ALPR Databases

Deeplinks Blog byJennifer Pinsof | September 18, 2025

EFF, ACLU to SFPD: Stop Illegally Sharing Data With ICE and Anti-Abortion States

The San Francisco Police Department is the latest California law enforcement agency to get caught sharing automated license plate reader (ALPR) data with out-of-state and federal agencies. EFF and the ACLU of Northern California are calling them out for this direct violation of California law, which has put every driver... ●Read more about EFF, ACLU to SFPD: Stop Illegally Sharing Data With ICE and Anti-Abortion States

Deeplinks Blog byRindala Alajaji | May 30, 2025

She Got an Abortion. So A Texas Cop Used 83,000 Cameras to Track Her Down.

We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again: Lawmakers who support reproductive rights must recognize that abortion access and mass surveillance are incompatible. The systems built to track stolen cars and issue parking tickets have become tools to enforce the most personal and politically charged laws in the country. ●Read more about She Got an Abortion. So A Texas Cop Used 83,000 Cameras to Track Her Down.

Deeplinks Blog byBetty Gedlu, Cindy Cohn | December 2, 2024

Amazon and Google Must Keep Their Promises on Project Nimbus

When a company makes a promise, the public should be able to rely on it. Today, nearly every person in the U.S. is a customer of either Amazon or Google—and many of us are customers of both technology giants. Both of these companies have made public ... ●Read more about Amazon and Google Must Keep Their Promises on Project Nimbus

Pages

●1 ●2 ●3 ●4 ●5 ●6 ●7 ●8 ●9 ●… ●next ﹀ ●last » Back to top

Follow EFF:

●mastodon ●facebook ●instagram ●x ●Blue Sky ●youtube ●flicker ●linkedin ●tiktok ●threads Check out our 4-star rating on Charity Navigator.

Contact

●General ●Legal ●Security ●Membership ●Press

About

●Calendar ●Volunteer ●Victories ●History ●Internships ●Jobs ●Staff ●Diversity & Inclusion

Issues

●Free Speech ●Privacy ●Creativity & Innovation ●Transparency ●International ●Security

Updates

●Blog ●Press Releases ●Events ●Legal Cases ●Whitepapers ●EFFector Newsletter

Press

●Press Contact

Donate

●Join or Renew Membership Online ●One-Time Donation Online ●Giving Societies ●Corporate Giving and Sponsorship ●Shop ●Other Ways to Give ●Copyright (CC BY) ●Trademark ●Privacy Policy ●Thanks