Amnesty International has come out with a new anti-spyware program 'Detekt' which can detect spying software used by governments to monitor their political opponents and activists. According to the organisation, many governments use sophisticated spying tools that can capture images from webcams and listen in via microphones. These spyware tools can be targeted to trace and track anyone of our movements online which is an invasion of individual privacy.
Their program Detekt has been perfected to spot spying software that sometimes goes undetected. Amnesty explains why is a necessity for every individual on the planet and not just journalists and activists.
"The annual global trade in surveillance technologies is worth around $5 billion and growing--and so Detekt is an important tool which we hope will help increase vigilance about these new threats, ” Tanya O'Carroll, Human Right and Technology Advisor at Amnesty International told dna.
Technology like Detekt is a requirement not just for journalists and activists but for every individual across the globe in this day and age. "It is not only governments using spyware against peaceful activists. Many other forms of malware are widely available on the Internet and can be used to target computers belonging to ordinary citizens, " explains O'Carroll.
According to O'Carroll, citizens would benefit if governments close the loop holes that allows such intrusive technologies and instead commit to bringing ethical international standards in order to protect an individual's privacy.
Detekt was originally created with journalists and activists in mind, in order to protect the work they do. “Sadly, journalists and activists around the world face many grave dangers, including being the targets of government surveillance aimed at preventing them from exposing human rights abuses and carrying out their important day to day work," said O'Carroll.
Amnesty International hopes to see governments around the world, re-evaluate and implement strict trade controls in order to prevent the violation of human rights. Amnesty says new technology like Detek will be developed in the future. “The technologies that allow governments to efficiently and covertly monitor the digital communications of their citizens are continuously improving," according to O'Carroll.
"This is happening across the world and in return, it is vital that civil society groups learn how to protect their digital communications through a range of security tools and strategies," said O'Carroll. "Everybody would benefit if governments were to close the loop holes and bring this trade in line with international standards that protect everybody's right to privacy," she concluded.
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