Private Interessen: Überwachungstechnologien in Zentralasien enttarnt, von den üblichen westlichen Firmen

Privacy International hat „weit verbreitete“ Überwachungstechnologien in Zentralasien gefunden und analysiert:

Through the course of the investigation, Privacy International uncovered nearly 100 sensitive documents, including government contracts and technical details of the surveillance equipment, which describe in detail the relationship between governments and industry acting as re-sellers and distributors facilitating widespread surveillance across the region.

It also highlights the role of some of the world’s largest multinational communications services providers who grant direct access to government agencies with little to no knowledge about how their networks are being used. Similarly, it points out how large telecommunications equipment manufacturers have been adapting their hardware in order to facilitate government surveillance.

Central Asia serves as a unique backdrop to the examination of the surveillance technology industry: it consists of some of the most authoritarian systems of governance in the world with repressive state authorities increasingly keen to clamp down on internet and telecommunications freedoms. Indeed, the report finds serious deficiencies with the legal framework governing surveillance in the region. Despite massive human rights issues within all of the countries, there are currently few trade restrictions stopping companies from empowering these state authorities with surveillance technology.

Der 96-seitige Bericht als PDF: Private Interests: Monitoring Central Asia.

Und wieder sind drei deutsche Firmen dabei:

Germany-based companies Trovicor and Utimaco, and a number of Russian companies, have also marketed monitoring centres to governments in the region.

As first identified by Toronto-based Citizen Lab, invasive software used to hijack devices, manufactured by Italy-based company Hacking Team and UK/Germany-based company Gamma, appear to be in use in Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan respectively.