Revelations about the CIA’s use of hacking tools by anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks show the risks of mass surveillance and bolster the case for international regulation, the United Nations’ independent expert on privacy said.
WikiLeaks published on Tuesday what it said were thousands of pages of internal Central Intelligence Agency discussions about hacking techniques used over several years.
The CIA, which is the United States’ civilian foreign intelligence service, has declined to comment on the authenticity of the purported intelligence documents. Cyber security experts say the documents appear to be authentic.
Joe Cannataci, the U.N. Special Rapporteur on the right to privacy, a job created in 2015 after Edward Snowden’s revelations about U.S. surveillance, said he was not surprised by the CIA’s capabilities, but that the case highlighted the growing security risks and the need for effective oversight.
The full article is available here.