Η police around the world is receiving special training from a well-known European Union agency on how best to track iPhones and Apple devices in general, according to documents was released Privacy International.
The files reveal that CEPOL, an EU law enforcement agency, instructed officers around the world, from Europe to Africa, on how to use malicious software and other tools. These tools can be used to access citizens' phones and monitor social networks. In some cases, the training was funded by EU funds and went to countries with a history of human rights abuses, as reported by Privacy International.
Furious about the previous secret surveillance initiatives, not her protection of people from it, Privacy International and other human rights organizations are calling for immediate reform, demanding that money earmarked for hacking training be diverted to more altruistic programs.
The revelations came days after the European Parliament announced plans to curb exports of espionage tools that could be used for human rights abuses.
European Parliament MEP Markéta Gregorová, who helped set up EU reforms covering surveillance tool exports, told Forbes:
"We just made it a lot more difficult export of cyber surveillance tools and it is unacceptable that our own law enforcement agencies train dictators to spy on their people and even recommend surveillance software. This is unacceptable and incompatible with our values and actions for reform. "