Updates

EPIC, Coalition Offer Recommendations to Strengthen Surveillance Technology Export Regulations

October 18, 2024

EPIC joined several other organizations in comments on the U.S. Commerce Department’s proposed rule to strengthen surveillance technology export regulations. The proposed rule would help limit the proliferation of surveillance technologies “used in the facilitation of human rights violations and/or abuses.” As the coalition noted, human rights violations “close democratic space, harm the ability of human rights defenders and journalists to do their work, and undermine U.S. national security and foreign policy objectives.”

The coalition commended the Commerce Department for the proposed rule but also offered specific recommendations to improve the rule. For example, the coalition praised the inclusion of facial recognition technology in the proposed rule but recommended a broader export control of remote biometric identification. The coalition also called for greater export transparency to further facilitate the prevention of human rights violations.

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