Biden Acts to Restrict U.S. Government Use of Spyware

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden on Monday signed an executive order restricting U. S. government use of a class of surveillance tools that have been abused by both autocracies and democracies around the world to spy on dissidents, journalists and human rights activists.

The tools in question, known as commercial spyware, give governments the power to hack the mobile phones of private citizens, extracting data and tracking their movements. The global market for their use is booming, and some U.S. government agencies have studied or deployed the technology.

Commercial spyware, including Pegasus, made by the Israeli firm NSO Group, has also been used against American government officials overseas. On Monday, a senior administration official said that at least 50 U.S. government personnel in at least 10 countries had been hacked with spyware, a larger number than was previously known.

The executive order prohibits federal government departments and agencies from using commercial spyware that might be abused by foreign governments, could target Americans overseas or could pose security risks if installed on U.S. government networks.