The Council of Europe’s and the European Union’s Attitude Towards Using Pegasus and Similar Spyware and Secret Surveillance in the Members’ States

Public opinion was outraged by information that Pegasus technology, intended to combat terrorism and organized crime, was also used to combat the opposition, surveil political opponents, and influence the outcome of elections in some member states of the Council of Europe and the European Union. These organizations have undertaken studies of these situations and have formulated a number of recommendations to Member States, including Poland. The author analyzed these documents and suggests that even if they are only the so-called “soft law”, the dispositions contained therein should be consistently implemented in accordance with the values of democracy, the rule of law and the protection of human rights. Full implementation of these recommendations by Poland is necessary to improve its image among democratic European countries.