Nokia, Afghan National Biometric Programme and Pegasus

A recent story about Nokia pulling out of Russia, while still maintaining it’s surveillance architecture reminded me of the Afghan National Biometric programme. It prompted two line of thinking:

  • Surveillance and privacy erosion which may occur even during periods of democratic promise (during a popular political leader) can, and will be used for autocratic purposes. Any other examples come to mind?
  • The obligations (or, absence of international norms) for transnational companies which operate from democratic countries but engage with autocratic regimes for profit. Here, I was reminded of Pegasus and why additional, international norm development may be specifically required for spyware technologies.

Thoughts?