US Courts to Start Publishing Spyware Use Statistics

A Long-Awaited Transparency Measure

The US judiciary will soon start publishing data on the frequency of wiretaps using hacking tools and spyware, a move long advocated for by privacy advocates. This new transparency measure is expected to provide valuable insights into the extent of government surveillance in the country.

The Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts will begin tracking the use of spyware in the 2028 Wiretap Report, which will be published in 2029. This change comes after years of calls from lawmakers and privacy experts for greater transparency in government surveillance.

The Wiretap Report will now include a new category for "spyware/hacking" surveillance, which will detail the number of times judges authorized the use of wiretaps using these techniques. However, it's worth noting that this statistic will only reveal instances of wiretaps, and not instances of remote hacking into devices.

The move is a significant step forward for transparency and accountability in government surveillance. As Eva Galperin, the director of cybersecurity at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, noted, "Up until now, we have only been able to guess at the size of the problem." The new data will help hold the US government accountable for its use of spyware and provide a more complete picture of the scope of government surveillance.

Other countries, such as Italy, have already implemented similar transparency measures. For example, in 2023, spyware was used against 4,321 targets in Italy, according to publicly available data.

The change is also welcomed by lawmakers, with Democratic senator Ron Wyden stating, "The American people remain largely in the dark about the different ways that the government is spying on them." Wyden has been a long-time advocate for greater transparency in government surveillance and has called for the publication of data on hacking and spyware use.

The new transparency measure is expected to lead to better-informed policy and law around government surveillance. As Brett Max Kaufman, a senior counsel in the American Civil Liberties Union's Center for Democracy, noted, "This is an important and long-overdue step forward for transparency around government hacking and should lead to better-informed policy and law around these issues going forward."

• The new Wiretap Report will include a new category for "spyware/hacking" surveillance.
• The data will only reveal instances of wiretaps, and not instances of remote hacking into devices.
• The move is a significant step forward for transparency and accountability in government surveillance.
• Other countries, such as Italy, have already implemented similar transparency measures.
• The change is welcomed by lawmakers, including Democratic senator Ron Wyden, who has been a long-time advocate for greater transparency in government surveillance.
• The new transparency measure is expected to lead to better-informed policy and law around government surveillance.