Commerce Imposes Limits on Promotion of Surveillance Tech

Senate Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden (D-Ore) praised the Commerce Department for putting in place new policies to prevent the promotion of US surveillance technology to foreign governments in response to his request earlier this year.

“I appreciate the Commerce Department's thoughtful response to my inquiry,” the senator said in a statement.

“For the first time the Department is making clear that the United States will not help companies find foreign markets for products or services that undermine democracy or enable repressive surveillance and discrimination. While I remain concerned about the US government’s prior promotion of these technologies, I look forward to monitoring the implementation of these new policies and ensuring they are followed in practice.”

In May, Sen. Wyden sent a letter calling on Commerce’s International Trade Administration to answer questions about its promotion of dangerous surveillance technology in foreign markets, and explain what steps it is taking to prevent such technology sales from harming human rights.

In its letter to the senator, ITA said it has revised its Global Markets Client Eligibility Policy to include a detailed Human Rights Addendum.

 

Under this new policy, ITA staff will determine whether providing export assistance would raise significant human rights concerns.  If human rights concerns are found, ITA will decline export promotion, advocacy and commercial diplomacy assistance.  ITA also reported that it has briefed regional staff on the Addendum and the service eligibility determination process.

The agency said it also is utilizing the State Department’s Foreign Service Institute content for a “Rule of Law, Corporate Governance, and Human Rights” training module. This training is mandatory for all ITA’s Foreign Commercial Service Officers and has been made available to all ITA staff.

This training module details the impact of human rights and corporate social responsibility on US economic and social interests. It emphasizes that human rights and corporate social responsibility encompass more than a US company abiding by international human rights.

“We agree with you that it is in the interest of the United States to avoid promoting the export of these technologies to foreign governments or foreign government-contracted entities with the potential for misuse to commit human rights violations,” ITA said.

[Wyden Release]