Citing “mounting evidence” that spyware has been used for illegitimate purposes by several Council of Europe member states, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) has urged five governments to provide information on their use of such spyware within three months, and fully investigate all cases of abuse. Approving a resolution on Pegasus and similar spyware and secret state surveillance, the Assembly urged Poland, Hungary, Greece, Spain and Azerbaijan to promptly and fully investigate all cases of abuse of spyware, sanction any they find, and provide redress to victims. The resolution, based on a report by Pieter Omtzigt (Netherlands, EPP/CD), also called on other member states which seem to have acquired or used Pegasus – including Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands – to clarify their use of it, and the mechanisms in place to oversee it, within three months. The Assembly said secret surveillance of political opponents, public officials, journalists, human rights defenders and civil society for purposes other than those listed in the European Convention on Human Rights, such as preventing crime or protecting national security, would be a clear violation of the Convention.

An investigative report examining Pegasus spyware and its impacts on human rights has been launched by the Council of Europe in June 2022 on the occasion of the summer session of the Parliamentary Assembly. The report  describes the Pegasus spyware and analyses its potential impact on human rights and fundamental freedoms, in particular the right to privacy and freedom of expression, but also on the right to dignity, freedom of assembly, freedom of religion, and even the physical and psychological integrity of an individual. The report,  prepared by the Information Society Department with well-known Data Protection experts including from the Committee of Convention 108, focuses on the legal instruments and well-established standards of the Council of Europe to uphold fundamental rights and ensure stronger protections against mass or targeted unlawful and unjustified surveillance. It also provides the basic rules of thumb for better protection for individuals.