The German Customs Investigation Bureau (ZKA) searched 15 residential and business premises in Germany and abroad last week with connections to the Munich-based surveillance software firm FinFisher. The firm is suspected of exporting its most important surveillance software, known as FinSpy, to other countries without the correct license.

... Konstantin von Notz, deputy faction leader of the Green Party in the Bundestag, called on Germany's federal government to end its cooperation with the FinFisher. "German and European surveillance and censorship software contribute to massive human rights violations worldwide," Notz told ARD. Germany must "finally end its cooperation with these companies that deliberately circumvent existing controls and continue to export their programs, coded with German tax money, to despots around the world," said Notz.

... In Germany, every export of surveillance software must be approved by the Federal Office of Economic and Export Control. The responsible Federal Ministry of Economics had repeatedly stated that it had not issued any export licenses for surveillance software since 2015.