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State Department Guidance on Products or Services With Surveillance Capabilities


Added by:   National contact point
Added on:   09 Jul 2025
Updated by:   OECD analyst
Updated on:   25 Dec 2025

This guidance is a tool intended to provide practical and accessible human rights guidance to U.S. businesses seeking to prevent their products or services with surveillance capabilities from being misused by government end-users to commit human rights abuses.

Name in original language

State Department Guidance on Products or Services With Surveillance Capabilities

Initiative overview

The initiative has the following objective(s):It is meant to be an easy-to-use roadmap in line with the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and the OECD Guidelines for assessing the human rights impacts of relevant products or services, and evaluating a series of considerations before engaging in transactions with governments. The guidance also recommends human rights safeguards if a U.S. business considers proceeding with a transaction, such as developing a grievance mechanism and publicly reporting on sales practices.

Name of responsible organisation (in English)

Department of State (DOS)

About the policy initiative


Organisation:

  • Department of State (DOS)

Category:

  • Regulations, guidelines and standards

Initiative type:

  • Guidance document (instructions on how to implement a law, regulation, policy or other rule)

Status:

  • Active

Start Year:

  • 2020

Binding:

  • Non-binding

Other relevant urls: