Hacking Team, an Italian surveillance software company, became the subject of global scrutiny after a massive data leak in 2015 revealed its sales to governments worldwide, including regimes with poor human rights records. The leaked documents confirmed that Hacking Team sold surveillance tools to at least 35 countries, including Egypt, Sudan, Saudi Arabia, and Uzbekistan, among others. Many of these governments were reported to have used these tools to spy on dissidents, human rights activists, and journalists, raising concerns about the company's role in human rights violations.

While Hacking Team claimed that its contracts were legal under each country's domestic laws, the sales of these tools likely violated international privacy and human rights standards. International privacy protection laws, such as the United Nations' Universal Declaration of Human Rights, emphasize the right to privacy, and the use of such spyware without robust safeguards or oversight could be considered a breach of these laws. The United Nations and other human rights organizations have called for stricter regulation and moratoriums on the sale of surveillance technology until adequate protections for human rights are ensured.

Furthermore, international standards, such as those outlined by the UN and the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), recommend that companies selling surveillance tools conduct thorough assessments to ensure that their products do not contribute to human rights abuses. In the case of Hacking Team, the lack of transparency and the fact that it sold to regimes with a history of repression suggest that the company may have violated these standards by enabling governments to engage in intrusive surveillance without proper legal or ethical oversight.