--- title: Researchers Find Spyware in 32 Countries description: How little nations are using spyware, the lack of leadership at the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division and more. canonical: https://time.com/4078236/spyware-smaller-nations/ author: TIME article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-10-19T16:05:37.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T05:01:13.579Z article:section: Ideas og:title: Researchers Find Spyware in 32 Countries og:description: These are today's best ideas. og:url: https://time.com/4078236/spyware-smaller-nations/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Researchers Find Spyware in 32 Countries twitter:description: These are today's best ideas. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Researchers Find Spyware in 32 Countries by [The Aspen Institute](https://time.com/author/the-aspen-institute/) ## The Aspen Institute Oct 19, 2015 4:05 PM UTC by [The Aspen Institute](https://time.com/author/the-aspen-institute/) ## The Aspen Institute Oct 19, 2015 4:05 PM UTC **1\.** [**Spyware isn’t just for big nations. Smaller countries are snooping on their own people.**](http://motherboard.vice.com/read/researchers-find-impossible-to-trace-spyware-in-32-countries) By Lorenzo Francheschi-Bicchierai in Motherboard **2\.** [**Why isn’t anyone in charge of the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division?**](http://blogs.reuters.com/great-debate/2015/10/18/why-hasnt-this-key-government-post-been-filled/) By William Yeomans at Reuters **3\.** [**If you give DNA to Ancestry.com, police could link it to a crime.**](http://fusion.net/story/215204/law-enforcement-agencies-are-asking-ancestry-com-and-23andme-for-their-customers-dna/) By Kashmir Hill in Fusion **4\.** [**Here’s how tech can help the blind get active.**](http://www.technologyreview.com/news/542426/fitness-technology-that-helps-the-blind-get-moving/) By Christina Couch in MIT Technology Review **5\.** [**The key to an affordable electric car might be ditching the steering wheel.**](http://www.wired.com/2015/10/arcimoto/) By Klint Finley in Wired  [_The Aspen Institute_](http://www.aspeninstitute.org/) _is an educational and policy studies organization based in Washington, D.C._ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4078236/spyware-smaller-nations/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4078236/spyware-smaller-nations/"},"headline":"Researchers Find Spyware in 32 Countries","datePublished":"2015-10-19T16:05:37.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T05:01:13.579Z","description":"These are today's best ideas","url":"https://time.com/4078236/spyware-smaller-nations/","keywords":["Innovation","DNA","Drones","Civil Rights","Spying","electric car"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"The Aspen Institute","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/the-aspen-institute/"}],"articleSection":"Ideas","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/ideas/","name":"Ideas"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/innovation/","name":"Innovation"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4078236/spyware-smaller-nations/","name":"Researchers Find Spyware in 32 Countries"}}]}] ```