Misuse of electronic surveillance during international negotiations

Governments hosting international diplomatic events or trade negotiations may endeavour to gain advantage by the use of surveillance, notably against parties without the possibility of using the same methods.

Major summit gatherings are a focus of surveillance activity. Attempts to use them during trade talks to determining what underlies negotiating positions have been reported. The UK made use of such techniques in Lancaster House where negotiations for the independence of many colonial countries was negotiated from the 1960s onwards.