Governments claim to utilise commercial spyware only for criminal investigations. Still, detractors assert that such spyware has allegedly been used to violate the rights of journalists, human rights activists, attorneys, and political dissidents. Furthermore, it has reportedly been used to attack the US Government and its workers. On 27 March 2023, President Biden issued an Executive Order that broadly forbade executive departments and agencies of the US to serve as a model for governments-both authoritarian and democratic-and to advance a global technology ecosystem protecting America's security, privacy, and human rights.

When the US government determines, based on reliable information, that using commercial spyware creates serious counterintelligence or security threats to the government of the United States or considerable danger of improper use by a foreign country or foreign person, the government is prohibited from using the spyware operationally. The Executive Order may also have an impact on business entities.