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Content Type: Advocacy
Our submission focused on (1) the ways in which states are adopting data-intensive ID systems; (2) the adoption by national immigration enforcement agencies of other privacy-intrusive modes of surveillance and control, including tracking by way of 24/7 Global Positioning System (GPS) technology and mobile device data extraction; (3) how the intensification of border surveillance technologies facilitates further human rights violations; (4) the impact of border externalisation and transfer of…
Content Type: Advocacy
On the 17 January 2023, the UK Home Secretary appointed Lord David Anderson KBE KC to carry out an independent review of the Investigatory Powers Act 2016.The Investigatory Powers Act 2016 provides a legal framework for the use of investigatory powers by the UK security and intelligence agencies, law enforcement and other relevant public bodies. These powers include the interception of communications; the retention and acquisition of communications data and; equipment interference for obtaining…
Content Type: Advocacy
This was submitted by PI and EFF for the sixth session of the Ad Hoc Committee, which is due to consider the text in August 2023.
Our submission covers provisions in the chapters related to procedural measures and law enforcement, as well as international cooperation of the proposed UN Cybercrime treaty (full title: Comprehensive international convention on countering the use of information and communications technologies for criminal purposes). We also provide general comments on Article 54…
Content Type: Advocacy
In June 2023, we made a submission to the Human Rights Committee ahead of its 138th Session in relation to Colombia’s compliance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).
We called on the UN Human Rights Committee to make the following recommendations to Colombia:
The Electoral Law should ensure that the electoral register does not include personal data other than what is required to establish eligibility to vote. The law should define the minimum…
Content Type: Advocacy
Privacy International contributed to the UNSR's report by submitting information on the work we have done as well as our Network of partners as we’ve monitored and responded to developments associated with the use of data and technology in the health care sector by governments and companies.
Content Type: Advocacy
Privacy International (PI) notes the Bureau’s text of the WHO convention, agreement or other international instrument on pandemic prevention, preparedness and response (“WHO CA+”).
PI has sought to closely follow and engage with the discussions leading up to the draft treaty, despite the significant limitations to civil society participation in the process. In February 2023, we intervened during the briefing organised by the INB bureau and published our comments on the zero draft of the WHO CA…
Content Type: Advocacy
Background
In August 2022, Amazon announced that they had entered into a definitive merger agreement to acquire iRobot, a company that specialises in designing and building consumer robots. The transaction was formally notified to the European Commission on 1 June 2023, while the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has already launched an investigation into the transaction since April 2023.
We believe that this acquisition is likely to significantly impede effective competition in and…
Content Type: Advocacy
Privacy International welcomes the aim of the Cyber Resilience Act to bolster cybersecurity rules to ensure more secure hardware and software products. Nevertheless, we note that the proposal put forward by the European Commission contains certain shortcomings which could both hamper innovation and harm consumers who are increasingly relying on digital products and services.
It is essential these shortcomings, detailed below, are effectively addressed by the EU co-legislators through the…
Content Type: Advocacy
This joint submission to the European Commission consultation on security-related information sharing was signed by Border Violence Monitoring Network (BVMN), Statewatch, Euromed Rights, European Digital Rights (EDRi), Access Now, Privacy International (PI), Refugee Law Lab (York University), Homo Digitalis and the Platform for International Cooperation on Undocumented Migrants (PICUM). Signatures were subsequently added from European Network Against Racism (ENAR), Dr Derya Özkul and Dr Niovi…
Content Type: Advocacy
The submission provides PI’s information and analysis of some of the topics listed in the call. The widespread use of new technologies presents both opportunities and challenges for the protection of human rights, including the right to life and the right to privacy. PI believes that is essential that states take a human rights-centered approach in their use of these technologies, and ensure that their use is consistent with international human rights law. By doing so, states can ensure that…
Content Type: Advocacy
Privacy International (PI) welcomes the zero draft of the WHO convention, agreement or other international instrument on pandemic prevention, preparedness and response (“WHO CA+”). PI has sought to closely follow and engage with the discussions leading up to the draft treaty, despite the significant limitations to civil society participation in the process.
PI believes that the zero draft offers a good basis for negotiations. In particular, we welcome the inclusion of a provision on…
Content Type: Advocacy
Privacy International (PI), the European Center for Not-for-Profit Law (ECNL), International Network of Civil Liberties Organizations (INCLO), Agora, the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, Centro de Estudios Legales y Sociales in Argentina, the Irish Council for Civil Liberties, KontraS in Indonesia, the Legal Resources Center in South Africa, and Liberty in the UK welcome the opportunity to provide input to the global study of the UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of…
Content Type: Advocacy
Following our comments on the draft Treaty text, PI's intervention, during the fourth session, focused on the provisions of the draft Treaty that deal with procedural measures and law enforcement. Specifically, we emphasised that the investigative measures contained in the draft Treaty should only be limited to serious offences only that are established by the Treaty. In addition, we urged delegates to remove a provision contained in the draft Treaty text that would allow authorities to exploit…
Content Type: Advocacy
PI welcomes the opportunity to engage once again with the mandate by submitting comments, evidence, and recommendations to the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to health, Ms. Tlaleng Mofokeng. We hope that our input will contribute to the forthcoming report, “Digital innovation, technologies and the right to health”.
Technology has contributed significantly to the planning and delivery of health information, services and care. We have seen the use of data and technology across the healthcare…
Content Type: Advocacy
PI Opening Statement at PEGA Hearing on "Spyware used in third countries and implications for EU foreign relations"
Thank you very much for offering me the opportunity to give evidence before this Committee for another time on behalf of Privacy International (or PI) – a London-based non-profit that researches and advocates globally against government and corporate abuses of data and technology.
My opening statement will first briefly touch on the EU foreign policy’s priorities. I will…
Content Type: Long Read
The defense and protection of the environment continues to come at a high cost for activists and human rights defenders. In 2021, the murders of environment and land defenders hit a record high. This year, a report by Global Witness found that more than 1,700 environmental activists have been murdered in the past decade.
While the issue of surveillance of human rights defenders has received attention, evidence of the surveillance of environmental activists keeps mounting, with recent examples…
Content Type: Advocacy
The European Union Artificial Intelligence Act (AI Act) will regulate the development and use of ‘high-risk’ AI, and aims to promote the uptake of ‘trustworthy AI’ whilst protecting the rights of people affected by AI systems.
However, in its original proposal, the EU AI Act does not adequately address and prevent the harms stemming from the use of AI in the migration context. Whilst states and institutions often promote AI in terms of benefits for wider society, for marginalised communities,…
Content Type: Advocacy
We, the undersigned organisations, seek to draw your attention to aspects of the draft Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (the Directive), and its application to the use of technology and the technology sector, which require strengthening if the Directive is to realise its full potential in respect of this critical global sector that is today responsible for some of the most egregious human rights harms.
The technology and surveillance industries have ushered in an entirely new…
Content Type: Press release
The decision by the EU’s oversight body follows a year-long inquiry prompted by complaints outlining how EU bodies and agencies are cooperating with governments around the world to increase their surveillance powers filed by Privacy International, Access Now, the Border Violence Monitoring Network, Homo Digitalis, International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), and Sea-Watch.
The complainants welcome the decision by the European Ombudsman and call on the Commission to urgently review its…
Content Type: Long Read
In the UK, successive government ministers and members of parliament have made emotive proclamations about the malaise of "public sector fraud".
This year, former Work and Pensions Secretary Therese Coffey said that the welfare system "is not a cash machine for callous criminals and it’s vital that the government ensures money is well spent...[and] fraud is an ever-present threat."
In 2013, the UK's minister for the disabled made numerous claims that there were "vast numbers of bogus disabled […
Content Type: Advocacy
Privacy International (PI) notes the conceptual zero draft of the WHO’s Pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response accord (“WHO CAII”). PI has sought to closely follow and engage with the discussions leading up to the draft CAII, despite the significant limitations to civil society participation in the process. In September 2022 we submitted our observations to the working draft of the WHO CAII. This analysis builds upon those observations.
Broadly, PI welcomes the content of the…
Content Type: Advocacy
Privacy International responded to the consultation on the proposed data protection bill (the "Bill") to reform the current law 25.326
We welcome the continued efforts by Argentina to provide protections for the right to privacy, already enshrined in the Constitution of Argentina. PI welcomes the main objective of the Bill, namely to regulate the processing of personal data in order to guarantee fully the exercise of data subjects’ rights in accordance with Article 43 of the Constitution (…
Content Type: Advocacy
We submitted a report to the Commission of Jurists on the Brazilian Artificial Intelligence Bill focussed on highlighting the potential harms associated with the use of AI within schools and the additional safeguards and precautions that should be taken when implementing AI in educational technology.The use of AI in education technology and schools has the potential to interfere with the child’s right to education and the right to privacy which are upheld by international human rights standards…
Content Type: Advocacy
Privacy International made a submission to the 41st Universal Period Review Session at the UN Human Rights council expressing concerns with the ways in which EdTech has been deployed through out Brazil, particularly unfettered access to and transfer of children's data, and the roll out of facial recognition, particularly without transparency or consent.This stakeholder report focusses solely on concerns related to the use of education technology (‘EdTech') in Brazil, and the subsequent…
Content Type: Advocacy
Privacy International wish to express our significant concerns over the poorly considered roll out of facial recognition in multiple parts of the Indian schooling system, especially the roll out in classrooms in Delhi.We also wish to raise concerns over the lax legal framework that currently regulates EdTech in India, which we do not believe adequately protects the human rights of the 250 million students in India's educational system.RecommendationsPI recommends India to ban the use of facial…
Content Type: Advocacy
PI Opening Statement at PEGA Hearing on "Spyware and ePrivacy"
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Thank you very much for offering us the opportunity to give evidence before this Committee for a second time.
Privacy International (PI) is a London-based non-profit that researches and advocates globally against government and corporate abuses of data and technology. For years we have been tracking the surveillance industry, challenging unlawful surveillance before national courts as well as the Court of…
Content Type: Report
Introduction
Several policy initiatives are in progress at the EU level. They seek to address the sustainability of connected devices such as smartphones, tablets and smart speakers. While initiatives to extend the useful life of hardware are important, software must not be ignored. Almost any digital device with which we interact today relies on software to function, which acts as a set of instructions that tells the hardware what to do. From smart thermostats to smart speakers, to our…