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Content Type: Advocacy
Wednesday, December 14, 2022
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 then…
Content Type: Press release
Monday, December 5, 2022
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: News & Analysis
Friday, October 15, 2021
Update: Based on the complaint, on 30 November 2021 the Ombudsman opened an inquiry into whether the European Commission failed to take into account human rights concerns or carry out human rights impact assessments before providing support to African countries to develop surveillance capabilities.
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Privacy International (PI) together with a coalition of human rights groups have today called on the European Ombudsman, the EU’s oversight body, to investigate evidence that the block is…
Content Type: Long Read
Friday, October 15, 2021
In early August, the African Union (AU) issued a statement condemning Denmark’s Aliens Act which, among other things, allows Demark to relocate asylum seekers to countries outside the European Union while their cases are being processed.
The AU argues that this amounts to an abdication by Denmark of “…its international responsibility to provide asylum and protection to those that enter its territory…’’ More importantly, the AU says this is an “extension of the borders of such countries and an…
Content Type: News & Analysis
Thursday, October 7, 2021
Introduction
The European Parliament has adopted a nonbinding resolution against the use of artificial intelligence (AI) by law enforcement in public spaces and a ban on facial recognition databases, such as the ones used by Clearview AI.
It is a significant and hugely welcome step in an ongoing campaign to ensure the EU leads the world in protecting against dangerous applications of AI within its borders.
The Resolution recognises the need to safeguard against application of AI and mass…
Content Type: News & Analysis
Tuesday, July 27, 2021
As Amnesty International and Forbidden Stories continue to publish crucial information about the potential targets of NSO Group’s spyware, we know this much already: something needs to be done.
But what exactly needs to be done is less obvious. Even though this is not the first time that the world has learned about major abuses by the surveillance industry (indeed, it’s not even the first time this month), it’s difficult to know what needs to change.
So how can the proliferation and use of…
Content Type: Long Read
Tuesday, November 10, 2020
Privacy International (PI) and 13 other civil society organisations from Europe and Africa are calling for urgent reforms to EU aid and cooperation programmes to ensure they promote privacy protections in non-member countries and do not facilitate the use of surveillance which violates fundamental rights.
It comes following the public release of hundreds of documents obtained by PI after a year of negotiating with EU bodies under access to documents laws, which show:
How police and security…
Content Type: News & Analysis
Tuesday, November 10, 2020
Le « Fonds fiduciaire d’urgence de l’Union européenne en faveur de la stabilité et de la lutte contre les causes profondes de la migration irrégulière et du phénomène des personnes déplacées en Afrique » (le « fonds fiduciaire pour l’Afrique ») ne fait pas les grands titres (et il est plutôt difficile à retenir), mais son influence est vaste et aura des conséquences pendant plusieurs décennies sur la vie de millions de personnes sur le continent africain.
Mis en place suite à la « crise…
Content Type: News & Analysis
Tuesday, November 10, 2020
The “EU Trust Fund for Stability and Addressing Root Causes of Irregular Migration and Displaced Persons in Africa” (EUTF for Africa) isn’t exactly headline news (and nor does it exactly roll off the tongue), but its influence is vast and will be felt for decades to come for millions of people across Africa.
Set up in the wake of the 2015 ‘migration crisis’ in Europe and largely made up of money earmarked for development aid (80% of its budget comes from development and humanitarian aid funds…
Content Type: News & Analysis
Wednesday, August 26, 2020
A new report by the UN Working Group on mercenaries analyses the impact of the use of private military and security services in immigration and border management on the rights of migrants, and highlights the responsibilities of private actors in human rights abuses as well as lack of oversight and, ultimately, of accountability of the system.
Governments worldwide have prioritised an approach to immigration that criminalises the act of migration and focuses on security.
Today, borders are not…
Content Type: News & Analysis
Wednesday, July 22, 2020
The UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism, Professor Fionnuala Ní Aoláin together with Dr. Krisztina Huszti-Orbán, released today a key report on the “Use of Biometric Data to Identify Terrorists: Best Practice or Risky Business?”.
The report explores the human rights risks involved in the deployment of biometrics emphasising that
in the absence of robust rights protections which are institutionally embedded…
Content Type: Case Study
Friday, June 26, 2020
The EU have been using foreign aid budgets, not to lift people out of poverty, but to export surveillance technologies used to repress people’s human rights all over the world.
A wave of anti-immigration fervour has swept across Europe in recent years. As leaders have come to power across Europe either on anti-immigration platforms or having to respond to an anti-immigration sentiment, the EU’s recent policies have been shaped by the drive to stop migration to Europe.
Surveillance…
Content Type: Advocacy
Wednesday, April 15, 2020
To the Members of the European Parliament and to the Committee on Budgets of the European Parliament
The EU urgently needs to step up and provide assistance to protect the health and safety of people trapped in camps on the Greek islands - not just to protect their welfare, but to contain the virus itself as a matter of global public health.
However, as we detail in the briefing below, the current European Commission proposal for funds allocation is insufficient to ensure the safety of…
Content Type: News & Analysis
Thursday, April 2, 2020
Amid calls from international organisations and civil society urging for measures to protect the migrant populations in Greece and elsewhere, last week, the European Commission submitted a draft proposal to amend the general budget 2020 in order to, among other measures, provide assistance to Greece in the context of the COVID-19 outbreak.
Both at the Turkish-Greek border and in the camps on the Greek islands, there are severe concerns not only about the dire situation in which these people…
Content Type: Long Read
Tuesday, March 3, 2020
Commercial interests seem to often overshadow the EU’s stance as a global privacy leader. After looking at Europes's shady funds to border forces in the Sahel area, Niger's new biometric voting system, and attempts to dismantle smugglers networks powered by Europe's gifts of surveillance, freelance journalist Giacomo Zandonini looks at the battle for data protection and digital rights in the continent.
What do a teenage labourer on a marijuana farm in Lesotho, a retired school teacher in…
Content Type: Advocacy
Wednesday, September 18, 2019
Earlier this year, the UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of expression called for an “immediate moratorium on the global sale and transfer of private surveillance technology”, warning that “unlawful surveillance continues without evident constraint”, is leading to arbitrary detention, torture and possibly to extrajudicial killings.
Without urgent action, there is every reason to believe that the situation will only get worse for people around the world.
At Privacy International, we aim to …
Content Type: Advocacy
Wednesday, September 18, 2019
Agreed in 2015, the EU Trust Fund for Africa uses development aid and cooperation funds to manage and deter migration to Europe. It currently funds numerous projects presenting urgent threats to privacy, including developing biometric databases, training security units in surveillance, and equipping them with surveillance equipment. There has been no decision made about the future of the Fund pending the outcome of negotiations on the EU's next budget.
This paper summarises the Trust Fund and…
Content Type: Advocacy
Wednesday, September 18, 2019
The Neighbourhood, Development and International Cooperation Instrument (NDICI) is a external instrument proposed under the EU's next 2021-2027 budget. It will provide funding for surveillance, border security, and migration management projects in third countries currently undertaken by a number of projects across various funds which are to form part of the NDICI. Several raise significant concerns regarding the right to privacy.
This paper summarises the NDICI and provides a list of…
Content Type: Advocacy
Tuesday, September 17, 2019
This report, which was authored by Lorand Laskai, who is a JD Candidate at Yale Law School, provides an overview of the surveillance technology and training that the Chinese government supplies to countries around the world. China, European countries, Israel, the US, and Russia, are all major providers of such surveillance worldwide, as are multilateral organisations such as the European Union. Countries with the largest defence and security sectors are transferring technology and practices to…
Content Type: News & Analysis
Wednesday, February 6, 2019
Palantir and the UN’s World Food Programme (WFP) are partnering for a reported $45 million. Palantir, a US-based company that sells data software and has been the centre of numerous scandals.
The World Food Programme provides assistance in food and nutrition to around 92 million people each year. Systems that are produced in agreements such as the one between WFP and Palantir increase risks to the people the they are attempting to help. There are risks to both individuals and whole populations…
Content Type: Advocacy
Thursday, December 13, 2018
Image source
The EU extensively bolsters the surveillance and border control capabilities of governments around the world – and is set to dramatically increase such support. Below, we look at how some of these existing funds are being used, how their proposed expansion will undermine people’s privacy around the world for decades to come, and what needs to be done about it.
Migration has dominated the recent EU agenda and will once again be central during this week’s European Council meeting…
Content Type: Advocacy
Tuesday, April 24, 2018
A new Privacy International report, based on an international collaborative investigation carried out by 40 NGOs in 42 countries, has found alarming weaknesses in the oversight arrangements that are supposed to govern the sharing of intelligence between state intelligence agencies. Privacy International urges governments to enact urgent reforms and improve public understanding about the scope of intelligence sharing and the safeguards and oversight currently in place.
Content Type: Advocacy
Tuesday, November 7, 2017
Privacy International has responded to the European Commission’s consultation on the interoperability of EU information systems for borders and security.
The Commission is currently looking at ways in which various border control and policing EU databases and IT systems can be connected to share and exchange more data.
The plans raise a number of concerns as highlighted by Privacy International in our response. These relate to significant potential harms associated with collection, retention…