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Content Type: Examples
AI-powered cameras made by the startup Netradyne and used in Amazon's delivery vans incorrectly penalises drivers for events beyond their control or which do not constitute unsafe driving such as if they are cut off by another vehicle. The data collected by the cameras is sent to Amazon, which uses the information to evaluate drivers' performance by assigning them with a score for safe driving. https://www.vice.com/en/article/88npjv/amazons-ai-cameras-are-punishing-drivers-for-mistakes-…
Content Type: Examples
A BBC Panorama investigation that brought hidden cameras into a UK-based Amazon warehouse found that workers walked up to 11 miles in a shift and had just 33 seconds on average to find each product, following instructions from a handset. Experts on stress at work say the warehouse conditions are ideal for increasing the risk of mental and physical illness.https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-25034598Publication: BBCPublication date: 2013-11-25Writer: BBC
Content Type: Examples
Humans who review footage of warehouse workers flagged by Amazon’s AI computer vision system to check for employee errors - are themselves surveilled in detail to ensure they make punishing targets. The workers, who are paid as little as £212 a month to review thousands of images and videos per day, report physical problems, deteriorating eyesight, and cognitive exhaustion. https://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/stories/2022-11-21/the-eyes-of-amazon-a-hidden-workforce-driving-a-vast-…
Content Type: Examples
The San Francisco-based company Emotiv claims its MN8 electroencephalography device can be worn comfortably for a full workday. The device monitors an employee's brainwaves with the goal of creating safer, more efficient workplaces by monitoring workers' brain signals for signs of stress or distraction. Company president and neuroscientist Oliver Oullier says the data the device collects makes it possible to reschedule tasks and working hours to lessen stress and increase focus. Emotiv says all…
Content Type: Examples
JP Morgan Chase's hundreds of thousands of employees are monitored in detail throughout their working day with the collected data sent to the data management system Workforce Activity Data Utility, which the company began building shortly before the coronavirus pandemic started. Some employees say it is not clear to them why the bank tracks how much time they spend on Zoom calls or writing emails or how this data will be used to assess their performance. They say that fears around how the data…
Content Type: Examples
Delivery drivers in Jakarta use GPS-spoofing apps in order to improve their chances of selection by the Gojek delivery and transport app, an equivalent to Apple Pay, Postmates, Venmo, and Uber all in one. Gojek that operates in more than 200 cities in Indonesia, Singapore, Vietnam, and Thailand. Other grey market apps enlarge details of orders that are too small to read, automate bidding, and apply filters to open orders. Some apps are distributed via Google Play; more are sold via driver…
Content Type: Examples
Content moderators working in the south Asian IT hub Hyderabad say their work reviewing still and video images of sexual and violent content is straining their mental health. Paid less than £8 a day, the moderators say the wellness coaches the company supplies do little beyond moving them to a less sensitive queue until they feel better. In some cases, managers tell the moderators to leave up content they'd rather remove, such as animal killings. Humans are needed for this work; AI is…
Content Type: Video
LinksCompanies getting disciplinedOvulation Tracking App Premom Will be Barred from Sharing Health Data for Advertising Under Proposed FTC Order Facebook getting fined for data exploitation in NorwayCNIL fines CriteoCNIL fines DoctissimoWorldcoin (aspires to be World ID) has been getting some pushback from some countriesGovernments abandoning plans, or at least held to accountKenya drops Huduma Numba and replaces it with new systems (it’s not any better and advocacy under way) but it’s…
Content Type: Advocacy
Privacy International joined civil society efforts to call the South African Parliament not to approve the draft General Intelligence Laws Amendment Bill 2023 (GILAB), which was approved by the Cabinet and introduced in Parliament.
The Bill was proposed by the South African government, after the Constitutional Court found the Regulation of Interception of Communications Act of 2002 (RICA) unconstitutional on multiple grounds.
The draft Bill fails to meet the human rights standards on many…
Content Type: Long Read
Our world is undergoing a seismic process of increasing digitisation, which sees the proliferation of new technologies and the growing integration of these technologies into public services, which rely more and more on copious amounts of personal data and on automated processes. This phenomenon has a unique impact upon the rights of persons with disabilities. As the era of global digitisation causes societies worldwide to undergo a digital metamorphosis, persons with…
Content Type: Examples
Police in Western Australia have demanded that ABC hand over all the footage of climate protesters it collected in preparing a programme ("Four Corners") about them. More than 40 civil society groups have opposed the request, saying that the demand undermines press freedom and urging the broadcaster to protect its journalists' sources. https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/oct/05/wa-police-order-abc-to-hand-over-four-corners-footage-of-woodside-protest?cid=…
Content Type: Examples
Myanmar's ruling junta has begun a pilot census in 20 townships across the country, and has said that a national census needs to be completed in 2024 before new elections take place, which could be in 2025. Critics warn that the census will be used to increase surveillance of opponents, including protesting civil servants, doctors, and teachers. Myanmar also intends to roll out an electronic identification system and has asked China for help in designing it.https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-10-…
Content Type: Examples
The Israeli government is bringing forward a bill that would permit the police to place facial recognition cameras in public places, including at events such as protests, as long as a police officer is convinced that the cameras' operation does not present undue invasion of any individual's privacy and the purpose is to prevent, thwart, or detect serious crimes, locate missing persons, and enforce restraining orders or bans. The bill is based on another pending bill that is meant to cover a…
Content Type: Examples
The Taliban could repurpose a plan devised by the Americans before their 2021 departure for a four-year programme to create a large-scale camera network to surveil Afghan cities, The capital, Kabul, already has thousands of cameras. The Taliban administration has also consulted with Huawei about potential cooperation. Rights groups are concerned the technology will be used to crack down on protesters and some analysts question the regime's ability to pay for the programme, but records of…
Content Type: Examples
Based on a facial recognition match, the New York City Police Department sent more than 50 officers to besiege the home of a racial justice organiser, claiming he had shouted in an officer's ear at a protest in the summer of 2020. The officers were unable to produce a warrant when asked, but deployed snipers, drones, helicopters, and police dogs. The organiser, Derrick Ingram, has filed a lawsuit.https://www.the-independent.com/news/world/americas/crime/facial-recognition-technology-police-…
Content Type: Examples
The three Democratic members of the five-member Privacy and Civil Liberties Board, an independent agency within the federal branch of the US government, have recommended that the FBI and other government agencies should be required to obtain the approval of a court before reviewing the communications of US citizens collected under Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. The Board nonetheless recommended that the programme be renewed when it comes up for review at the end of…
Content Type: Examples
A BBC investigation found more than 150 cases in which UK police abused their body-worn cameras by deleting footage, turning them off when using force, and sharing videos on WhatsApp, other social media, or in person. The cameras, which have cost at least £90 million over the last decade, were intended to improve transparency, protect police against malicious complaints, and benefit victims by improving the quality of evidence. In some cases, the behaviour was said to be unlawful by the…
Content Type: Examples
During the runup to the 2023 general election, the Zimbabwean government sent drones to monitor a rally organised by the Citizens Coalition for Change. The country also uses drones to monitor motorists, control the border, and limit crime; officials in the Kavango Zambezi Transnational Park have used it to complete an elephant census. Law enforcement authorities are now adopting facial recognition to help combat more sophisticated crimes. Zimbabwe's opposition fears that the technologies could…
Content Type: Examples
In the year after protests began in Iran in September 2022, Telegram has emerged as the social medium of choice for both the protesters and the regime they oppose. The Iranian authorities have been able to use Telegram to identify and shame protesters and broadcast false confessions, as well as mount disinformation campaigns. In September 2023, the authorities increased penalties for violations of the hijab law.https://www.codastory.com/newsletters/iran-protests-anniversary-censorship-…
Content Type: Advocacy
The European Commission proposed the PWD in December 2021 with the objective to improve the working conditions in platform work. In February 2023 and June 2023 respectively, the European Parliament and the Council reached their respective positions, with trilogue negotiations beginning in July 2023.
PI welcomes the PWD as a mechanism to protect workers’ rights in response to transformations in the workplace, specifically with regard to the growing adoption of algorithmic management systems and…
Content Type: Advocacy
In the last few years, electoral processes and related activities have undergone significant changes, driven by the development of digital technologies.The use of personal data has redefined political campaigning and enabled the proliferation of political advertising tailor-made for audiences sharing specific characteristics or personalised to the individual. These new practices, combined with the platforms that enable them, create an environment that facilitate the manipulation of opinion and…
Content Type: Press release
9 November 2023 - Privacy International (PI) has just published new research into UK Members of Parliament’s (startling lack of) knowledge on the use of Facial Recognition Technology (FRT) in public spaces, even within their own constituencies. Read the research published here in full: "MPs Asleep at the Wheel as Facial Recognition Technology Spells The End of Privacy in Public".PI has recently conducted a survey of 114 UK MPs through YouGov. Published this morning, the results are seriously…
Content Type: Long Read
TAKE ACTION TO STOP THE END OF PRIVACY IN PUBLIC1. IntroductionThe use of facial recognition technology (FRT) by law enforcement and private companies in public spaces throughout the UK is on the rise. In August 2023, the government announced that it is looking to expand its use of FRT, which it considers “an increasingly important capability for law enforcement and the Home Office”. The indiscriminate use of this dystopian biometric technology to identify individuals in public spaces is a form…
Content Type: Advocacy
Dejusticia, Fundación Karisma, and Privacy International submitted a joint stakeholder report on Colombia to the 44th session of the Universal Periodic Review at the UN Human Rights Council.Our submission raised concerns regarding the protection of the rights to freedom of expression and opinion, to privacy, and to personal data protection; the shutdown of civil society spaces; protection of the right to protest; and protection of the rights of the Venezuelan migrant and refugee population.…
Content Type: Advocacy
On 6th October 2023, we submitted our comments on the Regulation of Interception of Communications and Provision of Communication-related Information Amendment Bill (the Rica Bill), published in Government Gazette 49189, August 25th, 2023, in response to a call for comments issued by the Portfolio Committee on Justice and Correctional Services – a committee of the Parliament of South Africa responsible for overseeing responsible the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development.
In our…
Content Type: Long Read
IntroductionData about our health reveals some of the most sensitive, intimate - and potentially embarrassing - information about who we are. Confidentiality is, and has always been, at the very heart of medical ethics. People need to be able to trust their doctors, nurses and other healthcare providers so that they are not afraid to tell them something important about their health for fear of shame, judgement or social exclusion.It’s no surprise then that data protection regimes around…
Content Type: Video
Since we recorded this podcast there has been an update on the Microsoft Activision mergerLinksPI competition page (our "very influential work")More about Dr MantzariEcosystems and competition law in theory and practice - a research paper about ecosystemsPower Imbalances in Online Marketplaces: At the Crossroads of Competition Law and Regulation - one of Dr Deni's papers looking at peconomic dependence in online marketplacesGoogle Android European court case on abuse of dominance and more info…