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Content Type: Advocacy
The meeting brought together representatives from UN bodies, civil society, academia, and election oversight institutions. Participants agreed that while digital technologies can improve electoral access and administration, they also pose serious threats to human rights, including privacy, freedom of expression, participation in public affairs, and equality, as well as democratic accountability if left unregulated. Discussions focused on three core areas: the role of national authorities, the…
Content Type: Advocacy
The International Labour Organisation (ILO) is developing standards for decent work in the platform economy. Gig workers are exposed to a range of harms because of the precarious nature of their work and the use of opaque algorithms to manage them.Privacy International has come together with Human Rights Watch, TEDIC, IT for Change, Derechos Digitales and more than 30 other organisations to demand that this new ILO standard puts a stop to harmful practice, protects and promotes workers' rights…
Content Type: Advocacy
The Open informal consultations on lethal autonomous weapons systems, held in accordance with General Assembly resolution 79/62 at the UN in New York on 12-13 May 2025, examined various legal, humanitarian, security, technological, and ethical aspects of these weapons. These consultations aimed to broaden the scope of AWS discussions beyond those held by the Group of Governmental Experts (GGE) at the UN in Geneva. Find out more about what happened during the discussions at Researching Critical…
Content Type: Advocacy
We believe the Government's position of refusing to confirm or deny the existence of the Technical Capability Notice or acknowledge Apple's appeal is untenable and violates principles of transparency and accountability.
Content Type: Advocacy
Our joint stakeholder report made the following recommendations: Strengthen the implementation of Data Protection Act, 2019 and make clear in law and in relevant guidelines that personal data from the electoral register which has been made accessible is still subject to, and protected, by data protection law, including for onward processing.Ensure that there is an effective legal and regulatory framework in place to guarantee a human rights-based approach in the design and deployment of…
Content Type: Advocacy
Our submission made the following recommendations to the Committee regarding the Kenya:Review and amend the proposed digital identity system, the Maisha Numba, to ensure it aligns with Kenya’s national and international human rights obligations in its design and implementation, and adopts legal, policy and technical safeguards to prevent exclusion and marginalisation.Ensure that measures taken to develop digital public infrastructures abide by Kenya’s national and international human rights…
Content Type: Advocacy
Privacy International has suggested the Committee consider the following recommendations for the UK government:Address longstanding concerns regarding the use of surveillance mechanisms by the Department for Work and Pensions, including covert practices, by ensuring transparency, accountability, and the protection of individuals’ rights within its fraud prevention initiatives.Recognise and address the risks that the use of AI technologies poses to access to social benefits, including the…
Content Type: Advocacy
In Colombia, the government utilises the National System for the Identification of Potential Social Program Beneficiaries, Sisbén (Sistema de Identificación de Potenciales Beneficiarios de Programas Sociales), a classification algorithm that ranks individuals by income level to determine access to social assistance programs. The implementation of this algorithm is problematic, and our submission raises the following issues:Sisbén is exclusionary by design. Its inefficiency in accurately…
Content Type: Advocacy
We responded to the Home Office consultation on codes of practices under the Investigatory Powers (Amendment) Act 2024 (IPAA). Our response focused on (1) the draft codes relating to bulk personal datasets with low or no reasonable expection of privacy, (2) third-party bulk personal datasets and (3) the notices regime. You can download our full response with its 23 recommendations for reform at the bottom of this page.'Low Privacy' Bulk Personal DatasetsThe IPAA introduces a new concept of…
Content Type: News & Analysis
Together 12 organisations, including trade unions and NGOs across the EU and the UK, are asking Deliveroo, Uber, and Just Eat Takeaway to take serious steps to significantly improve the transparency and explainability around the algorithms they use to manage their workforce.These platforms rely heavily on the use of algorithms to manage many aspect of their workers employment, from account creation, to account suspension to how much workers get paid. Yet, it’s almost impossible for workers to…
Content Type: Advocacy
Algorithmic management of workers has become the norm for gig-economy platforms, with workers obligated to give up an immense amount of personal data just to go to work. Decisions made by these algorithms can determine how much individuals are paid and even whether their employment or accounts are suspended or terminated. Yet, workers are often not provided with satisfactory explanations as to how these decisions are made. This lack of transparency means that decisions made through the "black-…
Content Type: Advocacy
In our submission, we argue that the EDPB's opinion must take a firm approach to prevent peoples' rights being undermined by AI. We focus on the following issues in particular: The fundamentally general nature of AI models creates problems for the legitimate interest test;The risks of an overly permissive approach to the legitimate interests test;Web scraping as ‘invisible processing’ and the consequent need for transparency;Innovative technology and people’s fundamental rights;The (in)…
Content Type: Long Read
In this new briefing, we identify the most significant concerns on the UN Countering Terrorist Travel Programme (CTTP), and put forward a range of recommendations to mitigate some of the human rights risks associated with the surveillance of travellers. We based our briefing on publicly available information and our own research, outlining the purposes and activities of this UN programme. We shared a draft of this briefing with the United Nations Office of Counter- Terrorism (OCT), which…
Content Type: Advocacy
On the 13 November 2024 a debate took place in the UK parliament on the police’s use of facial recognition technology (FRT) for the first time, despite facial recognition being used as far back as 2017.The issue was debated by 13 members of parliament (MPs) representative of a range of political parties, as well as the Minister for Fire, Policing and Crime Prevention. Throughout the debate several MPs raised concerns around privacy, surveillance, issues of facial recognition disproportionately…
Content Type: Advocacy
In the wake of Privacy International’s (PI) campaign against the unfettered use of Facial Recognition Technology in the UK, MPs gave inadequate responses to concerns raised by members of the public about the roll-out of this pernicious mass-surveillance technology in public spaces. Their responses also sidestep calls on them to take action.The UK is sleepwalking towards the end of privacy in public. The spread of insidious Facial Recognition Technology (FRT) in public spaces across the country…
Content Type: Advocacy
The rapid expansion of educational technologies (EdTech) has introduced serious concerns about human rights protection in educational spaces. This briefing explores the impact of facial recognition technology (FRT) and heightened surveillance in these settings, highlighting many complex and multifaceted issues that demand careful consideration from a human rights perspective. From the erosion of privacy and the securitisation of educational spaces - that undermines the learning and growth…
Content Type: Advocacy
In August 2024 the UK College of Policing (CoP) announced they were consulting on new guidance for data ethics and data driven technologies in policing. As part of the consultation the College asked for feedback on two new authorised professional practices (APP) on data ethics and data-driven technologies. PI provided a response in writing to the CoP on their APP on data ethics and data-driven technologies only.In our response we highlighted that we are aware that UK police forces are using a…
Content Type: News & Analysis
Also available in English.A Relatora Especial da ONU sobre o Direito à Educação publicou seu relatório sobre liberdade acadêmica - que, entre outras coisas, recomenda que os Estados banam as tecnologias de reconhecimento facial das instituições educacionais.O sistema educacional do Brasil, que se baseia no valor fundamental “o melhor interesse da criança” é um dos piores infratores do mundo. Até o momento, 1.667 escolas só no estado do Paraná adotaram uma tecnologia que, segundo o principal…
Content Type: News & Analysis
Também disponível em portuguêsThe UN Special Rapporteur on the right to education published her report on academic freedom, which recommends that states ban facial recognition technologies from educational institutions.Brazil’s educational system - which is built on the fundamental value: the best interest of the child, is one of the world’s worst offenders. So far 1,667 schools in the state of Paraná alone have adopted a technology that the UN’s leading expert believes threatens student’s…
Content Type: Long Read
1. What is the issue?Governments and international organisations are developing and accessing databases to pursue a range of vague and ever-expanding aims, from countering terrorism and investigating crimes to border management and migration control.These databases hold personal, including biometric, data of millions if not billions of people, and such data is processed by technologies, including Artificial Intelligence (AI), to surveil, profile, predict future behaviour, and ultimately make…
Content Type: Long Read
Elections and political campaigns are increasingly mediated by digital technologies. These technologies rely on collecting, storing, and analysing personal information to operate. They have enabled the proliferation of tailor-made political advertising. The recent proliferation of AI technologies is enabling ever more sophisticated content creation and manipulation in the context of elections.In parallel, governments are continuing to invest in digital technologies for the running of elections…
Content Type: Advocacy
When it comes to elections around the world, we find ourselves in a terrain that is more and more populated by digital technologies, which have an increasingly critical impact upon the realisation of democracy. Digital technologies used in the context of elections offer new opportunities to support voter participation, whilst simultaneously posing increasing challenges for voters and those who manage and oversee elections. The introduction of technologies into electoral systems in countries…
Content Type: Long Read
INTRODUCTION
In recent years, major tech platforms have been rapidly evolving their business models. Despite their dominance in various markets, tech giants like Google and Meta are venturing into new territories to expand their user base. One of the most striking ventures has been their foray into the "connectivity market" through substantial, and occasionally unsuccessful, investments in network infrastructure.
Many tech companies are investing resources into network infrastructure, either…
Content Type: Report
First published in 2017, PI’s Guide to International Law and Surveillance is an attempt to collate relevant excerpts from these judgments and reports into a single principled guide that will be regularly updated. This is the fourth edition of the Guide. It has been updated it to reflect the most relevant legal developments until March 2024.The Guide aspires to be a handy reference tool for anyone engaging in campaigning, advocacy, and scholarly research, on these issues. The fourth…
Content Type: Advocacy
In January 2024, the ILO published a report, Realizing Decent Work in the Platform Economy, following a decision by the ILO Governing Body that the 2025 and 2026 International Labour Conferences would discuss standard-setting on decent work in the platform economy. The report - and the new ILO standard in development - are of interest to Privacy International because of the impacts on workers' privacy and autonomy that arise from the growing use of invasive surveillance practices and…
Content Type: Advocacy
In May 2024, we made a submission for the forthcoming report of the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to education to the General Assembly in October 2024.
Amongst others we recommend the UN Special Rapporteur for this upcoming report to:
Underline the need for a human rights-based approach to all AI systems in the education sector and describe the necessary measures to achieve it.
Reassert that any interference with the right to privacy and the advancement of the right to education due to…
Content Type: Long Read
IntroductionFor years PI has been documenting the market dominance and associated power of Big Tech over the digital economy, and the threats this poses to our privacy and wider rights.The digital economy is characterised by a handful of Big Tech companies that have established and maintained dominance over the digital market through opaque and exploitative practices. Big Tech exploits the data of those who use their platforms in ways which interfere with our privacy and wider rights. In…
Content Type: Advocacy
In an increasingly digitised world, automation, artificial intelligence and sensitive data processing present new and rapidly shifting challenges which underscore the urgent need for states to ensure that the rights of persons with disabilities are explicitly addressed and centred when it comes to the use of data and technology. Digital technologies can offer important opportunities for accessibility and the realisation of human rights of persons with disabilities, but can also present…
Content Type: Advocacy
As part of our campaign 'The End of Privacy in Public' and our wider work monitoring developments of facial recognition technology (FRT) in the UK, we continue to to challenge the government, the police and the private sector regarding their unfettered roll out of FRT in the UK.To this end, we co-signed a letter sent on 4 June 2024, alongside UK civil society organisations campaigning against the use of facial recognition, to retailers across the UK calling on them to not use live FRT within…