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Content Type: News & Analysis
The National Privacy Commission has had to firefight a huge leak of voter data in Philippines just one month before the elections
Raymund Liboro, the Philippines’ National Privacy Commissioner, has had a tough few weeks. Barely has his office even existed -- he was appointed in March -- than it is having to firefight what is being reported as the country’s most massive data breach to date. On 27 March, a hacker broke in to the national Commission on Elections (Comelec)’s…
Content Type: Press release
Privacy International, the leading global privacy rights NGO, has today filed a Judicial Review at the UK High Court, challenging the Investigatory Powers Tribunal's (IPT) decision that the Government can issue general hacking warrants. This decision means that British intelligence agency GCHQ can continue to hack into the computers and phones of broad classes of people - including those residing in the UK. The Investigatory Powers Bill, currently being debated in Parliament, seeks to…
Content Type: News & Analysis
“It’s like 10,000 spoons when all you need is a knife”. Alanis Morissette thought that was ironic. I never thought so. I suggest a far more ironic lyric to you Alanis - "It’s like the Home Office not listening during a consultation about how it wants to listen to everything you do’. OK, it might not be the catchiest lyric, but you can’t say it’s not ironic.
Today the latest version of the Investigatory Powers Bill was published. The Government might want some credit…
Content Type: News & Analysis
Over the next two weeks, the 25th session of the Universal Period Review Working Group will take place in Geneva. The Universal Period Review is a key mechanism of the UN Human Rights Council to remind UN Member States of their responsibility to respect and implement all human rights and fundamental freedoms.
Amongst others, Hungary, the United Republic of Tanzania, Thailand, and Ireland will be reviewed. Privacy International, in collaboration with national civil society…
Content Type: Long Read
1984: A broad law, a broad power and a whole lot of secrecy
In the wake of litigation brought by Privacy International (‘PI’) and as the Government prepared to introduce the Draft Investigatory Powers Bill (‘IP Bill’) in November 2015, there was a cascade of ‘avowals’- admissions that the intelligence agencies carry out some highly intrusive surveillance operations under powers contained in outdated and confusing legislation.
It is disappointing that it has been almost six months since…
Content Type: Press release
Previously confidential documents published today reveal the staggering extent of UK Government surveillance that has been kept secret from the public and Parliament for the last 15 years. Revealed in a case brought by Privacy International about the use of so-called 'Bulk Personal Datasets' and a law dating back to 1984, the extracts show that the UK Government's intelligence services, GCHQ, MI5, and MI6, routinely requisition personal data from potentially thousands of public and…
Content Type: News & Analysis
This guest piece was written by Jane Duncan of the Right2Know Campaign. It does not necessarily reflect the views or position of Privacy International.
On 23rd March the United Nations Human Rights Committee released its assessment on South Africa’s compliance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). The report includes a blistering attack on the Government for failing to respect the privacy of the communications of users and makes…
Content Type: News & Analysis
This week the Mexican Supreme Court will issue its judgement on the country’s data retention. It will decide on an injunction against the provisions of the the Federal Telecommunications Act known as the ‘Ley Telecom’. The Act requires all telephone companies and internet service providers to retain user communications data for a period of 24 months.
Following the failure of the National Human Rights Commission (CNDH) and the Federal Institute for Access to Public Information and Data…
Content Type: Long Read
Written by: Maria del Pilar Saenz
With a raft of recent scandals involving proven and possible abuses of surveillance systems by state institutions, there is a clear need to generate policy and practice in Colombia that promotes respect for human rights. It is necessary to keep this in mind as an emerging public policy discussion on cybersecurity led by CONPES (The National Council for Economic and Social Policy) begins in Colombia. This series of reforms will serve as the policy basis…
Content Type: Advocacy
This stakeholder report is a submission by Privacy International (PI), Unwanted Witness Uganda, the Collaboration on International ICT Policy for East and Southern Africa (CIPESA) and the East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Project (EHAHRDP).
Content Type: Advocacy
This Universal Periodic Review (UPR) stakeholder report is a submission by Privacy International (PI), theInternational Human Rights Clinic at Harvard Law School (IHRC), and Acceso Libre.
Content Type: Advocacy
This Universal Periodic Review (UPR) stakeholder report is a submission by Privacy International (PI), the International Human Rights Clinic at Harvard Law School (IHRC), the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum(the Forum), and the Digital Society of Zimbabwe (DSZ).
Content Type: Advocacy
This Universal Periodic Review (UPR) stakeholder report is a submission by Privacy International (PI), the International Human Rights Clinic at Harvard Law School (IHRC), and Acceso Libre.
Content Type: News & Analysis
Macedonia's capital Skopje is bracing itself for another night of protests and clashes after the interim President announced on Tuesday that there will be an amnesty for everyone under investigation in a formal probe into illegal wiretapping.
The investigation into the wiretapping scandal, which was the focus of Privacy International's report released last month, Macedonia: Society on Tap, also focused on other serious crimes, including electoral fraud, blackmail and the torture of a…
Content Type: Press release
The committee of data protection regulators across Europe, the Working Party 29, announced today its opinion on the current “Privacy Shield”. The Opinion is expected shortly, and based on the statements made by the Working Party chair in a press conference, we understand that the Working Party, while noting improvements from the annulled “Safe Harbor” agreement, has serious concerns about a range of aspects of the current "Privacy Shield" agreement with the U.S.
Overall they note the…
Content Type: News & Analysis
Image source
This is a guest post by Zoë Blackler.
If you want to know how the UK came to be the most watched nation in the world, with CCTV on every corner, you need to go back to 1942: the now ubiquitous policing aid was first developed for use in missile testing by the German military.
Tear gas, GPS trackers, pain rays, and surveillance drones - technologies developed by the military for use against foreign enemies have a habit of finding their way into the hands…
Content Type: Press release
Tomorrow, Privacy International and Open Rights Group will argue that wholesale and indiscriminate retention of our personal data is not permissible. The case, brought by MPs Tom Watson and David Davis against the Data Retention and Investigatory Powers Act 2014 (DRIPA), and in which PI intervened, will be heard in the European Court of Justice (CJEU) on 12 April. It has the potential to send shockwaves through the Investigatory Powers Bill, the controversial…
Content Type: News & Analysis
Should the European Union agree to legitimise trade with a country that refuses to adhere to European legal standards? This is the fundamental question that will be addressed at tomorrow’s meeting among European privacy regulators when they publish their opinion on the data-sharing agreement known as the ‘Privacy Shield’, the replacement to the failed ‘Safe Harbour’ agreement.
Background
Many of the world’s largest companies, such as Google and Facebook, store their customers’ data in…
Content Type: News & Analysis
Section 217 and the Draft Code of Practice on Interception of Communications
Tech giants including Apple Inc, Facebook Inc, Google Inc, Microsoft Corp, Twitter Inc and Yahoo Inc have been openly critical of the UK Government’s Investigatory Power Bill (IPBill). However, what has not been highlighted is a deeply concerning Draft Code of Practice on Interception on Communications, which will not only affect telecommunications companies small and large, but result in costs to the…
Content Type: News & Analysis
PI's full analysis can be read here
On 29 February 2016, the European Commission and the US government released the details of the proposed EU-U.S. “Privacy Shield”. The “Privacy Shield” replaces the now defunct so-called “Safe Harbor”.
The Privacy Shield is in fact a significant number of documents from various parts of the U.S. administration, which merely outline the existing, weak U.S. safeguards applicable to personal data of EU citizens. These documents are…
Content Type: Advocacy
Introduction
On 29 February 2016, the European Commission and the US government released the details of the proposed EU-U.S. “Privacy Shield”. The “Privacy Shield” replaces the now defunct so-called “Safe Harbor”.
The Privacy Shield is in fact a significant number of documents from various parts of the U.S. administration, which merely outline the existing, weak U.S. safeguards applicable to personal data of EU citizens. These documents are meant to serve as the basis for an “adequacy”…
Content Type: News & Analysis
We already know that in some countries, like the UK, governments are drafting laws to legalise and legitimise their incredible surveillance powers. In the U.S. we are seeing legislation that is using remarkably similar language on encryption and surveillance. The next phase of the cryptowars has openly begun.
Yesterday what is being called the Feinstein-Burr decryption Bill was introduced into the US Senate and leaked online. Whilst the short title ‘Compliance with Court Orders…
Content Type: News & Analysis
Hacking Team, an Italian surveillance company selling intrusive spyware to government authorities around the world, has had its global export license revoked by the Italian export authorities, according to a report in Il Fatto Quotidiano.
The move comes after intensive media scrutiny spurred by the hack of their internal systems last summer and revelations that they had sold surveillance technology to some of the world’s most authoritarian states.
One of the countries to which Hacking…
Content Type: News & Analysis
We do agree with Ramon Fonseca about one thing: that “Each person has a right to privacy, whether they are a king or a beggar.”
But that’s where our commonality with co-founder of disgraced Panama law firm Mossack Fonseca ends.
Last year, a whistleblower leaked 11.5 million documents about the firm’s business brokering offshore companies, details of which were published yesterday. Reportedly the largest leak in journalistic history, the cache reveals hidden assets by a dozen current and…
Content Type: News & Analysis
This week the UN Human Rights Committee has issued recommendations to the Governments of Namibia, New Zealand, Rwanda, South Africa, and Sweden to reform and strengthen surveillance and privacy protections.
The Committee recommendations touch upon some of the fundamental issues of surveillance powers and the right to privacy, including mass surveillance, retention of communication data, judicial authorisation, transparency, oversight, and regulating intelligence sharing.
These recommendations…
Content Type: News & Analysis
This article originally appeared in Indepedent Voices here.
Since the horrific Brussels and Istanbul attacks we've all looked at our daily lives and saw vulnerability and risk. Where else could terrorists attack?
We begin to formulate security responses. CCTV, communication, surveillance, identity cards - they aren't panning out. Perhaps we need to take things to the next level? How about we build an uber anti-terrorism system that grinds all our data together and identifies the people…
Content Type: News & Analysis
Following the launch of our report "The President’s Men?" shedding light on the existence of the Technical Research Department, a secret unit within the Egyptian intelligence infrastructure we publish here an open letter we have sent to President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi demanding that he responds to the extremely worrying situation we describe in the report.
Your Excellency President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi,
On Wednesday 24th February we released a new investigation about the Technical…
Content Type: Long Read
This guest piece was written by Jessamine Pacis of the Foundation for Media Alternatives. It does not necessarily reflect the views or position of Privacy International.
Introduction
With a history immersed in years of colonialism and tainted by martial law, Philippine society is no stranger to surveillance. Even now, tales of past regimes tracking their citizens’ every move find their way into people’s everyday conversations. This, for the most part, has kept Filipinos…
Content Type: Long Read
Written by: Centre for Internet and Society
This guest piece was written by representatives of the Centre for Internet and Society (CIS). It does not necessarily reflect the views or position of Privacy International.
Introduction
As part of the State of the Surveillance project, CIS conducted a review of surveillance law, policy, projects, and trends in India. Below we provide a snap shot of key legal provisions governing surveillance in India and touch on…
Content Type: Long Read
“This is my personal opinion,” concedes Branko, a taxi driver in Skopje, the Republic of Macedonia's capital. “It was done by America to stop Putin building his gas pipe line through Macedonia.”
“This is just politics,” he advises, skeptically.
It's a common reaction to the wiretapping scandal in Macedonia. Beginning in February last year when opposition leader Zoran Zaev posted a series of wiretaps online that he called 'bombs' – they seemingly showed that for years the phone calls of some…