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Profiling

Automated decision-making, about people, from people's data, will shape their lives -- what they have access to, what they can do, and what they may become.

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Explainer

Your TV is also watching you!

Explainer

Big Data

What does your face say about you? Phrenology, physiognomy and society

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Report and Analysis

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Credit - Santiago Paulós

UK MPs Asleep at the Wheel as Facial Recognition Technology Spells The End of Privacy in Public

In June 2023, PI conducted a survey of UK MPs through YouGov, which highlighted their startling lack of knowledge of the use of facial recognition technology (FRT) in their own constituencies, inspiring our new campaign about 'The End of Privacy in Public'.

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Key Resources
A black female content creator at her desk in front of a camera with an ominous black box with data points and an eye on one face looking at her behind her shoulder

Content Creators Working for the Algorithm

Creators who produce content for big online platforms, from video game livestreamers on Twitch to adult content producers on platforms like OnlyFans, often find themselves forced to share a lot of data, putting their privacy and security at risk while being given limited information as to how this data is being used.

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Case Study

Mobile App Monetisation - Covert trackers in your pocket

Some apps on your phone have code from third parties that covertly tracks and collects data about you. With little to no transparency, your data is put up for sale. It can be used to target you with personalised ads, or even for policing if law enforcement happens to be the buyer.

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Case Study

Tracking as a service: ShareThis to be profiled!

If you've never made a website, you might have not heard of AddThis or ShareThis, but chances are you've encountered them. These services offer the "share" buttons that easily integrates into websites. However, this feature is also used by these companies to track visitors across the web.

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Long Read
Puzzle of the Girl with a Pearl Earring painting by Johannes Vermeer

The companies in control of our secret identities

Your personal data can be collected by companies from many different sources and shaped into a "secret identity". This is when companies use information about you to assume your personality traits and predict your behaviour, and sell this profile onto others. But who are the companies behind this practice?

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Long Read
Voter lists

PI highlights the need for urgent reform of the use of personal data in political campaigning.

Privacy International investigates the use of personal data in political campaigning, focusing on the ecosystem of private companies hired by political parties, the policies of online platforms, and the laws that regulate micro-targeting around the world.

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News

22nd June 2023

La société de pistage en ligne CRITEO sanctionnée à hauteur de 40 millions d'euros en France

22nd June 2023

Global AdTech Company CRITEO fined €40 million in France for unlawfully collecting personal data

17th December 2020

Press Release: European Commission green lights Google and Fitbit merger in a game-changing and disappointing decision for the rights of millions of Europeans

27th October 2020

UK data regulator takes enforcement action to rein in data brokers' use of people's personal data

24th September 2020

Facebook response on advertising: A failure to acknowledge responsibility

4th August 2020

Banning TikTok? It's time to fix the out-of-control data exploitation industry - not a symptom of it

15th June 2020

Ethnic minorities at greater risk of oversurveillance after protests

11th June 2020

Why Amazon's temporary ban of police use of facial recognition is not enough

Examples of Abuse

Want to know how this translate in the real world? Here is the latest example in the news.

US police expand surveillance in response to Black Lives Matter protests

During the Black Lives Matter protests of summer 2020, US police took advantage of a lack of regulation and new technologies to expand the scope of people and platforms they monitor; details typically emerge through lawsuits, public records disclosures, and stories released by police department PR
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Our Advocacy

PI seeks to inform report on AI and racial discrimination of the UN Special Rapporteur on racism

Summary

Privacy International submitted its input to the UN Special Rapporteur on racism for their upcoming report which will examine and analyse the relationship between artificial intelligence (AI) and non-discrimination and racial equality, as well as other international human rights standards.

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