
Photo by frankie cordoba on Unsplash
Photo by frankie cordoba on Unsplash
At a time where the mass surveillance of protests has been at the forefront, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights released a timely report on the impact of new technologies on the promotion and protection of human rights in the context of assemblies, including peaceful protests.
The new report highlights the strong ties between protest and privacy and warns that “…the use of some such technologies to surveil or crack down on protesters can lead to human rights violations, including infringement of the right to peaceful assembly.”
The new report confirmed what PI had emphasised in its submission that unlawful interference with someone’s privacy, particularly in the form of communication surveillance, may have a significant, negative impact in the capacity of individuals to exercise their right to peaceful protest.
These new technologies range from IMSI catchers which are used to intercept communications to facial recognition tools which are used to identify individuals participating in peaceful protests.
These technologies and the chilling effect they have on the exercise of the right to protest are discussed in detail in this episode of our Technology Pill podcast.
Some of the key points of the report include:
The report concludes by recommending that States:
The report is a positive step towards minimising the harms new technologies pose to the exercise of fundamental rights such as the right to protest.
However, there is still need to determine the standards and conditions for the deployment of new surveillance technologies, focusing on specific technologies such as IMSI catchers and facial recognition to ensure compliance with human rights standards.
There is need to address the issue of peaceful protest online and in particular to ensure that limitations are imposed to the use of SOCMINT techniques and technologies both for state and non-state actors.