Coding Rights

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The End of Privacy in Public

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Coding Rights - Legislative radar special: COVID-19

staff — Wed, 20 May 2020 10:52:23 +0000

Coding Rights - Legislative radar special: COVID-19 staff Wednesday, May 20, 2020

Our partners from Coding Rights in Brazil analysed 18 different Bills introduced to the Congress to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic (in Portuguese).

Link: https://www.codingrights.org/radar-legislativo-especial-covid-19-e-tecnologia/

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More about our partner

Tracking the Global Response to COVID-19

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Civil society's Covid response

Date

Thursday, April 9, 2020

Content

Educational

Stories

An open letter to Google

tech-admin — Wed, 08 Jan 2020 15:19:16 +0000

Target Profile

Google

Audiences and Purpose

Influence key stakeholders

Change

We campaign for solutions

We are building a global movement

Content

Advocacy

Summary

Privacy International and over 50 other organisations have submitted a letter to Alphabet Inc. CEO Sundar Pichai asking Google to take action against exploitative pre-installed software on Android devices.

Media

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Key points

Individuals should be able to permanently uninstall the apps on their phones. This should include any related background services that continue to run even if the apps are disabled.
Pre-installed apps should adhere to the same scrutiny as Play Store apps, especially in relation to custom permissions.
Pre-installed apps should have some update mechanism, preferably through Google Play and without a user account.
Google should refuse to certify a device on privacy grounds, where manufacturers or vendors have attempted to exploit users in this way.

You can find the letter below. Add your voice to this campaign by signing our petition if you believe that its time Google stopped enabling exploitation.

Note: This letter is also available in French and Spanish

Dear Mr. Pichai,

We, the undersigned, agree with you: privacy cannot be a luxury offered only to those people who can afford it.

And yet, Android Partners - who use the Android trademark and branding - are manufacturing devices that contain pre-installed apps that cannot be deleted (often known as "bloatware"), which can leave users vulnerable to their data being collected, shared and exposed without their knowledge or consent.

These phones carry the "Google Play Protect" branding, but research shows that 91% of pre-installed apps do not appear in Google Play – Google’s app store.

These pre-installed apps can have privileged custom permissions that let them operate outside the Android security model. This means permissions can be defined by the app - including access to the microphone, camera and location - without triggering the standard Android security prompts. Users are therefore completely in the dark about these serious intrusions.

We are concerned that this leaves users vulnerable to the exploitative business practices of cheap smartphone manufacturers around the world.

The changes we believe are needed most urgently are as follows:

Individuals should be able to permanently uninstall the apps on their phones. This should include any related background services that continue to run even if the apps are disabled.
Pre-installed apps should adhere to the same scrutiny as Play Store apps, especially in relation to custom permissions.
Pre-installed apps should have some update mechanism, preferably through Google Play and without a user account.
Google should refuse to certify a device on privacy grounds, where manufacturers or vendors have attempted to exploit users in this way.

We, the undersigned, believe these fair and reasonable changes would make a huge difference to millions of people around the world who should not have to trade their privacy and security for access to a smartphone.

We urge you to use your position as an influential agent in the ecosystem to protect people and stop manufacturers from exploiting them in a race to the bottom on the pricing of smartphones.

Yours sincerely,

American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)

Afghanistan Journalists Center (AFJC)

Americans for Democracy and Human Rights in Bahrain (ADHRB)

Amnesty International

Asociación por los Derechos Civiles (ADC)

Association for Progressive Communications (APC)

Association for Technology and Internet (ApTI)

Association of Caribbean Media Workers

Australian Privacy Foundation

Center for Digital Democracy

Centre for Intellectual Property and Information Technology Law (CIPIT)

Citizen D

Civil Liberties Union for Europe

Coding Rights

Consumer Association the Quality of Life-EKPIZO

Datos Protegidos

Digital Rights Foundation (DRF)

Douwe Korff, Emeritus Professor of International Law, London Metropolitan University and Associate of the Oxford Martin School, University of Oxford

DuckDuckGo

Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF)

Forbrukerrådet // Norwegian Consumer Council

Foundation for Media Alternatives

Free Media Movement (FMM)

Freedom Forum

Fundación Karisma

Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR)

Hiperderecho

Homo Digitalis

IJC Moldova

Initiative for Freedom of Expression- Turkey (IFox)

Irish Council for Civil Liberties

Media Foundation for West Africa

Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA)

Media Policy and Democracy Project (University of Johannesburg)

Media Policy Institute (MPI)

Media Watch

Metamorphosis Foundation for Internet and Society

Open Rights Group (ORG)

Palestinian Center For Development & Media Freedoms (MADA)

Panoptykon

Paradigm Initiative

PEN Canada

Philippine Alliance of Human Rights Advocates (PAHRA)

Privacy International

Public Citizen

Red en Defensa de los Derechos Digitales (R3D)

Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression (SCM)

TEDIC

The Danish Consumer Council

The Institute for Policy Research and Advocacy (ELSAM)

The Tor Project

Unwanted Witness

Vigilance for Democracy and the Civic State

Repeating Image and Text

More about our partner

La Asociación por los Derechos Civiles

The Association for Civil Rights (ADC) is a non-governmental organisation based in Buenos Aires that promotes civil and social rights in Argentina and other Latin American countries. It was founded in 1995 with the aim of fostering a legal and institutional culture to guarantee fundamental rights, based on respect for the constitution and democratic values.

Country of Operation

Argentina

Region of Operation

Asociación por los Derechos Civiles

Website

Coding Rights

Coding Rights is a Brazilian-based think tank that aims to advance the enforcement of human rights in the digital world. Its goal is to ensure that policy-making affecting technological development and digital rights is informed by actual technological knowledge, and that technological development is guided by fundamental human rights.

Country of Operation

Region of Operation

Website

Digital Rights Foundation

Digital Rights Foundation (DRF) is a research and advocacy NGO based in Pakistan that focuses on how Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) can support human rights, democratic processes and digital governance. It works towards a world where all people, and especially women, are able to safely exercise their right of expression.

Country of Operation

Pakistan

Region of Operation

Asia

Website

DRF

Foundation for Media Alternatives

The Foundation for Media Alternatives (FMA) is a non-profit service institution that supports citizens and communities—in particular civil society organisations and other development stakeholders—in their strategic use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs). It was founded in 1987 and is based in Manila.

Country of Operation

Philippines

Region of Operation

Asia

Website

FMA

Fundación Karisma

Founded in 2003, Fundación Karisma is a civil society organisation dedicated to supporting and disseminating the good use of technologies in digital environments, social processes and public policies in Colombia and the region, with a human rights focus. It also undertakes legal and technological activism in coalitionwith local, regional and international partners.

Country of Operation

Colombia

Region of Operation

Website

Fundación Karisma

Hiperderecho

Hiperderecho is a non-profit Peruvian organisation dedicated to facilitating public understanding and promoting respect for rights and freedoms in digital environments. It seeks to spread the liberating capacity of technology to develop or enhance digital spaces so that all Peruvians can exercise their rights and strengthen their citizenship.

Country of Operation

Peru

Region of Operation

Website

Hiperderecho

Red en Defensa de los Derechos Digitales

The Red en Defensa de los Derechos Digitales (R3D) is a Mexican organisation dedicated to the defence of human rights in the digital environment. It uses various legal and communication tools for policy research, strategic litigation, and advocacy and campaigns, with particular attention to freedom of expression, privacy, and access to knowledge.

Country of Operation

Mexico

Region of Operation

Red en Defensa de los Derechos Digitales

Website

La Asociación de Tecnología, Educación, Desarrollo, Investigación, Comunicación (TEDIC)

La Asociación de Tecnología, Educación, Desarrollo, Investigación, Comunicación (TEDIC) is a Paraguayan non-governmental organisation that develops open civic technology, supported by its work in communications and alternative advocacy. It also promotes and defends digital rights in favour of a free Internet culture, with the aim of establishing a collaborative society where digital rights are exercised and respected.

Country of Operation

Paraguay

Region of Operation

Influence key stakeholders

Website

TEDIC

The Institute for Policy Research and Advocacy (ELSAM)

The Institute for Policy Research and Advocacy (ELSAM) is a civil society organisation that works to enhance the democratic political order in Indonesia by empowering civil society. Founded in 1993, it actively participates in efforts to promote human rights through policy and legal research, advocacy, and training.

Country of Operation

Indonesia

Region of Operation

Asia

Website

ELSAM

Unwanted Witness

Founded in 2012, Unwanted Witness is a Ugandan-based civil society organisation that seeks to create secure, uncensored online platforms for human rights activists. It aims to contribute to good governance through effective online activism, networking and capacity-building. It also advocates for the strengthening of mechanisms related to freedom of expression and accountability.

Country of Operation

Uganda

Region of Operation

Africa

Website

Unwanted Witness

Our campaign

Achieved Results

Following from this campaign, Google announced that the JioPhone Next, a new low-cost phone launched with Reliance in India, will receive the latest Android operating system and security updates.

Buying a brand new low-cost phone can leave you with an outdated operating system and exploitative apps.

When you buy a brand new lower cost phone (like a Tecno Y2 or MYA 2 for example), it's likely to come pre-installed with insecure apps and an outdated operating system. What this means is that your or your loved ones could be left vulnerable to security risks or to having their data exploited.

While buying the most recent iPhone can give you a secure operating system and reliable encryption, buying a brand new lower cost phone may leave you facing an array of security risks.

We don't think privacy should be a luxury. That's why we advocate for companies to provide the latest security features and privacy protections for low cost phones, as well as high cost phones.

Learn more

Being in a vulnerable situation should not involve greater exposure to government and corporate surveillance.

You might think you own your phone - but there is data on there you can't access, you can't delete, and possibly is being silently leaked to companies you've never heard of.

Lettre ouverte à Google

tech-admin — Tue, 07 Jan 2020 15:23:23 +0000

Target Profile

Google

Audiences and Purpose

Change

We campaign for solutions

We are building a global movement

Content

Advocacy

Summary

Privacy International et plus de 50 autres organisations ont soumis une lettre au PDG d'Alphabet Inc., Sundar Pichai, demandant à Google de prendre des mesures contre les logiciels préinstallés sur les appareils Android qui exploitent les données des utilisateurs.

Media

Pi-Android-mock-up-1-1-photo.png

Key points

Les personnes devraient pouvoir désinstaller sans restriction les applis sur leurs téléphones. Cela implique également toutes les fonctionnalités cachées qui continuent alors que l’appli est désactivée.
Les applis préinstallées devraient être examinées et validées selon le même protocole que les applis Play store, et notamment sur les autorisations du fabricant.
Les applis préinstallées devraient proposer une mise à jour systématique, de préférence via Google et sans compte d’utilisateur.
Google devrait refuser toute certification à un appareil qui ne répond pas à ces exigences de la vie privée, quand des fabricants ou des vendeurs ont tenté d’exploiter les données des utilisateurs sans leur consentement.

Vous pouvez trouver la lettre ci-dessous. Ajoutez votre voix à cette campagne en signant notre pétition si vous pensez qu'il est temps que Google cesse d'activer l'exploitation.

Ce contenu est également disponible en anglais et en espagnol.

Cher M. Pichai,

Nous, les organisations signataires, sommes d’accord avec vous :
la vie privée n’est pas un luxe, offert seulement à ceux qui en ont les moyens.

Pourtant, les « Android Partners » – qui utilisent la marque déposée Android – fabriquent des téléphones avec des applications préinstallées qui ne peuvent pas être supprimées (connues sous le nom de bloatware). Ces applis rendent les utilisateurs très vulnérables : leurs données sont collectées, partagées et exposées sans leur consentement ou même sans qu’ils en aient conscience.

Ces téléphones portent le label « Google Play Protect » alors qu’une étude montre que 91 % des applis préinstallées ne sont pas proposées sur Google Play – Google App Store.

Ces applis préinstallées peuvent avoir certaines autorisations du fabricant qui les laissent fonctionner en-dehors du système de sécurité Android. Ces autorisations, définies par l’appli elle-même (incluant l’accès au microphone, à la caméra et à la géolocalisation), ne déclenchent aucune notification d’alerte de sécurité d’Android. Les utilisateurs n’ont absolument pas connaissance de ces intrusions majeures.

Nous sommes préoccupés par le fait que les utilisateurs de téléphones bon marché sont livrés à ces pratiques commerciales inquiétantes dans le monde.

Les changements que nous demandons en urgence sont les suivants :

Les personnes devraient pouvoir désinstaller sans restriction les applis sur leurs téléphones. Cela implique également toutes les fonctionnalités cachées qui continuent alors que l’appli est désactivée.
Les applis préinstallées devraient être examinées et validées selon le même protocole que les applis Play store, et notamment sur les autorisations du fabricant.
Les applis préinstallées devraient proposer une mise à jour systématique, de préférence via Google et sans compte d’utilisateur.
Google devrait refuser toute certification à un appareil qui ne répond pas à ces exigences de la vie privée, quand des fabricants ou des vendeurs ont tenté d’exploiter les données des utilisateurs sans leur consentement.

Nous, les signataires, pensons que ces changements justes et raisonnables auraient un impact considérable pour des millions de personnes dans le monde, qui ne devraient pas avoir à renoncer à leur vie privée et à leur sécurité en achetant un smartphone.

Nous vous demandons, puisque vous êtes un acteur influent du système, de mieux protéger les personnes et d’empêcher les fabricants de les utiliser abusivement, dans cette course effrénée aux bas prix des smartphones.

Je vous prie d'agréer, Monsieur, l'expression de nos sentiments distingués.

American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)

Afghanistan Journalists Center (AFJC)

Americans for Democracy and Human Rights in Bahrain (ADHRB)

Amnesty International

Asociación por los Derechos Civiles (ADC)

Association for Progressive Communications (APC)

Association for Technology and Internet (ApTI)

Association of Caribbean Media Workers

Australian Privacy Foundation

Center for Digital Democracy

Centre for Intellectual Property and Information Technology Law (CIPIT)

Citizen D

Civil Liberties Union for Europe

Coding Rights

Consumer Association the Quality of Life-EKPIZO

Datos Protegidos

Digital Rights Foundation (DRF)

Douwe Korff, Emeritus Professor of International Law, London Metropolitan University and Associate of the Oxford Martin School, University of Oxford

DuckDuckGo

Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF)

Forbrukerrådet // Norwegian Consumer Council

Foundation for Media Alternatives

Free Media Movement (FMM)

Freedom Forum

Fundación Karisma

Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR)

Hiperderecho

Homo Digitalis

IJC Moldova

Initiative for Freedom of Expression- Turkey (IFox)

Irish Council for Civil Liberties

Media Foundation for West Africa

Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA)

Media Policy and Democracy Project (University of Johannesburg)

Media Policy Institute (MPI)

Media Watch

Metamorphosis Foundation for Internet and Society

Open Rights Group (ORG)

Palestinian Center For Development & Media Freedoms (MADA)

Panoptykon

Paradigm Initiative

PEN Canada

Philippine Alliance of Human Rights Advocates (PAHRA)

Privacy International

Public Citizen

Red en Defensa de los Derechos Digitales (R3D)

Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression (SCM)

TEDIC

The Danish Consumer Council

Country of Operation

Uganda

Region of Operation

Africa

Website

Unwanted Witness

Our campaign

Achieved Results

Following from this campaign, Google announced that the JioPhone Next, a new low-cost phone launched with Reliance in India, will receive the latest Android operating system and security updates.

Buying a brand new low-cost phone can leave you with an outdated operating system and exploitative apps.

While buying the most recent iPhone can give you a secure operating system and reliable encryption, buying a brand new lower cost phone may leave you facing an array of security risks.

We don't think privacy should be a luxury. That's why we advocate for companies to provide the latest security features and privacy protections for low cost phones, as well as high cost phones.

Learn more

Being in a vulnerable situation should not involve greater exposure to government and corporate surveillance.

You might think you own your phone - but there is data on there you can't access, you can't delete, and possibly is being silently leaked to companies you've never heard of.

Podcast: Sex and the Cyber

melissab — Thu, 07 Mar 2019 12:32:48 +0000

Language English

Creative Commons Photo Credit: Source

In the third episode of the Gender and Privacy Series, we talk about sex and privacy with two female activists: Sarah Jamie Lewis, an expert on the security of internet-connected sex toys, and Joana Varon, founder of the female-led Brazilian NGO Coding Rights.

Listen to the podcast here.

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What PI is fighting for

Realise Our Rights to Live with Dignity

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Health Tech In Sexual and Reproductive Rights

Gender

Location

Safeguarding Peoples' Dignity

Global South

Our fight

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Why data protection authorities are essential: A cautionary tale for Brazil

staff — Thu, 23 Aug 2018 12:31:04 +0000

Language English

This month Brazil adopted a new data protection law, joining the ranks of more than 120 countries which have adopted such legislation, providing individuals with rights against the exploitation of their personal data. But after a veto from the Brazilian president, the law lacks an independent authority in charge of its application, which can severely undermine its impact.

When drafting data protection bills, one of the most important and often politically contentious issue tends to be their enforcement. Given the challenges related with implementing these laws, independent data protection authorities have an invaluable role. They help to interpret the law and to monitor the activities of data controllers and processors to ensure they comply with their obligations. They also play a key role in investigating violations of rights , and ensuring there is a venue for redress, rendering these rights truly effective.

What is very clear at this point is that passing data protection laws without a data protection authority simply doesn’t work, and it is also completely insufficient to meet international standards, such as the Convention 108 of the Council of Europe and the OECD data protection guidelines, or regional standards such as the General Data Protection Regulation of the European Union.

That is the case of countries such as Paraguay or Chile, which approved data protection laws more than 15 years ago (2001 and 1999, respectively), and still haven’t created a data protection authority. While that is not the only defect of these laws (they also have many loopholes in the name of ‘industry’ and ‘innovation’), the lack of enforcement bodies in both countries means that legislation has failed to protect citizens from unabashed data exploitation.

We need to keep this cautionary tale in mind when discussing developments in other countries. Last week, Brazilian president Michel Temer signed a general data protection bill into law (English version here), after more than 8 years of public discussion. However, President Temer also vetoed key provisions of the new law, including those creating a new data protection authority (Articles 55-59 ), while also restricting administrative sanctions and limiting government accountability on data processing.

As the Brazilian Coalition for Rights in the Digital Environment reported, in the signing ceremony the Brazilian president explained that the veto was due to a technicality, and that he would send at the earliest convenience a new bill to create a data protection authority.

However, the current Brazilian government is running against the clock: in less than two months from now there will be presidential elections. Meanwhile, the general data protection law that will enter into force in February 2020 is still lacking an administrative authority, yet some articles (like art. 52) make references to such body.

There is still a lot to praise about the new law: it has a strong set of principles, rules for extraterritorial application, sound security provisions, regulation of cross-border data transfers, obligations to appoint data protection officers and to perform data protection impact assessments, among other positive features that are the fruit of years of public engagement and an active civil society intervening in the process.

But the success of all these positive features depend on whether they are actually enforced, and a key to this happening requires an independent, well-resourced data protection authority to guarantee effective implementation. Having the ability to initiate an investigation ex officio and providing redress for complaints is almost impossible without an independent authority. Providing technical guidance to data controllers and promoting public awareness are also tasks that cannot be done properly without having an independent agency whose mandate is to oversee enforcement.

While holding off on the celebrations, we give our support to civil society groups like the Brazilian Coalition for Rights in the Digital Environment (alongside our partner Coding Rights, who are also members of that coalition) to call for legislation that truly protects people.

An enforceable general data protection law requires an independent data protection authority, and the Brazilian government needs to comply with their promises. The clock is ticking.

Image obtained from here

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