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

Content

Summary

PI submitted with TEDIC a joint stakeholder report on the state of privacy in view of Paraguay's review at the 38th session of the UPR.

Media

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Key points

Paraguay must review its legal framework to comply with the right to privacy including its laws regulating communications surveillance and intelligence activities.
Paraguay must adopt a comprehensive and robust data protection law to regulate the processing of personal data, and protect people.
Any extraordinary measures adopted to respond and tackle COVID19 must be in line with human rights law and standards, and that public health is not used as a justification to undermine and curtail disproportionally fundamental rights and freedoms.

This report is presented by TEDIC (Technology and Community Association) and Privacy International (PI). TEDIC is a non-governmental, non-profit organization, based in Asunción, that promotes and defends human rights on the Internet and extends its networking to Latin America. PI is a London based human rights organization that works globally at the intersection of modern technologies and rights.

TEDIC and PI wish to express some concerns about the protection and promotion of the right to privacy, to be considered in the next review of Paraguay, in the 38th session of the Working Group of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR).

Repeating Image and Text

Location

Paraguay

More about our partner

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

Region of Operation

Website

Our impact

Recognition of Privacy in UN Human Rights Mechanisms

We got the UN to address and build on the right to privacy.

Learn more

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

The range of topics PI explores, focusing on powers and capabilities of governments.

As digital communications grow, governments continue to seek new ways of getting access to content and metadata.

Facial Recognition is a technology that matches captured images with other facial images held, for example, in databases or "watchlists". It is an extremely intrusive form of surveillance and can seriously undermine our freedoms and eventually our society as a whole.

Accessing social protection programmes should not mean signing up to systems of surveillance.

Democratic engagement is increasingly mediated by digital technology, from campaigning to election results transmission. These technologies rely on collecting, storing, and analysing personal information to operate. They raise novel issues and challenges for all electoral stakeholders on how to protect our data from exploitation.

The data generated through peoples' use of social media becomes valuable intelligence to others, who want to monitor, profile, and manipulate.

Data Protection laws seek to protect people's data by providing individuals with rights over their data, imposing rules on the way in which companies and governments use data, and establishing regulators to enforce the laws.

Our fight

Contesting Government Data and System Exploitation

The unprecedented surveillance capabilities of governments outstrip the safeguards for our rights. Governments are innovating on how to expand exploitation.

Expose Public-Private surveillance partnerships

Modernise the Rule of Law and Strengthen Surveillance Safeguards

Around the world, Privacy International is fighting against the most intrusive surveillance laws and campaigning to make sure they protect people’s privacy.

Investigate Surveillance Powers and the Industry Sustaining Them

Government surveillance is enabled by an industry seeking to deploy their technology across the world.

Data and Elections

Democratic society is under threat from a range of players exploiting our data in ways which are often hidden and unaccountable.

Protect People and Communities Online

The business choices made by industry are resulting in individuals and communities being exposed to unwarranted threats.

Realise Our Rights to Live with Dignity

Governments are embracing systems that would enable them to progressively realise social, economic and cultural rights; many of these systems interfere with individuals’ privacy.

Open Letter to Facebook and Google

tech-admin — Thu, 28 Jan 2021 15:49:02 +0000

Target Profile

Google

Facebook

Audiences and Purpose

We campaign for solutions

Change

Content

ryul-davidson-PcyrQsX5f4w-unsplash.jpg

Summary

Privacy International is part of a 60+ coalition calling on Facebook and Google to provide equal and better transparency regarding political advertising on their platforms globally.

Media

Key points

We believe it is necessary for both Google and Facebook to:

Accelerate the expansion of full transparency tools to all countries where you operate to ensure that the least favoured countries benefit from the same level of transparency as the most favoured countries
Develop, and make public, a plan of action setting out commitments and related timescales to roll out full transparency tools globally
Disclose the full array of criteria, both past and present, used to select countries qualifying for higher transparency standards

This letter is also available in Spanish.

Dear Mr. Zuckerberg and Mr. Pichai,

In the past few years, you have pioneered important transparency tools to help your platform users understand, learn about and contextualise the political advertising they see. We agree that advertiser verification processes and ad repositories are key safeguards against online manipulation and misinformation. However, we are saddened to observe that these benefits have not been equally distributed among your global user base.
Each platform operates fluctuating and often widely differing transparency standards for different countries. While some users benefit from seeing political advertising in an ad repository, others do not. Where some users are offered detailed information about a political ad, others are not. There are no legitimate or otherwise publicly disclosed reasons justifying this difference in treatment.
The combined effect of these inconsistent policies is to create a two-tiered user base within each platform, with a wide regulatory gap separating the transparency haves and have-nots. We first highlighted these problems in 2019. While some progress has been made since, we are disappointed to conclude that the transparency divide persists.
Online transparency should not be a privilege of the few, but the right of all. To that end, the changes we believe are necessary are as follows:

Accelerate the expansion of full transparency tools to all countries where you operate to ensure that the least favoured countries benefit from the same level of transparency as the most favoured countries
Develop, and make public, a plan of action setting out commitments and related timescales to roll out full transparency tools globally
Disclose the full array of criteria, both past and present, used to select countries qualifying for higher transparency standards

The above changes, which we believe to be fair and reasonable, are only a starting point to begin to correct the current platform-created inequality between users. By contrast, the benefits are conclusive: heightened transparency standards for millions of users worldwide, and increased legitimacy of online political advertising for the sake of fair and informed decision-making by voters.
We urge you to take responsibility as two of the most influential platforms in online political campaigning, and empower users and voters with heightened ads transparency.

Yours sincerely,

Access Now
Africa Freedom of Information Centre (AFIC)
Aliansi Jurnalis Independen/Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI)
Amnesty International
ApTI
Article 19
Artículo 19 México y Centroamérica
Asociación por los Derechos Civiles
Asociación para una Ciudadanía Participativa, ACI Participa
Associação Data Privacy Brasil de Pesquisa
Asociación para el Progreso de las Comunicaciones (APC)
Association for International Affairs (AMO) in Prague
Association pour le Developpement Integré et la Solidarité Interactive (ADISI-C)
Citizen D
Centre for Independent Journalism Malaysia (CIJ-M)
Collaboration on International ICT Policy for East and Southern Africa (CIPESA)
Civil Liberties Union for Europe
Bytes for All (B4A)
Datos Protegidos
Defend Democracy
Dejusticia
Democracy Reporting International (DRI)
Derechos Digitales
Digital Rights Foundation
ELSAM
Electronic Frontier Finland
Electronic Frontier Norway
epicenter.works
EU Disinfo Lab
Fundación Acceso
Fundación Huaira de Quito-Ecuador
Fundación Internet Bolivia
Fundación Karisma
Freedom Forum
Free Media Movement (FMM)
Global Forum for Media Development
Global Witness
Hiperderecho
Homo Digitalis
Instituto Brasileiro de Defesa do Consumidor
InternetLab
Intervozes - Coletivo Brasil de Comunicação Social
IPANDETEC Centroamérica
Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL)
Laboratorio de Datos y Sociedad (DATYSOC)
Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA)
Media Institute of Southern Africa MISA- Zimbabwe
Media Matters for Democracy
Merit Legal Advocacy & Human Rights Initiative (MELAHRI)
OBSERVACOM
Paradigm Initiative (PIN)
Privacy International
R3D: Red en Defensa de los Derechos Digitales
SFLC.in
Stiftung Neue Verantwortung (SNV)
Sursiendo, Comunicación y Cultura Digital AC
TEDIC
The Tor Project
Unwanted Witness
Usuarios Digitales
Venezuela Inteligente
Who Targets Me
World Wide Web Foundation
Xnet

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

Region of Operation

Website

Dejusticia

The Center for Law, Justice and Society (Dejusticia) is a Colombia-based NGO that works to strengthen the rule of law and promote human rights in Colombia and across the developing world. It produces research to contribute to action for social change, and carries out advocacy through campaigns, litigation, education and capacity-building.

Country of Operation

Region of Operation

Website

Dejusticia

Derechos Digitales

Founded in 2005, Derechos Digitales is a non-profit organisation based in Chile that works across Latin America. Its main objective is the development, defense and promotion of human rights in the digital environment. Its work focuses on issues around freedom of expression, privacy and personal data, and copyright and access to knowledge.

Country of Operation

Chile

Region of Operation

Website

Derechos Digitales

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

Website

DRF

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

Region of Operation

Website

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

InternetLab

InternetLab is an independent research center that aims to foster academic debate around issues involving law and technology, especially internet policy. Our goal is to conduct interdisciplinary impactful research and promote dialogue among academics, professionals and policymakers. We follow an entrepreneurial nonprofit model, which embraces our pursuit of producing scholarly research in the manner and spirit of an academic think tank. As a nexus of expertise in technology, public policy and social sciences, our research agenda covers a wide range of topics, including privacy, freedom of speech, gender and technology.

Country of Operation

Brazil

Region of Operation

Website

InternetLab

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)

Country of Operation

Region of Operation

Website

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

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

PI is campaigning for 1) platforms to give all users heightened ad transparency and 2) for transparency into targeting and funding of ads to be meaningful.

The role of social media and search platforms in political campaigning and elections has come under scrutiny. Concerns range from the spread of disinformation, to profiling of users without their knowledge, to micro-targeting of users with tailored messages, to interference by foreign entities, and more. Significant attention has been paid to the transparency of political ads, and more broadly to the transparency of online ads.

Notably, in the lead up to the 2019 EU Parliamentary elections Facebook, Google, and Twitter, as well as the Interactive Advertising Bureau and others, agreed to take a series of steps to prevent online disinformation on their respective platforms. These measures are reflected in a self-regulatory Code of Practice on Disinformation and the companies provided the European Commission with monthly updates on their progress.

PI is campaigning for 1) platforms to give all users heightened ad transparency and 2) for transparency into targeting and funding of ads to be meaningful.

Learn more

Tedic - Emergencies should not be a 'blank check'

staff — Wed, 20 May 2020 10:43:47 +0000

Tedic - Emergencies should not be a 'blank check' staff Wednesday, May 20, 2020

Our partners from Tedic in Paraguay analysed different tech proposals from the Paraguayan government, saying that emergencies are not a 'blank check' for them to do whatever they want (in Spanish).

Link: https://www.tedic.org/noesunchequeenblanco/

Location

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

More about our partner

See more examples

Tracking the Global Response to COVID-19

Civil society's Covid response

Viruswashing

Date

Tuesday, April 7, 2020

Content

Educational

Stories

Tedic - will the use of drones help to fight the pandemic?

staff — Wed, 20 May 2020 10:41:59 +0000

Tedic - will the use of drones help to fight the pandemic? staff Wednesday, May 20, 2020

Our partners from Tedic in Paraguay analysed a government proposal to use drones to enforce the lockdown measures in that country (in Spanish).

Link: https://www.tedic.org/uso-de-drones-covid19/

Location

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

Learn more

Drones Surveillance

More about our partner

See more examples

Apps and Covid-19

Civil society's Covid response

Quarantine enforcement and Covid-19

Date

Wednesday, April 22, 2020

Content

Educational

Stories

Presentación de información a la Relatoría Especial de Derechos Económicos, Sociales, Culturales y Ambientales (DESCA) de la Comisión Interamericana de Derechos Humanos (CIDH) sobre la situación de los DESCA en la región

tech-admin — Mon, 24 Feb 2020 17:49:45 +0000

Date

Tuesday, February 4, 2020

Language

Spanish

Audiences and Purpose

Content

Summary

PI y sus partners acogen el llamado de la Relatoría Especial de la Comisión Interamericana de Derechos Humanos (CIDH) sobre la situación de los Derechos Económicos, Sociales, Culturales y Ambientales en la región.

Media

iachr sp cover.jpg

Key points

El uso de la tecnología y los datos para la realización de los derechos económicos, sociales, culturales y ambientales debe tener en cuenta desde el principio las salvaguardas y garantías del debido proceso.
Una postura firme contra la explotación de datos es esencial para cuestionar la dinámica de poder actual y garantizar la dignidad y la autonomía de las personas.

TEDIC, InternetLab, Derechos Digitales, la Fundación Karisma, Dejusticia, la Asociación por los Derechos Civiles y Privacy International acogen el llamado de la Relatoría Especial sobre Derechos Económicos, Sociales, Culturales y Ambientales (DESCA) de la Comisión Interamericana de Derechos Humanos (CIDH) de enviar información para la elaboración del Informe Anual sobre DESCA del año 2019, que se presentará ante la Organización de los Estados Americanos (OEA) en 2020.

El objeto de este documento es describir acontecimientos ocurridos en la región en áreas claves de interés que los coautores de la presentación han observado en relación con la realización progresiva de los Derechos Económicos, Sociales, Culturales y Ambientales (DESCA), especialmente respecto al uso de datos y tecnología en conexión con el acceso y el goce de estos derechos.

El uso de la tecnología y los datos para la realización de los derechos económicos, sociales, culturales y ambientales plantea, entre otros puntos, interrogantes clave en relación con la protección, el respeto y la promoción del derecho a la privacidad consagrado en el artículo 11 de la Convención Americana sobre Derechos Humanos, en el artículo 17 del Pacto Internacional de Derechos Civiles y Políticos y en el artículo 12 de la Declaración Universal de Derechos Humanos. Puesto que los sistemas que están siendo implementados interfieren con la privacidad de las personas, deben cumplir el principio de legalidad y, además, ser necesarios y proporcionales al objetivo legítimo que pretenden alcanzar. Aparte de la falta de protección de las personas y sus datos cuando interactúan con los sistemas implantados, éstos también tienen repercusiones en la no discriminación y la igualdad.

En su informe anual a la Asamblea General de las Naciones Unidas sobre el estado de bienestar digital y los derechos humanos, el Relator Especial de las Naciones Unidas sobre la extrema pobreza y los derechos humanos presentó tres observaciones que, como se destaca en las áreas de interés descritas en esta presentación de información, también deberían ser tenidas en cuenta por la Relatoría Especial sobre Derechos Económicos, Sociales, Culturales y Ambientales (DESCA), incluido que los gobiernos corren el riego de “desembocar, sin ser conscientes de ello, en una distopía de bienestar digital”, que “las grandes empresas tecnológicas [a menudo llamadas ‘big tech’] actúan en una esfera en la que los derechos humanos están prácticamente ausentes”, y que “en lugar de obsesionarse con el fraude, el ahorro, las sanciones y las definiciones de eficiencia determinadas por el mercado, el punto de partida sea cómo transformar los presupuestos de asistencia social mediante la tecnología para mejorar el nivel de vida de las personas vulnerables y desfavorecidas”.

Indiscutiblemente, la tecnología puede ayudar a que los gobiernos cumplan su obligación de realizar los derechos económicos, sociales, culturales y ambientales y a que resuelvan algunos de los desafíos fundamentales que enfrentan al hacerlo con el fin de garantizar que las personas y las comunidades vivan con dignidad, pero es necesario tener en cuenta desde el principio las salvaguardas y garantías del debido proceso a fin de identificar y mitigar los riesgos y permitir el acceso a la reparación.

Este primer llamado de la Relatoría Especial sobre los Derechos Económicos, Sociales, Culturales y Ambientales es un importante primer paso, que brinda la oportunidad de dibujar el panorama actual de la situación de los DESCA en la región. Esperamos que conduzca a la adopción de medidas concretas adicionales que aborden las temáticas planteadas en este documento, y a la adopción de medidas por parte de los gobiernos, la industria y terceros para velar por el respeto, la promoción y la protección de los derechos económicos, sociales, culturales y ambientales en la región.

Una postura firme contra la explotación de datos es esencial para cuestionar la dinámica de poder actual, garantizar la dignidad y la autonomía de las personas y evitar nuevas violaciones de los derechos y las libertades fundamentales.

This submission is available in English.

Repeating Image and Text

More about our partner

La Asociación por los Derechos Civiles

Country of Operation

Region of Operation

Website

Dejusticia

Country of Operation

Region of Operation

Website

Dejusticia

Derechos Digitales

Country of Operation

Chile

Region of Operation

Website

Derechos Digitales

Fundación Karisma

Country of Operation

Region of Operation

Website

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

Country of Operation

Region of Operation

Website

Target Stakeholders

United Nations
- Human Rights Council
- Special Procedures
- Treaty bodies
- Universal Periodic Reviews
African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights
Inter-American Commission on Human Rights
EU Fundamental Rights Agency
National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs)

Our campaign

Rising concerns around austerity, transparency, efficiency and financial management have fed into a narrative of technology as a magic cure-all to socio-economic and political issues.

Almost all of us will, at some point in our lives, interact with the state to ask for some form of benefit. Whether you are a child relying on the assistance of child services, or you're sick and need healthcare, or you receive unemployment benefits, or you're disabled and need support, or you need financial assistance to pay rent, or you're retired and receive a pension.

Rising concerns around austerity, transparency, efficiency and financial management have fed into a narrative of technology as a magic cure-all to socio-economic and political issues. Newly established or reformed social protection programmes have gradually become founded and reliant on the collection and processing of vast amounts of personal data; often access and management is tied to the provision of unique identifier; and increasingly the models for decision-making include data exploitation and components of automated-decision making and profiling.

We work with others to ensure protection of and stop the exploitation of patient data because accessing reproductive healthcare should not require giving up your human rights, including privacy.

As access to reproductive healthcare becomes increasingly digitalised, companies and governments must ensure that the digital systems are built with people's human rights considered and protected.

There has been a notable increase in the digitalisation of health initiatives across the world. Accessing reproductive healthcare oftentimes requires interacting with a digitalised system that in some way collects vast amounts of personal information. For example, digital initiatives such as SMS appointment scheduling, remote access to care and counselling, health workers using a mobile phone to track an individual pregnant mother over the cycle of pregnancy, or a child over his/her cycle of immunization, and the use of mobile applications, sensors, wearable devices and others, all collect personal information.

But those developing these systems do not always consider the impact they will have on those who will use the systems, and how best to protect the information once it's collected.

The absence of human rights considerations, including privacy, in the implementation of these types of services can cause short- and long-term harm to the people trying to access the services.

This campaign aims to bring attention to digital health initiatives that have failed to consider the impact of these systems, and how to ensure they protect and respect the rights of those they serve.

We advocate for changes to be made to those systems and for the development of future systems to take a human rights-based approach. Like in many other sectors, technology can help and contribute to improving the rights of people. But with it also come risks, especially if a system is poorly designed, whether intentionally or not.

Learn more

Accessing public services should not mean signing up to systems of surveillance.

Surveillance and data exploitation affect us all, but by learning about the unique experiences and challenges faced by LGBTIQ+ populations we can better understand how patriarchy and systems of oppression function.

Surveillance and data exploitation affect us all, but by learning about the unique experiences and challenges faced by women, trans and gender diverse people, we can better understand how patriarchy and systems of oppression function.

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

Migrants are bearing the burden and losing agency in their migration experience: their fate is being put in the hands of systems that are feeding the surveillance and data exploitation ecosystem.

Accessing social protection programmes should not mean signing up to systems of surveillance.

Being able to assert who we are and what claims we have can be empowering. But identity checks are increasingly conducted and required, both with and without our knowledge.

The data generated through peoples' use of social media becomes valuable intelligence to others, who want to monitor, profile, and manipulate.

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.

The use of technology and data in the realisation of economic, social and cultural rights raises, among others, some key concerns in relation to the protection, respect and promotion of the right to privacy.

Our fight

Safeguarding Peoples' Dignity

The promises made with innovation have not been enjoyed by all equally. Innovative solutions can be designed to empower and serve individuals and communities, rather than state and corporate power. A new approach to data and technology must be established to make this a reality.

Realise Our Rights to Live with Dignity

Governments are embracing systems that would enable them to progressively realise social, economic and cultural rights; many of these systems interfere with individuals’ privacy.

Submission to the Special Rapporteurship on Economic, Social, Cultural and Environmental Rights (ESCER) of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) regarding the situation of ESCER in the region

tech-admin — Mon, 24 Feb 2020 17:49:28 +0000

Date

Tuesday, February 4, 2020

Audiences and Purpose

Content

Summary

PI and global partners respond to call of Special Rapporteur of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights on situation economic, social, cultural and environmental rights in the region.

Media

iachr eng cover.jpg

Key points

The use of technology and data in the realisation of economic, social, cultural and environmental rights must be accompanied by strong safeguards and due process.
A strong stand against data exploitation is essential to challenge current power dynamics to ensure people’s dignity and autonomy.

TEDIC, InternetLab, Derechos Digitales, Fundación Karisma, Dejusticia, Asociación por los Derechos Civiles and Privacy International welcome the call made by the Special Rapporteurship on Economic, Social, Cultural and Environmental Rights (ESCER) of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) to inform the preparation of the Annual Report of the ESCER for the year 2019, which will be presented to the Organization of American States (OAS) during 2020.

This submission aims to outline developments from around the region as they relate to key areas of concern observed by the co-submitters in relation to the progressive realisation of Economic, Social, Cultural and Environmental Rights (ESCER), in particular with regards to the use of data and technology in relation to the access and enjoyment of these rights.

The use of technology and data in the realisation of economic, social, cultural and environmental rights raises some key concerns in relation to, among others, the protection, respect and promotion of the right to privacy as provided for under Article 11 of the American Convention on Human Rights, Article 17 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and Article 12 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. As the systems being deployed interfere with individuals’ privacy, they need to comply with the principle of legality and be necessary and proportionate to the legitimate aim they are trying to achieve. Beyond the failure to protect individuals and their data as they interact with the systems put in place, these also have implications for non-discrimination and equality.

In his annual report to the UN General Assembly on digital welfare states and human rights, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights presented three observations which, as highlighted by the areas of concern outlined in this submission, must also be taken into account by the Special Rapporteurship on Economic, Social, Cultural and Environmental Rights (ESCER) including that governments were risking of “stumbling, zombie-like, into a digital welfare dystopia”, that “big technology companies (frequently referred to as “big tech”) operate in an almost human rights-free zone”, and that “instead of obsessing about fraud, cost savings, sanctions, and market-driven definitions of efficiency, the starting point should be on how welfare budgets could be transformed through technology to ensure a higher standard of living for the vulnerable and disadvantaged.”

There is no question that technology can help governments to address their obligations to realise economic, social, cultural and environmental rights and some of the key challenges they face in doing so to ensure individuals and communities live with dignity, but safeguards and due process guarantees need to be taken into account from the outset in order to identify and mitigate risks, and provide access to redress.

This first call from the Special Rapporteurship on Economic, Social, Cultural and Environmental Rights is an important first step which provides the opportunity to map out the current panorama of the current situation of the ESCER in the region. We hope that it will lead to further concrete actions to address the issues raised in this submission and to call for measures to be taken by governments, industry, and other third parties to ensure the respect, promotion and protection of economic, social, cultural and environmental rights in the region.

A strong stand against data exploitation is essential to challenge current power dynamics, to ensure people’s dignity and autonomy, and to prevent further violations of fundamental rights and freedoms.

Este documento está disponible en español.

Repeating Image and Text

More about our partner

La Asociación por los Derechos Civiles

Country of Operation

Region of Operation

Website

Dejusticia

Country of Operation

Region of Operation

Website

Dejusticia

Derechos Digitales

Country of Operation

Chile

Region of Operation

Website

Derechos Digitales

Fundación Karisma

Country of Operation

Region of Operation

Website

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

Country of Operation

Region of Operation

Website

Target Stakeholders

Our campaign

Rising concerns around austerity, transparency, efficiency and financial management have fed into a narrative of technology as a magic cure-all to socio-economic and political issues.

We work with others to ensure protection of and stop the exploitation of patient data because accessing reproductive healthcare should not require giving up your human rights, including privacy.

As access to reproductive healthcare becomes increasingly digitalised, companies and governments must ensure that the digital systems are built with people's human rights considered and protected.

But those developing these systems do not always consider the impact they will have on those who will use the systems, and how best to protect the information once it's collected.

The absence of human rights considerations, including privacy, in the implementation of these types of services can cause short- and long-term harm to the people trying to access the services.

Learn more

Accessing public services should not mean signing up to systems of surveillance.

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

Accessing social protection programmes should not mean signing up to systems of surveillance.

Being able to assert who we are and what claims we have can be empowering. But identity checks are increasingly conducted and required, both with and without our knowledge.

The data generated through peoples' use of social media becomes valuable intelligence to others, who want to monitor, profile, and manipulate.

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.

Our fight

Safeguarding Peoples' Dignity

Realise Our Rights to Live with Dignity

Governments are embracing systems that would enable them to progressively realise social, economic and cultural rights; many of these systems interfere with individuals’ privacy.

An open letter to Google

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

Target Profile

Google

Audiences and Purpose

We campaign for solutions

Change

Content

Pi-Android-mock-up-3-1-photo correct.png

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

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

Country of Operation

Region of Operation

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

Brazil

Region of Operation

Website

Coding Rights

Digital Rights Foundation

Country of Operation

Pakistan

Region of Operation

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

Website

FMA

Fundación Karisma

Country of Operation

Region of Operation

Website

Hiperderecho

Country of Operation

Peru

Region of Operation

Website

Hiperderecho

Red en Defensa de los Derechos Digitales

Country of Operation

Mexico

Region of Operation

Red en Defensa de los Derechos Digitales

Website

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

Country of Operation

Region of Operation

Website

The Institute for Policy Research and Advocacy (ELSAM)

Country of Operation

Indonesia

Region of Operation

Website

ELSAM

Unwanted Witness

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

We campaign for solutions

Change

Content

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

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

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

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

Country of Operation

Region of Operation

Website

Coding Rights

Country of Operation

Brazil

Region of Operation

Website

Coding Rights

Digital Rights Foundation

Country of Operation

Pakistan

Region of Operation

Website

DRF

Foundation for Media Alternatives

Country of Operation

Philippines

Region of Operation

Website

FMA

Fundación Karisma

Country of Operation

Region of Operation

Website

Hiperderecho

Country of Operation

Peru

Region of Operation

Website

Hiperderecho

Red en Defensa de los Derechos Digitales

Country of Operation

Mexico

Region of Operation

Red en Defensa de los Derechos Digitales

Website

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

Country of Operation

Region of Operation

Website

The Institute for Policy Research and Advocacy (ELSAM)

Country of Operation

Indonesia

Region of Operation