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Content type: News & Analysis
Los frecuentes escándalos sobre el abuso de la vigilancia estatal en actividades de inteligencia, la exagerada obligación legal que tienen las empresas de telefonía de retener los datos de las comunicaciones de sus usuarios por cinco años o la manera como se diluye el concepto de privacidad en el Código de Policía serán parte del examen que se haga en el seno de la ONU sobre la forma como Colombia cumple sus compromisos de derechos humanos.
Dirigido por los Estados y con el auspicio del…
Content type: News & Analysis
In the lead-up to the 30th session of the Universal Periodic Review which took place on 10 May 2018, Fundación Karisma, a partner organisation in the Privacy International Network, joined a coalition of civil society groups in Colombia to raise more awareness about the country's human rights record.
As part of the joint effort, the coalition produced factsheets on various human rights in the Colombian context, including the right to privacy. It is available in both English and Spanish.
Content type: News & Analysis
El 10 de mayo de 2018, en el marco del 30º período de sesiones del Examen Periódico Universal (EPU) en el Consejo de Derechos Humanos de las Naciones Unidas, toca la revisión de Colombia, lo que es una oportunidad Colombia y otros Estados para declarar qué acciones han tomado para mejorar la situación de derechos humanos en sus propios países, para cumplir sus obligaciones internacionales en la materia.
Colombia se encuentra actualmente en un punto de inflexión, debido al proceso de transición…
Content type: News & Analysis
On 10 May 2018, Colombia’s human right record will be reviewed as part of the 30th session of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR), under the auspices of the Human Rights Council, which provides the opportunity for each State to declare what actions they have taken to improve the human rights situations in their countries and to fulfil their human rights obligations.
Colombia is at an important turning point in its history as it transitions from four decades of conflict. This provides…
Content type: Report
La seguridad digital es una discusión crítica y hay que reconocer que la sociedad civil y los grupos de interés público no han sido suficientemente considerados. Como respuesta, varias organizaciones de la sociedad civil de América Latina se unieron para presentar informes que recuerdan a las entidades estatales responsables de formulación de políticas públicas que la seguridad digital debe tener en cuenta la seguridad de las personas y los derechos humanos. Presentamos la serie, Derechos…
Content type: News & Analysis
Written by Karisma Foundation
7:03: Catalina leaves her apartment and a security camera follows her down the hall, another one observes her in the elevator while she fixes her hair. As she exits the building, the warden tells her she doesn’t have to fix her hair because she is already pretty as she is. She gets to the parking lot where another two cameras look at her while she gets into her car.
8:00: She is heading to an open data workshop organized by the Colombian government in a…
Content type: Advocacy
Este informe de terceras partes interesadas es una contribución escrita presentada por Dejusticia, Fundación Karisma y Privacy International (PI). Dejusticia es una organización de derechos humanos colombiana que brinda conocimientos especializados sobre derechos humanos. Fundación Karisma es una organización de la sociedad civil colombiana que busca dar respuesta a las oportunidades y a las amenazas que surgen en el contexto de la tecnología para el desarrollo para el ejercicio de los derechos…
Content type: Advocacy
This stakeholder report is a submission by Dejusticia, Fundación Karisma and Privacy International (PI). Dejusticia is a Colombian human rights organization that provides expert knowledge on human rights. Fundación Karisma is a Colombian civil society organization that seeks to respond to the opportunities and threats that arise in the context of ‘technology for development’ for the exercise of human rights. PI is a human rights organisation that works to advance and promote the right to…
Content type: Long Read
Privacy International is celebrating Data Privacy Week, where we’ll be talking about privacy and issues related to control, data protection, surveillance and identity. Join the conversation on Twitter using #dataprivacyweek.
Exercising the right to privacy extends to the ability of accessing and controlling our data and information, the way it is being handled, by whom, and for what purpose. This right is particularly important when it comes to control of how States perform these activities.…
Content type: Press release
The release of a new report by Privacy International exposes Colombia's intelligence agencies' previously unknown history of developing communications surveillance capabilities outside of lawful authority.
The report “Shadow State: Surveillance law and order in Colombia” reveals, via previously unreleased documents, the Colombian police agencies' and intelligence services' long history developing surveillance systems. Rather than building a well-regulated system of surveillance after Colombia…
Content type: News & Analysis
This blog was written by Fundación Karisma, a member of the Privacy International Network. It does not necessarily reflect the views or position of Privacy International.
The Colombian General Prosecutor said recently that the blocking of IMEI is not working. He is talking about a registry created in 2011 that aims to reduce cellphone theft by blocking reportedly stolen phones of Colombian networks.
Fundación Karisma has been following this program and now, after six years…
Content type: Advocacy
On 28 June 2017, Privacy International sent a letter and briefing to the Mexican government following reports indicating that Mexican authorities had used NSO Group’s Pegasus spyware to target journalists and human rights defenders working to expose government corruption and human rights abuses. NSO Group is a surveillance technology company that sells products and services, including malware, exclusively to government clients.
These attacks were designed to compromise the mobile phones of…
Content type: Press release
This week in Geneva, the UN Human Rights Committee will examine Colombia’s compliance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). This review, by a body of independent experts charged with monitoring compliance with the ICCPR, comes just weeks after the peace deal between President Juan Manuel Santos and Farc leader Timoleon Jimenez was rejected by voters and months after it was revealed that an investigative journalist was put under surveillance by the Colombian…
Content type: News & Analysis
A few weeks ago we wrote about a landmark opportunity the Mexican Supreme Court had to set a precedent by taking a strong stand against mass surveillance.
Last Wednesday, the Second Chamber of the Supreme Court of Mexico came to a disappointing decision for the protection of privacy, and for democracy in Mexico, by rejecting to challenge of the mass, unregulated, unchecked data retention provision that currently exists under the Federal Telecommunications Act. The …
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: Report
The right to privacy is a qualified right. Gender is not and cannot be its qualification.
For this year’s International Women’s Day, the Privacy International Network is sharing some of its successes as well as the challenges and opportunities we face in at the intersection of gender issues and the right to privacy. Click here to see this feature.
Interferences and violations of the right to privacy, as described in the UN Declaration of Human Rights, affect society as a whole. However,…
Content type: News & Analysis
A new illegal spying scandal in Colombia involving the National Police has brought about the resignation of the Chief of the National Police, set off an investigation by the country’s Inspector General and brought the issue of illegal surveillance by Colombian authorities back into the national discussion.
With another institution engulfed in a spying scandal, it begs the question: just how many more of these can Colombia take before something finally changes?
Privacy International’s report…
Content type: Advocacy
Article 17 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) provides for the right of every person to be protected against arbitrary or unlawful interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence as well as against unlawful attacks on his honour or reputation. Any interference with the right to privacy can only be justified if it is in accordance with the law, has a legitimate objective and is conducted in a way that is necessary and proportionate. Surveillance…
Content type: News & Analysis
Photo: Flickr/Elvert Barnes. Some rights reserved.
In the wider civil society space, the opportunities for travel come thick and fast. From the multi-stakeholder perspective, the Internet Governance Forum will be held during November in João Pessoa, Brazil. There is the Stockholm Internet Forum in, naturally, Stockholm. In freedom of expression there is the International Freedom of Expression Exchange Strategy Conference in Trinidad & Tobago, while End…
Content type: Press release
Privacy International's new report exposes the companies that have built the Colombian Government's controversial and highly invasive surveillance systems. The report “Demand/Supply: Exposing the Surveillance Industry in Colombia” shows the extensive dealings that companies from Israel, the UK, the USA, Finland, and New Zealand, among other countries, have had in supporting Colombian government agencies in purchasing surveillance equipment. Many of the company's customers were agencies that did…
Content type: News & Analysis
Over a dozen international companies are supplying powerful communications surveillance technology in Colombia, according to a Privacy International investigation released today featuring original documentation. Over the past few decades, companies primarily from Israel, the US, and the UK have worked with Colombian partners to expand the Government's surveillance capacities. This is despite evidence that the Government is undertaking unlawful surveillance of Colombians.
The…
Content type: Report
Over a dozen international companies are supplying powerful communications surveillance technology in Colombia. Privacy International examines the actors across the world involved in facilitating state surveillance.The report is available in English and Spanish.
Content type: Report
For nearly two decades, the Colombian government has been expanding its capacity to spy on the private communications of its citizens. Privacy International's investigation reveals the state of Colombia's overlapping, unchecked systems of surveillance, including mass surveillance, that are vulnerable to abuse.
See the report in English and Spanish.
Content type: News & Analysis
“We always assume we are being watched. It is part of our understanding,” explained Father Alberto. The clergyman knows what it's like to live under surveillance. Father Alberto is Executive Secretary of the Inter-ecclesiastical Commission for Justice and Peace in Colombia, which supports displaced and conflict-affected communities in their struggle for justice. The CIJP also works in the restive Urabá region, where they document and litigate on the links between neo-paramilitary groups,…
Content type: Press release
The release of a new report by Privacy International exposes Colombia's intelligence agencies' previously unknown history of developing communications surveillance capabilities outside of lawful authority.
The report “Shadow State: Surveillance law and order in Colombia” reveals, via previously unreleased documents, the Colombian police agencies' and intelligence services' long history developing surveillance systems. Rather than building a well-regulated system of surveillance after Colombia…
Content type: News & Analysis
Here are eight things we have learned from this week's hack of some 400GB of internal company material and correspondence from Italian surveillance company Hacking Team.
The Citizen Lab was right
The Citizen Lab, who in 2014 identified some 21 countries that are potential customers of Hacking Team, were right about all of them. A 2015 report stated that there was likely to be more. In fact, at least 45 countries are purchasers of Hacking Team's…
Content type: News & Analysis
In a recent trip to Colombia, Privacy International learned that the Colombian mobile phone network does not use any form of encryption. In this sense, Colombian communications are stuck in the 1990s, where cryptography was not yet widespread, and was still tightly controlled by governments who feared its spread could threaten their capabilities to conduct surveillance.
The issue of encryption on mobile phones though is not unique to Colombia. The Director of the FBI has been on a media blitz…
Content type: News & Analysis
In the coming year, the elections to be held in Nigeria, Indonesia, Turkey, Ethiopia, Mexico, and Tunisia will be closely watched. Not only will the international community be monitoring the elections, but domestic governments could be monitoring their own citizens at the ballot box.
When courageous citizens brave uncertain political and societal contexts to exercise one of their fundamental human rights - the right to vote - they will rely on another fundamental human right - privacy. Privacy…
Content type: News & Analysis
This year, an advanced surveillance system called the "Platform for Unified Monitoring and Analysis" will come online in Colombia. Frustrated with the the previous system, Esperanza, which only monitored telecommunications activity, the Colombian authorities turned to PUMA (Plataforma Única de Monitoreo y Análisis), a system that will allow them to monitor both telecommunications traffic and IP traffic in one source. The system, now based on Police property in Western Bogota, will now be…