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Content type: Advocacy
3rd March 2021
Background
Giphy is a searchable database for Graphic Interchange Format (‘GIF’) files, stickers, emojis, text, videos and Arcade (remixable video games). This database can be queried through the Giphy search engine, either via its main website (giphy.com), its API or its SDK. Content obtained can then be shared via their URL or be integrated in another service such as a website or an app. Well known integrations of Giphy include messaging services like Whatsapp, Slack, Signal, Telegram, or…
Content type: Long Read
19th January 2021
Political parties depend on data to drive their campaigns, from deciding where to hold rallies, which campaign messages to focus on in which area, and how to target supporters, undecided voters and non-supporters, including with ads on social media. Political parties increasingly hire private companies to do the bulk of this work, and our primary concern is how these companies use personal data to “profile” people and drive election campaigning.
As part of PI’s programme of work on Defending…
Content type: Advocacy
17th July 2020
Identification systems across the world increasingly rely on biometric data. In the context of border management, security and law enforcement, biometric data can play an important role in supporting the investigation and prevention of acts of terrorism.
This Briefing aims to map out some of the implications of the adoption of identification systems based on biometrics.
Content type: Advocacy
1st July 2020
Privacy International responded to the call for submissions on Zimbabwe’s Cyber Security and Data Protection Bill, 2019.
According to its Memorandum, the Bill seeks to “consolidate cyber related offences and provide for data protection with due regard to the Declaration of Rights under the Constitution and the public and national interest.” The Bill also proposes the establishment of a Cyber Security Centre and a Data Protection Authority.
In its submission, PI applauds the positive aspects…
Content type: Video
23rd June 2020
Immediately following the UK general election in December 2019, we worked with Open Rights Group to commission a YouGov poll about public understanding and public opinion about the use of data-driven campaigning in elections.
The poll used a representative sample of 1,664 adults across the UK population.
'Data-driven political campaigning' is about using specific data about you to target specific messages at you. So, for this might involve knowing that you are, for example, likely to have…
Content type: Call to Action
18th June 2020
Google wants to know everything about you.
It already holds a massive trove of data about you, but by announcing its plans to acquire the health and fitness tracker company Fitbit, it now clearly wants to get its hands on your health too. We don’t think any company should be allowed to accumulate this much intimate information about you. This is why we’re trying to stop its merger with Fitbit.
Google and Fitbit need the European Commission’s approval before they can merge. The merger would…
Content type: News & Analysis
22nd May 2020
GDPR was hard won. PI, together with other civil society actors, fought from the beginning for a version of the law that offers the strongest rights and protections in the face of intense industry lobbying.
Holding the hidden data ecosystem to account
Two years ago, we committed to using GDPR to seek to hold to account the hidden data ecosystem - those companies that amass and exploit large amounts of our data for profit.
Here’s some of the action we’ve taken:
In Nov 2018, after months of…
Content type: Advocacy
23rd April 2020
Background
In February 2020, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) commenced an investigation into the proposed acquisition of Fitbit by Google, which was originally announced in November 2019.
Google, whose parent company, Alphabet, in 2018, generated 85% of its $136.22 billion in revenue from delivering targeted advertisements, has a past of competition law infringements in the European Union. Fitbit is a company that produces and sells health tracking technologies and…
Content type: Long Read
3rd March 2020
Commercial interests seem to often overshadow the EU’s stance as a global privacy leader. After looking at Europes's shady funds to border forces in the Sahel area, Niger's new biometric voting system, and attempts to dismantle smugglers networks powered by Europe's gifts of surveillance, freelance journalist Giacomo Zandonini looks at the battle for data protection and digital rights in the continent.
What do a teenage labourer on a marijuana farm in Lesotho, a retired school teacher in…
Content type: Advocacy
24th February 2020
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…
Content type: News & Analysis
6th February 2020
On 30 January 2020, Kenya’s High Court handed down its judgment on the validity of the implementation of the National Integrated Identity Management System (NIIMS), known as the Huduma Namba. Privacy International submitted an expert witness testimony in the case. We await the final text of the judgment, but the summaries presented by the judges in Court outline the key findings of the Court. Whilst there is much there that is disappointing, the Court found that the implementation of NIIMS…
Content type: Advocacy
9th July 2019
In March 2019, Privacy International responded to a call for evidence for an inquiry by the UK Parliament's Joint Committee on Human Rights into "The Right to Privacy (Article 8) and the Digital Revolution".
Our suggestions included that, the human rights framework should support:
Increasing individuals’ control over their data to encourage the design of technologies that protect peoples’ autonomy and privacy.
Increasing security to result in more rights and protections for…
Content type: Advocacy
5th July 2019
In April, the UK government published what it called "plans for a world-leading package of online safety measures that also supports innovation and a thriving digital economy".
The White Paper which sets out plans for establishing in law a new duty of care towards users, overseen by a new regulatory body, aimed at making companies more accountable when it comes to illegal activity and content deemed "harmful", but not illegal.
As part of the plans, a public consultation was launched.
While…
Content type: Advocacy
14th June 2019
In early June 2019, PI engaged in the UK's Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation consultation regarding online targeting. PI focused its submission on the use of targeting in online political and issue-based advertising, and the collection and use of data to target people online.
In considering the impact of online targeting, it is essential that the Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation have due regard for privacy as a fundamental right (as enshrined in UK, European, and International Law).…
Content type: Advocacy
30th April 2019
Consultation Submission
In March 2019, Privacy International submitted a response to a consultation on Disinformation in Electoral Contexts, led by the Office of the Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights together with the Department of Electoral Cooperation and Observation (DECO) and the Department of International Law (DIL) of the Organisation of American States (OAS).
In our submission we highlighted the importance of minmising data…
Content type: Advocacy
30th April 2019
In December 2018, PI responded to the UK Information Commissioner's (ICO) Call for Views on a Code of Practice for the use of personal information in political campaigns.
The consultation followed on from the ICO's policy report Democracy Disrupted?, published in July 2018, which recommended that the Government should legislate at the earliest opportunity to introduce a statutory Code of Practice under the Data Protection Act 2018 for the use of personal information in campaigns.
Although not…
Content type: Advocacy
19th December 2018
Since 2014 the Indonesian Ministry of Communication and Informatics (MOCI) has been proposing that the Parliament passes a comprehensive data protection law. A first draft data protection law was issued by the Government for public comment in 2015 but no progress was made, and then in early 2018, the Indonesian Government issued a new draft personal data protection law.
While these renewed efforts have positive intentions, a number of concerns ought to be addressed with the aim of…
Content type: Advocacy
19th December 2018
In September 2018, the National Executive sent the proposed Data Protection Bill to the National Congress. The proposed law was directed to the Senate and it will be considered by two commissions: the Commission of Constitutional Affairs (Comision de Asuntos Constitucionales) and the Commission of Rights and Guarantees (Comision de Derechos y Garantías).
Privacy International welcomes the continued efforts by Argentina to provide protections for the right to privacy, already enshrined in the…
Content type: Advocacy
7th December 2018
Este informe es presentado por Derechos Digitales, Ciudadano Inteligente, Fundación ProAcceso y Privacy International. Derechos Digitales es una organización no gubernamental de defensa, promoción y desarrollo de los derechos humanos en el entorno digital. Ciudadano Inteligente es una organización dedicada a fortalecer la democracia y reducir la desigualdad a través de la transparencia y la participación ciudadana. Fundación ProAcceso se dedica a la defensa del derecho de acceso a la…
Content type: Advocacy
21st November 2018
Privacy International, European Digital Rights, and the Association for Technology and Internet (ApTI) together with 15 other digital rights organisations sent a letter on Monday 21 November 2018, to the European Data Protection Board (EDPB), with copies to the Romanian Data Protection Authority (ANSPDCP), and the European Commission, asking for the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) not to be misused in order to threaten media freedom in Romania.
Shortly after a journalistic…
Content type: Advocacy
8th November 2018
Today, Privacy International has filed complaints against seven data brokers (Acxiom, Oracle), ad-tech companies (Criteo, Quantcast, Tapad), and credit referencing agencies (Equifax, Experian) with data protection authorities in France, Ireland, and the UK.
It’s been more than five months since the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) came into effect. Fundamentally, the GDPR strengthens rights of individuals with regard to the protection of their data, imposes more stringent…
Content type: Advocacy
8th November 2018
Today, Privacy International has filed complaints against seven data brokers (Acxiom, Oracle), ad-tech companies (Criteo, Quantcast, Tapad), and credit referencing agencies (Equifax, Experian) with data protection authorities in France, Ireland, and the UK.
It’s been more than five months since the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) came into effect. Fundamentally, the GDPR strengthens rights of individuals with regard to the protection of their data, imposes more stringent…
Content type: Advocacy
9th October 2018
Privacy International welcomes the effort by the Government of India to reaffirm its commitment to upholding and respecting the right to privacy, and for noting the need to regulate the processing of personal data as essential for the protection of privacy through the adoption of a data protection law.
The urgent need for this legislation has been validated in the Supreme Court decision regarding the Aadhaar Act, which stipulates the need for a robust data protection regime.
However, the…
Content type: Advocacy
2nd October 2018
In parallel to the legislative process initiated by the Kenya Senate in July 2018, a Task Force constituted by the Ministry of Information, Communication and Telecommunication developed a draft Data Protection Bill which it published for consultation in May of this year.
Privacy International and its Kenya Partners, the National Coalition of Human Rights Defenders – Kenya (NCHRD-K), the Centre for Intellectual Property and Information Technology (CIPIT) are pleased to have had the opportunity…
Content type: Advocacy
14th August 2018
We welcome the effort by the Pakistani Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunications to regulate the processing of personal data in Pakistan, and take measures to guarantee the right to privacy as guaranteed under Article 14(1) of the Constitution: “[t]he dignity of man and, subject to law, the privacy of home, shall be inviolable.”
This legislative development is crucial and timely as Pakistan continues to embrace innovative governance initiatives and deploy data-intensive systems…
Content type: Advocacy
18th July 2018
This photo originally appeared here.
For years, Privacy International and our partners in Kenya have been promoting the right to privacy in Kenya through research and investigations into government and private sector policies and practices and advocating for the adoption and enforcement of the strongest data protection and privacy safeguards.
The need for Kenya to adopt a comprehensive data protection framework (in addition to strengthening privacy protections in other legislation) has always…
Content type: Advocacy
29th May 2018
This Universal Periodic Review (“UPR”) stakeholder report is a submission by Privacy International and Paradigm Initiative.
Together Privacy International and Paradigm Initiative wish to bring their concerns about the protection and promotion of the right to privacy in Nigeria before the Human Rights Council for consideration in Nigeria’s upcoming review at the 31st session of the Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review.
Content type: Advocacy
29th May 2018
This stakeholder report is a submission by Privacy International (PI) and the Jordan Open Source Association (JOSA).
Privacy International and the Jordan Open Source Association wish to bring concerns about the protection and promotion of the right to privacy for consideration in Jordan’s upcoming review at the 31st session of the Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review.
Content type: Advocacy
8th May 2018
Today Privacy International, with TACD, published a document detailing 10 things that US companies need to know about the forthcoming General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
People’s data should be treated with the highest privacy protections no matter where they are based. Privacy is a fundamental human right and data protection is intrinsically linked to it. While GDPR is not perfect, it does provide enforceable rights and obligations. If US companies want to demonstrate true commitment…
