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Content type: Video
9th October 2020
Find out more on our website: https://privacyinternational.org/long-read/4206/qa-eus-top-court-rules-uk-french-and-belgian-mass-surveillance-regimes-must-respect
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Content type: Long Read
Q&A: EU's top court rules that UK, French and Belgian mass surveillance regimes must respect privacy
6th October 2020
Content type: Press release
6th October 2020
By treating everyone as a suspect, the bulk data collection or retention regimes engage European fundamental rights to privacy, data protection, freedom of expression, as guaranteed respectively by Articles 7, 8, and 11 of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights.
Caroline Wilson Palow, Legal Director of Privacy International, said:
"Today’s judgment reinforces the rule of law in the EU. In these turbulent times, it serves as a reminder that no government should be above the law. Democratic…
Content type: Press release
18th June 2020
Today, the ICO has issued a long-awaited and critical report on Police practices regarding extraction of data from people's phones, including phones belonging to the victims of crime.
The report highlights numerous risks and failures by the police in terms of data protection and privacy rights. The report comes as a result of PI’s complaint, dating back to 2018, where we outlined our concerns about this intrusive practice, which involves extraction of data from devices of victims, witnesses…
Content type: Examples
20th May 2020
At least 27 countries are using data from cellphone companies to track the movements of their citizens, and at least 30 have developed smartphone apps for the public to download. Fewer objections have been raised in countries with greater levels of success in containing the virus. However, although Turkey has one of the worst outbreaks there has been little pushback against the surveillance even though the government is forcibly tracking people over 65, who are not allowed to leave their homes…
Content type: Explainer
21st April 2020
In a scramble to track, and thereby stem the flow of new cases of Covid-19, Governments around the world are rushing to track the locations of their populace. One way to do this is to leverage the metadata held by mobile service providers (telecommunications companies - "Telcos" - such as Hutchison 3 (Also known as Three), Telefonica (Also known as O2), Vodafone, and Orange) in order to track the movements of a population, as seen in Italy, Germany and Austria, and with the European Commission…
Content type: Examples
7th April 2020
Mexico is one of the biggest buyers of next-generation surveillance technology. And now data leaked to Forbes indicates it's taken an unprecedented step in becoming the first-known buyer of surveillance technology that silently spies on calls, text messages and locations of any mobile phone user, via a long-vulnerable portion of global telecoms networks known as Signalling System No. 7 (SS7).
The revelation was contained in what an anonymous source close claimed was internal sales information…
Content type: Examples
7th April 2020
The whistleblower said they were unable to find any legitimate reason for the high volume of the requests for location information. “There is no other explanation, no other technical reason to do this. Saudi Arabia is weaponising mobile technologies,” the whistleblower claimed.
The data leaked by the whistleblower was also seen by telecommunications and security experts, who confirmed they too believed it was indicative of a surveillance campaign by Saudi Arabia.
The data shows requests for…
Content type: Examples
3rd April 2020
8 europeans telecoms providers (Vodafone, Deutsche Telekom, Orange,Telefonica, Telecom Italia , Telenor, Telia and A1 Telekom Austria) have agreed to share mobile phone location data with the European Commission to track the spread of the coronavirus.
The Commission said it would use anonymsed data and aggregated mobile phone location to coordinate the tracking of the virus spread. They also announced the data would be deleted after the crisis.
Source: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-…
Content type: Long Read
13th November 2019
Miguel Morachimo, Executive Director of Hiperderecho. Hiperderecho is a non-profit Peruvian organisation dedicated to facilitating public understanding and promoting respect for rights and freedoms in digital environments.
The original version of this article was published in Spanish on Hiperderecho's website.
Where does our feeling of insecurity come from? As we walk around our cities, we are being observed by security cameras most of the time. Our daily movement, call logs, and internet…
Content type: News & Analysis
13th September 2019
Photo: The European Union
On 2 September 2019, Privacy International, together with 60 other organisations, signed an open letter to the European Parliament to express our deep concern about upcoming EU policy proposals which undermine the EU’s founding values of human rights, peace and disarmament.
Since 2017, the EU has diverted funds towards security research and security capacity-building in countries around the world. The proposal for the EU's next budget (2021-2027) will significantly…
Content type: Long Read
21st August 2019
It is common ground that bulk collection of content would be a deprivation of the right to privacy. That is an inexcusable or unjustifiable step too far. Repeatedly the Government whether in litigation or legislating, has emphasised that they are not taking content in bulk. Content is the forbidden ground.
This has resulted in the Government seeking to explain, for example, what parts of an email would constitute content and meta data. Within the Investigatory Powers Act it has led to the…
Content type: Advocacy
19th August 2019
RESPONSE OF PRIVACY INTERNATIONAL TO THE CONSULTATION ON THE GOVERNMENT’S PROPOSED RESPONSE TO THE RULING OF THE COURT OF JUSTICE OF THE EUROPEAN UNION ON 21 DECEMBER 2016 REGARDING THE RETENTION OF COMMUNICATIONS DATA
[Full response below]
Introduction
The consultation is in response to the judgment in Tele2 Sverige AB v Post-och telestyrelsen (Case-203/15) and R (Watson) v Secretary of State for the Home Department (Case C-698/15) [“Watson judgment”].
The case concerned section 1 and 2 of…
Content type: Explainer
19th August 2019
In 2000, the Government told Parliament that the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (RIPA) was the total extent of surveillance powers that were needed. However, within weeks of RIPA receiving Royal Assent, a report from UK law enforcement was leaked, stating that the power the Government truly wanted was companies to retain communications data on all their users.
Immediately after 9/11 as governments around the world over-reached with new pieces of legislation, the UK Government did…
Content type: Long Read
15th August 2019
Six years after NSA contractor Edward Snowden leaked documents providing details about how states' mass surveillance programmes function, two states – the UK and South Africa – publicly admit using bulk interception capabilities.
Both governments have been conducting bulk interception of internet traffic by tapping undersea fibre optic cables landing in the UK and South Africa respectively in secret for years.
Both admissions came during and as a result of legal proceedings brought by Privacy…
Content type: Advocacy
6th August 2018
This report is presented by Red en Defensa de los Derechos Digitales (R3D) and Privacy International (PI). La Red en Defensa de los Derechos Digitales (R3D) is a non-governmental, non-profit organisation located in Mexico, dedicated to the defence of human rights in the digital environment. Privacy International (PI) is a non-governmental, non-profit organisation located in London, focused on the defence, promotion and protection of the right to privacy around the world.
PI and R3D wish to…
Content type: Press release
25th June 2018
Privacy International, Liberty, and Open Rights Group have joined over 60 NGOs, community groups, and academics across the European Union to file complaints to the European Commission. The complaints call for the EU governments to stop requiring companies to store all communications data. The practice was ruled unlawful by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) in two separate judgments in 2014 and 2016. The UK complaint was filed by Privacy International, Liberty, and Open Rights…
Content type: Advocacy
1st March 2018
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
1st March 2018
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: Press release
7th February 2018
The Case
Privacy International v Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs et al. (Bulk Personal Datasets & Bulk Communications Data challenge)
Date: 5-9 June 2017
Time: from 10:00 onwards
Location: Royal Courts of Justice, The Strand, London WC2A 2LL United Kingdom
Hearing overview
Next week’s hearing follows the Investigatory Powers Tribunal’s earlier judgment in October 2016, which ruled that three issues are to be determined:
a) the impact of EU law…
Content type: Long Read
29th January 2018
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: Report
23rd October 2017
This report sheds light on the current state of affairs in data retention regulation across the EU post the Tele-2/Watson judgment. Privacy International has consulted with digital rights NGOs and industry from across the European Union to survey 21 national jurisdictions (Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom).…
Content type: Long Read
15th September 2017
European Court of Human Rights Intervention
On 15 September 2017, Privacy International filed an intervention to the European Court of Human Rights in Association Confraternelle de la Presse Judiciare and 11 Other Applications v. France. This case challenges various surveillance powers authorised under the French Intelligence Act of 24 July 2015 as incompatible with Articles 8 and 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which respectively protect the right to privacy and the right to…
Content type: Press release
6th September 2017
Key points
Privacy International surveyed 21 EU member states' legislation on data retention and examined their compliance with fundamental human rights standards
0 out of the 21 States examined by PI are currently in compliance with these standards (as interpreted in two landmark judgements by the Court of Justice of the European Union: Tele-2/Watson and Digital Rights Ireland)
Privacy International is calling for:
EU member states to review their legislation on data retention and, if…
Content type: Advocacy
1st September 2017
This report sheds light on the current state of affairs in data retention regulation across the EU post the Tele-2/Watson judgment. Privacy International has consulted with digital rights NGOs and industry from across the European Union to survey 21 national jurisdictions (Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom).…
Content type: Advocacy
3rd April 2017
Privacy International's submission on the right to privacy in Thailand, Human Rights Committee, 119th Session.
In our assessment to the Committee, national legislation governing surveillance is inadequate, unclear as to the powers, scope and capacity of state surveillance activities and thus it falls short of the required human rights standards to safeguard individuals from unlawful interference to the right to privacy.
Content type: Advocacy
3rd April 2017
Privacy International and the Italian Coalition for Civil Liberties' Joint Submission in Consideration of the Sixth Periodic Report of Italy Human Rights Committee 119th Session (6-29 March 2017).
The submission brings to the attention of the Committee the ongoing concern with Italian security agencies’ hacking capabilities and intelligence sharing arrangement, with Italian data retention procedures, and its export control regime as it relates to its robust private surveillance technologies…
Content type: News & Analysis
15th March 2017
On a hot day in Nairobi, our researcher is speaking to an officer of Kenya’s National Intelligence Service (NIS). The afternoon is wearing on and the conversation has turned to the presidential elections, taking place in August this year. He has just finished describing the NIS’ highly secret surveillance powers and the disturbing ways in which these powers are deployed.
“It is what you might call ‘acceptable deaths,’” he states about the misuse of communications surveillance powers. “People…
Content type: Press release
21st October 2016
Key points
Bulk Communications Data (BCD) collection, commenced in March 1998, unlawful until November 2015
Bulk Personal Datasets regime (BPD), commenced c.2006, unlawful until March 2015
Everyone’s communications data collected unlawfully, in secret and without adequate safeguards until November 2015
We maintain that even post 2015, bulk surveillance powers are not lawful
As the Investigatory Powers Bill is set to become law within weeks, we argue that the authorisation and oversight…