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Content type: News & Analysis
21st April 2020
A few weeks ago, its name would probably have been unknown to you. Amidst the covid-19 crisis and the lockdown it caused, Zoom has suddenly become the go-to tool for video chat and conference calling, whether it’s a business meeting, a drink with friends, or a much needed moment with your family. This intense rise in use has been financially good to the company, but it also came with a hefty toll on its image and serious scrutiny on its privacy and security practices.
While Zoom already had a…
Content type: News & Analysis
2nd October 2013
The Zimbabwean government extended its reach into the private lives of its citizens this week by promulgating a new law establishing a central database of information about all mobile telephone users in the country. The Statutory Instrument 142 of 2013 on Postal and Telecommunications (Subscriber Registration) Regulations 2013, gazetted last Friday, raises new challenges to the already embattled rights to privacy and free expression in Zimbabwe, increasing the potential that the repressive…
Content type: News & Analysis
1st December 2017
13 June 2016
"State capacity to conduct surveillance may depend on the extent to which business enterprises cooperate with or resist such surveillance” notes the Special Rapporteur on freedom of expression in his report on the role of the private sector to respect human rights in the digital age. The Special Rapporteur will present its findings and recommendations to the Human Rights Council on Thursday.
It is no longer sufficient for companies to simply point the finger at intelligence and…
Content type: Long Read
24th February 2020
Valentine’s Day is traditionally a day to celebrate relationships, but many relationships that begin romantically can quickly become controlling, with partners reading emails, checking texts and locations of social media posts. This can be just the beginning.
Today, Friday 14th February, Privacy International and Women’s Aid are launching a series of digital social media cards giving women practical information on how to help stay safe digitally from control and abuse.
Did you know that…
Content type: News & Analysis
29th November 2012
One of the first things that strikes you about the chaotic East African metropolises of Kenya, Uganda and Zimbabwe is the blanket of adverts for mobile phone companies that covers them, from the walls of the immigration hall at Harare airport, to the rickety shacks that line the dusty streets of Kampala. Where official signage is unavailable, DIY versions are painted onto the roofs and walls of houses and small businesses. Stores selling mobile phones are rarely more than a few short steps away…
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: News & Analysis
19th November 2012
Privacy International asked lawyers, activists, researchers and hackers at Defcon 2012 about some of the debates that thrive at the intersection between law, technology and privacy. We also wanted to know why privacy matters to them, and what they thought the future of privacy looked like. This video is a result of those conversations.
Featuring Cory Doctorow, Kade Crockford, Jameel Jaffer, Dan Kaminsky, Chris Soghoian, Marcia Hoffman, Moxie Marlinspike, Phil Zimmerman, Hanni Fakhoury and Eli…
Content type: News & Analysis
29th May 2012
In Homer’s Iliad, the gods Juno and Saturn have great desire for each other, and Saturn wishes to lie with Juno on the top of Mount Ida. Juno protests Saturn’s advances, exclaiming: “What if one of the ever-living gods should see us sleeping together, and tell the others? It would be such a scandal that when I had risen from your embraces I could never show myself inside your house again”. Luckily for Saturn, Juno knows of a place with “good strong doors” where they can meet secretly and…
Content type: News & Analysis
30th November 2011
Last year, Index on Censorship published an interview with Google’s chief legal officer and senior vice president David Drummond. The company was still reeling from the aftermath of the news that an attack had been launched on Gmail from China. Drummond proposed that free speech needed to be part of the international agenda at multilateral and bilateral trade discussions, just like piracy. 'Western governments whose economies certainly benefit from the internet sector should make this happen,'…
Content type: News & Analysis
29th October 2015
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 Violence Against Women International'…
Content type: Press release
16th January 2018
26 March 2015
The UN's top human rights body, the Human Rights Council, today has passed a landmark resolution endorsing the appointment of an independent expert on the right to privacy. For the first time in the UN's history, an individual will be appointed to monitor, investigate and report on privacy issues and alleged violations in States across the world.
The resolution, which appoints a Special Rapporteur on the right to privacy for an initial period of three years, was spearheaded by…
Content type: Press release
26th March 2015
The UN's top human rights body, the Human Rights Council, today has passed a landmark resolution endorsing the appointment of an independent expert on the right to privacy. For the first time in the UN's history, an individual will be appointed to monitor, investigate and report on privacy issues and alleged violations in States across the world.
The resolution, which appoints a Special Rapporteur on the right to privacy for an initial period of three years, was spearheaded by Germany and…
Content type: News & Analysis
16th July 2014
Today’s report on the right to privacy in the digital age by the UN High Commissioner on Human Rights, commissioned by the General Assembly in December 2013, marks an historic turning point in the international discourse around privacy and surveillance.
Privacy International believes the report will dramatically change the international conversation on the implications of surveillance and intelligence for human rights. Most importantly, it puts beyond doubt that the very existence of mass…
Content type: News & Analysis
1st April 2014
In response to a consultation being undertaken by the UN in accordance with December’s General Assembly resolution on the right to privacy in the digital age, Privacy International today called on the United Nations to recognise that mass surveillance is incompatible with human rights.
The submission to the Office of the High Commissioner to Human Rights confronts some of the biggest challenges to the right to privacy in the digital age, debunks some of the justifications put forth by the Five…
Content type: News & Analysis
2nd February 2018
7 October 2013
The following is an English version of an article in the September issue of Cuestión de Derechos, written by Privacy International's Head of International Advocacy, Carly Nyst.
To read the whole article (in Spanish), please go here.
The Chinese government installs software that monitors and censors certain anti-government websites. Journalists and human rights defenders from Bahrain to Morocco have their phones tapped and their emails read by security services. Facebook takes…
Content type: News & Analysis
29th December 2014
Going into 2014, there were high hopes for advancing privacy protections and to finally have the debate around surveillance we've been clamouring for. Privacy was even Dictionary.com's word of the year in 2013. Europe was on the edge of passing new strong privacy laws, despite protests from industry and governments. Parliaments in Canada and the United Kingdom had pushed back against expanding surveillance laws. Transparency reports were beginning to shine a more comprehensive picture on…
Content type: News & Analysis
24th February 2014
In Geneva this week, an expert seminar will be held at the Human Rights Council on the right to privacy. To inform these discussions and debates, Privacy International is releasing our report, The State of Privacy 2014, which identifies recent accomplishments from around the world, and highlights significant challenges ahead for this right.
To read the full report, go here.
Promoting and defending the right to privacy in national and international policy discourses is always an interesting…
Content type: Advocacy
18th April 2016
This Universal Periodic Review (UPR) stakeholder report is a submission by Privacy International (PI), the International Human Rights Clinic at Harvard Law School (IHRC), the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum(the Forum), and the Digital Society of Zimbabwe (DSZ).
Content type: Advocacy
18th April 2016
This Universal Periodic Review (UPR) stakeholder report is a submission by Privacy International (PI), theInternational Human Rights Clinic at Harvard Law School (IHRC), and Acceso Libre.
Content type: Advocacy
18th April 2016
This Universal Periodic Review (UPR) stakeholder report is a submission by Privacy International (PI), the International Human Rights Clinic at Harvard Law School (IHRC), and Acceso Libre.
Content type: Advocacy
26th June 2016
This stakeholder report is a submission by Privacy International (PI). PI is a human rights organisation that works to advance and promote the right to privacy and fight surveillance around the world. PI wishes to bring concerns about the protection and promotion of the right to privacy in Uzbekistan before the Human Rights Committee for consideration in Uzbekistan's upcoming review.
Content type: Advocacy
18th April 2016
This stakeholder report is a submission by Privacy International (PI), Unwanted Witness Uganda, the Collaboration on International ICT Policy for East and Southern Africa (CIPESA) and the East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Project (EHAHRDP).
Content type: Advocacy
23rd June 2014
This stakeholder report is a submission by Privacy International (PI). PI is a human rights organisation that works to advance and promote the right to privacy and fight surveillance around the world. PI wishes to bring concerns about the protection and promotion of the right to privacy in Turkey before the Human Rights Council for consideration in Turkey’s upcoming review.
Content type: Advocacy
25th June 2016
This stakeholder report is a submission by Privacy International (PI). PI is a human rights organisation that works to advance and promote the right to privacy and fight surveillance around the world. PI wishes to bring concerns about the protection and promotion of the right to privacy in the United Kingdom before the Human Rights Committee for consideration in the United Kingdom's upcoming review.
Content type: Advocacy
23rd June 2014
This stakeholder report is a submission by Privacy International (PI), Jonction and Stat View International. Privacy International is a human rights organisation that works to advance and promote the right to privacy and fight surveillance around the world. Jonction is a human rights organisation based in Dakar, Senegal, which aims to promote sustainable and equitable development as well as human rights across Africa but particularly in Senegal. Stat View International is a research-based…
Content type: Advocacy
23rd June 2017
This stakeholder report is a submission by Privacy International (PI). PI is a human rights organisation that works to advance and promote the right to privacy and government surveillance around the world. Privacy International wishes to bring concerns about the protection and promotion of the right to privacy for consideration in Pakistan’s upcoming review at the 28th session of the Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review.
Content type: Report
15th March 2017
This stakeholder report is a submission by Privacy International (PI). PI is a human rights organisation that works to advance and promote the right to privacy and ght surveillance around the world. Privacy International wishes to bring concerns about the protection and promotion of the right to privacy for consideration in Pakistan’s upcoming review at the 28th session of the Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review.
Content type: Advocacy
26th June 2016
This stakeholder report is a submission by Privacy International (PI). PI is a human rights organisation that works to advance and promote the right to privacy and fight surveillance around the world. PI wishes to bring concerns about the protection and promotion of the right to privacy in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia before the Human Rights Committee for consideration in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia's upcoming review.