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Content type: Legal Case Files
Investigatory Powers Tribunal
Case No. IPT/13/92/CH
Status: On Appeal
In July 2013, Privacy International filed a complaint before the Investigatory Powers Tribunal (IPT), challenging two aspects of the United Kingdom's surveillance regime revealed by the Snowden disclosures: (1) UK bulk interception of internet traffic transiting undersea fibre optic cables landing in the UK and (2) UK access to the information gathered by the US through its various bulk surveillance programs. Our complaint…
Content type: Press release
Privacy International and Open Rights Group have submitted a response to the Consultation on establishing a UK Privacy and Civil Liberties Board.
Content type: Press release
Below is a joint statement from Privacy International and Bytes for All.
This Friday, 27 September, marks the conclusion of the 24th session of the UN Human Rights Council, a session which has, for the first time, seen issues of internet surveillance in the spotlight. Privacy International and Bytes for All welcome the attention given at the Human Rights Council to this issue. However, we are concerned about developments which took place that threaten privacy rights and freedom of…
Content type: Legal Case Files
3 July 2013
In the wake of revelations that the UK Government is accessing wide-ranging intelligence information from the US and is conducting mass surveillance on citizens across the UK, Privacy International has commenced legal action against the Government, charging that the expansive spying regime is seemingly operated outside of the rule of law, lacks any accountability, and is neither necessary nor proportionate.
The claim, filed in the Investigatory Powers Tribunal (IPT), …
Content type: News & Analysis
Today, a coalition of civil rights groups, including Privacy International, launched a report and campaign website, nakedcitizens.eu, which calls on EU Members of Parliament (MEPs) to protect fundamental rights to privacy in a crucial vote next month. Concerned citizens and consumers are able to contact their MEPs directly via the website.
The story so far: early last year the European Commission published proposed revisions to the Union’s outdated legal framework on data protection. The…
Content type: News & Analysis
Privacy International has urged the Australian Parliament to ensure that rigorous legal and judicial safeguards are at the heart of future reforms to national security legislation. In a submission to the Joint Parliamentary Committee on Intelligence and Security, Privacy International gave its full support to the objections raised by the Australian Privacy Foundation in its submission to the Inquiry into Potential Reforms of National Security. The Inquiry is considering a…
Content type: News & Analysis
On Friday, we wrote to 140 companies around the world that are known to be selling surveillance technology, to ask them a series of questions. We wanted to know whether or not companies conducted human rights due diligence when dealing with foreign companies or governments, how many of them were doing business or seeking to do business with 'Not Free' countries (as categorised by Freedom House's latest report), and whether any of them would be interested in meeting with us to discuss their…
Content type: News & Analysis
Simply put, the National Security Agency is an intelligence agency. Its purpose is to monitor the world's communications, which it traditionally collected by using spy satellites, taps on cables, and placing listening stations around the world.
In 2008, by making changes to U.S. law, the U.S. Congress enabled the NSA to make U.S. industry complicit in its mission. No longer would the NSA have to rely only on international gathering points. It can now go to domestic companies who hold massive…
Content type: News & Analysis
Privacy International welcomes reports that the French Government has come out against the export of surveillance technology to oppressive regimes. According to the French website reflets.info, the State Secretary for the Digital Economy Fleur Pellerin announced her opposition to such exports last Friday, during a radio show hosted by Le Monde and public broadcaster FranceCulture. The statement may indicate a sea change in the government's policies regarding surveillance technology, which have…
Content type: Press release
Privacy International today received an email from Saul Olivares, Sales and Marketing Director of Creativity Software, in response to the letter we sent to Creativity CEO Richard Lee yesterday.
Mr Olivares directed PI to an attached statement, in which Creativity stated that it was:
…proud to be a supplier of world class technology to MTN, in Iran and other countries. MTN is a company with the vision of being the leading telecommunications provider in emerging markets, with an avowed mission…
Content type: News & Analysis
The following piece originally appeared on Linda Raftree's "Wait...What" blog, a site focusing on bridging community development and technology.
New technologies hold great potential for the developing world, and countless development scholars and practitioners have sung the praises of technology in accelerating development, reducing poverty, spurring innovation and improving accountability and transparency.
Worryingly, however, privacy is presented as a luxury that creates barriers…
Content type: Press release
On 15 March 2017, the Italian Senate voted on a Bill, put forward by Justice Minister Andrea Orlando, that will reform the criminal justice system, including amending the Code of Criminal Procedure. Among the many provisions contained in DDL Orlando, currently pending approval by the Italian House of Representatives, the Government is mandated to regulate, via a legislative decree, the utilisation of malware (commonly referred to as ‘Trojans’ in Italian discourse) to engage hacking for criminal…
Content type: Press release
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:
…
Content type: News & Analysis
Private surveillance companies selling some of the most intrusive surveillance systems available today are in the business of purchasing security vulnerabilities of widely-used software, and bundling it together with their own intrusion products to provide their customers unprecedented access to a target’s computer and phone.
It's been known for some time that governments, usually at a pricey sum, purchase such exploits, known as zero- and one-day exploits, from security researchers to…
Content type: News & Analysis
11 November 2014
With a draft United Nations General Assembly resolution on the right to privacy in the digital age expected to come in a mere few weeks, negotiations on this key international document have reached a critical stage.
This year's resolution creates a significant opportunity to build upon two important developments at the United Nations – the 2013 UN General Assembly (UNGA) resolution on the right to privacy in the digital age, and the July 2014 authoritative…
Content type: Case Study
What happened
As we traveled the world we saw alarming use and spread of surveillance capabilities. From country to country we saw the same policy ideas, and the same kit. The role of industry to the growth of surveillance capability had never been exposed before.
What we did
In 1996 we published the first ‘Big Brother Incorporated’ study, identifying the vast numbers of technology firms who were investing in surveillance technologies. We were particularly surprised by the rise of German…
Content type: Long Read
To celebrate International Data Privacy Day (28 January), PI and its International Network have shared a full week of stories and research, exploring how countries are addressing data governance in light of innovations in technology and policy, and implications for the security and privacy of individuals.
Content type: Long Read
“FISA section 702 reauthorisation” might not sound like it matters very much to very many people, but it’s pretty dramatic: in short, last month US lawmakers rejected a bill which would have provided protections for US citizens – constitutionally protected against being spied on by US spy agencies – from being spied on, and instead voted to extend their powers to do so.
In the fall out, it’s worth considering just why such mass surveillance powers are such a big issue, how the promise of…
Content type: News & Analysis
The recent announcement by the Minister for Justice that serious and organised crime will receive legislative attention from the Government and the Oireachtas is most welcome. However, the stated means of achieving this are deeply concerning for the Irish public and larger digital economy. The statements indicate that the Government intends to follow the British model of surveillance where Irish companies can be compelled to betray their users. Why would any user engage with a…
Content type: News & Analysis
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…
Content type: News & Analysis
15 October 2014
The following was written by Carly Nyst, Legal Director for Privacy International, and originally appeared in the Guardian's Comment is Free section:
Until the fall of the Berlin wall in 1989, the East German state security service – the Stasi – conducted surveillance and kept files on a third of the country’s population. One of those people was activist and dissident Ulrike Poppe, whose communications and activities were spied on by Stasi operatives constantly for 15 years.…
Content type: News & Analysis
What we can achieve. What we are doing.
A week to discuss global privacy
Throughout these last days, in the context of the #dataprivacyweek, we have been talking about privacy from a global perspective, while showcasing the research done by Privacy International and the organisations who are part of its International Network.
The right to privacy is a particularly multifaceted human right, which manifests in diverse and nuanced ways. As we said when we set the tone for this week, privacy is…