News and Analysis

N&A, Long Reads, Press Release

Long Read

Cambridge Analytica Explained: Data and Elections

Disclaimer: This piece was written in April 2017. Since publishing, further information has come out about Cambridge Analytica and the company's involvement in elections. Recently, the data mining firm Cambridge Analytica has been the centre of tons of debate around the use of profiling and micro

News & Analysis

Walking The Privacy Tightrope Across The Atlantic

This week the United States Congress voted to strip away one of the country’s few safeguards of the right to privacy by repealing rules which would have limited internet service provider’s ability to use or share customers’ data without customers’ approval. Meanwhile, last week, 6,500 kilometers

News & Analysis

Is Your Car Connected?

For as long as automobiles have been around, manufacturers have been trying to find ways of putting more technology inside of cars, oftentimes sold as value-added services for their customers, whether that be 8-tracks of the 1960s and 1970s, the enhancement to security of central locking of the

News & Analysis

In Kenya, Communications Surveillance Is A Matter of Life and Death

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

Long Read

A Brief Guide: How To Talk About Privacy At the UN

This briefing highlights opportunities for NGOs to raise issues related to the right to privacy before some selected UN human rights bodies that have the mandate and the capacity to monitor and provide recommendations and redress. The briefing provides some examples based on Privacy International’s

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International Women's Day 2017: A PI Network Highlight Reel

In this special briefing for International Women’s Day 2017, we explore through the work of the Privacy International Network some areas of concern being addressed in relation to privacy, surveillance, women’s rights, and gender. Coding Rights demonstrates the important of generating and

Press release

Privacy International Reaction to Vault 7 Leaks

Privacy International Executive Director Dr Gus Hosein said: “If today’s leaks are authenticated, they demonstrate what we’ve long been warning about government hacking powers — that they can be extremely intrusive, have enormous security implications, and are not sufficiently regulated

News & Analysis

Aadhaar Scheme: FAQ

This guest piece was written by Elonnai Hickok, Amber Sinha and Vanya Rakesh of the Centre for Internet and Society. It does not necessarily reflect the views or position of Privacy International. In 2009, the Government of India set up the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) as an

Long Read

Privacy International's Work on Hacking

Introduction A growing number of governments around the world are embracing hacking to facilitate their surveillance activities. Yet hacking presents unique and grave threats to our privacy and security. It is far more intrusive than any other surveillance technique, capable of accessing information

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We Need Stronger Regulations Regarding U.S. Law Enforcement Hacking of Devices Abroad

This piece was orignally published in Slate in February 2017 In 2015, the FBI obtained a warrant to hack the devices of every visitor to a child pornography website. On the basis of this single warrant, the FBI ultimately hacked more than 8,700 computers, resulting in a wave of federal prosecutions

News & Analysis

Defeating encryption: the battle of governments against their people

Technologists hoped the “Crypto Wars” of the 1990s – which ended with cryptographers gaining the right to legally develop strong encryption that governments could not break – was behind them once and for all. Encryption is a fundamental part of our modern life, heavily relied on by everything from

News & Analysis

Thai Government responds to Privacy International report detailing its surveillance practices

In our latest report “ Who’s that knocking at my door? Understanding surveillance in Thailand”, we highlighted various methods of surveillance that the Thai Government employs. Included in these methods was the finding that Microsoft was the only technology company which by default trusts the Thai

News & Analysis

Facebook Shutdown in Thailand: Surveillance Not Censorship

An investigation released by Privacy International this week reveals the Facebook shut-down Thailand experienced in May 2014, at the height of the military coup, may have had more to do with attempting to surveil online communications, rather than censoring Facebook users. This revelation indicates

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IMSI Catch 22: Understanding The Role Of Spying Equipment In The Mi Sangre Case

The use of IMSI catchers [1] to arrest individuals is rarely documented — as IMSI catchers are used secretively in most countries. The arrest of Colombian drug lord Henry López Londoño in Argentina is therefore a rare opportunity to understand both how IMSI catchers are used, and also the complexity

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The legacy of demonetisation: how India’s cashless future threatens to erode citizens' privacy

The move to digital payments, without an adequate legal framework, is a double-blow to privacy. India is proving to be the case study of how not to do the move to the cashless society. We are seeing in India the deeper drives to digital: linking financial transactions to identity. On the 8th

Long Read

Switching Hats: Why South Africa’s Surveillance Industry Needs Scrutiny

In July 2015, representatives of a private company met in a parking lot in Pretoria, South Africa to sell phone tapping technology to an interested private buyer. What they did not know was that this buyer was a police officer. The police had been tipped off that the company was looking to offload