News and Analysis

N&A, Long Reads, Press Release

News & Analysis

Denmark Approves Export Of Internet Surveillance System To China

Privacy International has today written to Danish ministers and authorities seeking urgent assurances following a report published two days ago in Information showing that the government has approved the export of an internet surveillance system to China. The report, which relies in part on

Press release

The Interception Of Communications Commissioner's Office (IOCCO) New Report Questions Lawfulness Of The Use Of Secret Section 94 Powers For Mass Surveillance

New Report By The Interception Of Communications Commissioner Office Questions Lawfulness Of The Use Of Secret Section 94 Powers For Mass Surveillance

Today Sir Stanley Burnton, the Interception of Communications Commissioner, published a highly critical review of the use of Section 94 of the Telecommunications Act 1984 for gathering vast amounts of our communications data in bulk. This obscure clause pre-dates the internet era, but has been used

Long Read

Whose World Is This? US and UK Government Hacking

This piece originally appeared here . On both sides of the Atlantic, we are witnessing the dramatic expansion of government hacking powers. In the United States, a proposed amendment to Rule 41 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure would permit the government to obtain a warrant, in certain

News & Analysis

Online privacy: ceci n’est pas un guide

Everyone wants to know what you need to do to be i) happy, ii) fit, iii) secure. And the easier and more listy it is, the better. The Guardian recently published an article that left PI’s techies sceptical, to say the least. “Extreme online security measures to protect your digital privacy – a guide

Press release

Judges Of The Investigatory Powers Tribunal Visited MI5 In 2007 For A Secret Briefing

Judges of the Investigatory Powers Tribunal visited MI5 in 2007 for a secret briefing. None of the judges hearing the case this week attended the briefing. At the briefing, MI5 persuaded the judges that MI5 did not usually have to disclose its data holdings in “Bulk Personal Datasets” to the

Press release

Privacy International Releases New Tranche Of Previously Secret Documents Shedding Further Light On Government Mass Surveillance

Previously secret official documents, containing new revelations about the Government's mass surveillance regime, have today been disclosed as a result of litigation brought by Privacy International against the Intelligence Agencies (MI5, MI6, GCHQ). These documents shed further light on the

Press release

Privacy International's Legal Challenge Against MI6, MI5, And GCHQ's Secret Surveillance Practices That Go Beyond The Edward Snowden Revelations

Tomorrow, on 26 July, the main hearing will begin in Privacy International's legal challenge against MI6, MI5, and GCHQ's collection of bulk communications data and bulk personal datasets. Previously secret documents will be made public at the hearing, and Privacy International will brief attending

Press release

Argentina's Record On Privacy And Surveillance Under Scrutiny At The United Nations

This week in Geneva, the UN Human Rights Committee will examine the Argentina’s compliance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), an international treaty which places obligations on signatories to guarantee human rights such as the right to privacy. This review, by a

Press release

El Historial De La Argentina Sobre Privacidad Y Vigilancia Bajo Escrutinio En Las Naciones Unidas

Esta semana en Ginebra, el Comité de Derechos Humanos de la ONU examinará el cumplimiento de la Argentina con el Pacto Internacional de Derechos Civiles y Políticos (PIDCP), un tratado internacional que establece obligaciones a los firmantes para garantizar los derechos humanos, como el derecho a la

News & Analysis

A week after Prism, much remains unclear

Remember when the world didn't know what Prism was? Those were the days. While privacy advocates, civil libertarians, and technologists had suspected or posited the existence of an extensive surveillance regime operated by the U.S. government, few knew the details and the extent of the operation

News & Analysis

Open Letter On The Financial Crisis Facing The Inter-American Commission

On 23 May 2016, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) reported that severe financial problems have forced it to cancel its July and October sessions in 2016, and all trips planned for this year and, if new funding cannot be secured by 15 June 2016, will lead to the non-renewal of the

Press release

The Commons Have Failed To Hold The Government To Account On Sweeping New Surveillance Powers

Harmit Kambo, Campaigns Director, Privacy International said "The overwhelming vote by MPs last night in favour of massively intrusive new state surveillance powers represents both a failure of the democratic process and a grim watershed moment for the privacy of every one of us. Over the course of

News & Analysis

Exorcising Ghost Workers: Is Biometrics the Solution?

When it comes to tackling corruption, we need to critically engage with the role of technology. One technology in particular is biometrics , a technology that identifies and stores on a database the identity of an individual through some physical characteristic, usually fingerprints or an iris scan

Press release

New Document Reveals That GCHQ And MI5 Stretched The Law To Breaking Point

Privacy International releases previously confidential correspondence between lawyers for MI5 and GCHQ and the former Interception of Communications Commissioner, highlighting problems with the relationship between the two bodies The correspondences show a lack of meaningful oversight and restraint

News & Analysis

Sandcastles At Low Tide: Joint Committee On Human Rights Scrutinises Investigatory Powers Bill

Another committee-led scrutiny. Another list of changes that need to be made to the Investigatory Powers Bill. This seems familiar. The Joint Committee on Human Rights has weighed in with scrutiny of the Investigatory Powers Bill prior to the Bill’s debate and vote in the House of Commons on the 6

News & Analysis

An Open Letter To Everyone Who Participated In Our ‘Did GCHQ Illegally Spy On You?’ Campaign

Thank you to those of you who joined our campaign, 'Did GCHQ Illegally Spy on You?'. If you made a claim to the Investigatory Powers Tribunal (IPT) - the court that hears claims about surveillance by public bodies, including the intelligence agencies - to find out if GCHQ has illegally obtained your