News and Analysis

N&A, Long Reads, Press Release

News & Analysis

A Week On The Right To Privacy At The UN In Geneva

This week will see the right to privacy take center stage at the UN in Geneva. The UN Special rapporteur on the right to privacy will present his first report to the UN Human Rights Council on Wednesday 9 March. Meanwhile the Human Rights Committee will review the records of surveillance and the

News & Analysis

Bulk powers equal mass surveillance equals unlawful suspicionless interference with privacy

The Investigatory Powers Bill introduced on Tuesday 1 March contains the same range of ‘bulk powers’ envisaged in the earlier draft: bulk interception warrants; bulk acquisition warrants; bulk equipment interference warrants; and bulk personal dataset warrants. These powers, if adopted as currently

Press release

Privacy International, together with Human Rights Watch, submits a briefing to US court, arguing that Apple is right to refuse the FBI's demands to weaken iPhone security

Privacy International and Human Rights Watch have submitted a briefing to a US court, arguing that compelling Apple to build new software for the FBI will be a dangerous game changer in the security of the technology we rely on every day. If the FBI wins its case against Apple, it will open the

News & Analysis

Tracking the global state of surveillance

Today, Privacy International is publishing the result of a global effort to benchmark surveillance policies and practices in the countries that are part of the Privacy International Network. We're calling it the 'State of Surveillance'. We designed a survey of questions based on some key issues

Long Read

Tracking the global state of surveillance

Today, Privacy International is publishing the result of a global effort to benchmark surveillance policies and practices in the countries that are part of the Privacy International Network. We’re calling it the ‘State of Surveillance’. We designed a survey of questions based on some key issues

Long Read

The President's Men? Inside The Technical Research Department, The Secret Player In Egypt's Intelligence Infrastructure

It was summer 2014 when we first came across the acronym TRD while sifting through documents from the company Nokia Siemens Networks (Nokia) that had been leaked to Privacy International. The acronym was explained in the documents: it stood for Technical Research Department. What we learned from the

Press release

New Privacy International report exposes role of European companies selling surveillance technologies to secret Egyptian Government unit

Privacy International today publishes a new investigation, based on exclusive documents, exposing the sale of European surveillance technologies to a secret unit of Egypt's intelligence infrastructure. The Technical Research Department (TRD) is an independent unit within the General Intelligence

News & Analysis

Even this redacted letter wouldn't happen under the Investigatory Powers Bill

On Tuesday (16th February 2016) Apple posted a message to their customers stating that the company had been ordered by the FBI to “make a new version of the iPhone operating system, circumventing several important security features, and install it on an iPhone recovered during the investigation.”

Press release

We will continue to challenge GCHQ's hacking powers

In response to the Investigatory Powers Tribunal (IPT) ruling today that GCHQ's hacking is lawful, we have issued the following press statement: "We are disappointed by the IPT’s judgment today, which has found Government hacking lawful based on a broad interpretation of a law dating back to 1994

Long Read

Investigatory Powers Tribunal Rules GCHQ Hacking Lawful

The Investigatory Powers Tribunal (“IPT”) today held that GCHQ hacking of computers, mobile devices and networks is lawful, wherever it occurs around the world. We are disappointed that the IPT has not upheld our complaint and we will be challenging its findings. Our complaint is the first UK legal

Press release

The Home Office receives another failing grade on surveillance proposals: come back to us when your thoughts are clear

Today’s report by the Joint Committee on the Investigatory Powers Bill is the third committee report that c oncludes that the Home Office has failed to provide a coherent surveillance framework. The Joint Committee on the Investigatory Powers Bill today published a 198 page report following a short

News & Analysis

Destroying Democracy Under the Cloak of Defending It

The problems with thematic warrants and why they should be removed from the UK Government’s Investigatory Powers Bill We currently have the rare opportunity to scrutinise and debate the powers that law enforcement, the security and intelligence agencies and public bodies should have to interfere

Press release

Parliamentary Committee Savages The Investigatory Powers Bill

Gus Hosein, Executive Director, Privacy International said: “Parliament's Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC) has today slammed the Government’s draft Investigatory Powers Bill for its lack of transparency, lack of clarity and lack of privacy protections. We urge the Home Office to take on

News & Analysis

How not to do data-driven due diligence

How not to do data-driven due diligence A powerful new VICE News investigation has blown open the secretive world of risk management and the most influential database you've never heard of: World-Check. Over 300 government and intelligence agencies, 49 of the 50 biggest banks, and 9 of the top 10

Press release

Statement On The Science And Technology Committee’s Report “Investigatory Powers Bill: Technology Issues”

Privacy International welcomes the Committee’s report on the draft Investigatory Powers Bill (IP Bill). The report mirrors what many from across the technology sector and civil society have been saying: the lack of clarity in the draft Bill risks undermining security and privacy. The Committee

News & Analysis

Mind the gap: A review of the right to privacy at the UN in 2015

In 2015 the United Nations' human rights mechanisms significantly increased their capacity to monitor and assess states' compliance with their obligations around the right to privacy. Notably, the Human Rights Council established the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on the right to privacy, filling