News and Analysis

N&A, Long Reads, Press Release

News & Analysis

On democracy day, its time for intelligence agencies to tell the truth

As we mark the 750th anniversary of the first parliament called in Britain, its time for intelligence agencies to tell the truth. After the fall of the Berlin wall, the new German government dedicated its commitment to democracy by physically building transparency into the political process - the

News & Analysis

New EU data protection laws: ok, but a tremendous missed opportunity with possible threats looming

The major overhaul of data protection laws in Europe is finally over, after three years of arduous and sustained political and lobbying activity by all those with a major stake and interest, including us at Privacy International (See our initial analysis of the two laws in 2012). We welcome this

Press release

Press Release: EU Data Protection Package: Lacking Ambition But Saving The Basics

Statement by European Digital Rights (EDRi), Bits of Freedom, Digitale Gesellschaft e.V, Digital Rights Ireland and Privacy International following the vote of the European Parliament’s Civil Liberties Committee on the Data Protection In January 2012, the European Commission, following extensive

News & Analysis

Swiss Government forced to reveal destinations, cost of surveillance exports

In an enormous breakthrough for those seeking transparency and accountability to the shadowy surveillance industry, the Swiss Government has been forced to publish the list of export licenses for surveillance technologies and other equipment, including details of their cost and destination. The

News & Analysis

Zakharov v Russia: A refresher on how far Europe has come

Sometimes it takes an unexpected stranger to remind you what you have, and what you are at risk of losing. Roman Zakharov, a Russian publisher who challenged Russia’s surveillance legislation, is that stranger for many Brits and Europeans. The Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights

News & Analysis

The Database Of You: Internet Connection Records Will Allow The UK Government To Document Everything We Do Online

Internet Connection Records are a new form of communications data created by the Investigatory Powers Bill at Parts 3 and 4. They constitute an unlawful interference with privacy with the ability to provide a highly detailed record of the activities of individuals, profiling their internet habits

Press release

Submission To Science and Technology Committee Call For Evidence on the Draft Investigatory Powers Bill

This is Privacy International's submission in response to the Science and Technology Committee's call for evidence on the draft Investigatory Powers Bill.

News & Analysis

Prevention of Electronic Crimes Bill: Security without Oversight in Pakistan

This guest post was written by Nighat Dad and Adnan Chaudhry of Digital Rights Foundation. It is the role of the state to protect its citizens from threats to their life and liberty. But in protecting its citizens, the state’s own aims cannot be counterproductive and erode the security found in

Press release

Court Documents Reveal Oversight Body Struggling To Control GCHQ Domestic Hacking

Documents released today confirm GCHQ, the UK intelligence agency, is hacking computers in the United Kingdom without individual warrants. The documents contain previously unknown details and defenses of GCHQ's use of "thematic warrants" to hack. The legal challenge in which these documents are

Press release

Surveillance company Hacking Team exposed

A 400 gigabyte trove of internal documents belonging to surveillance company Hacking Team has been released online. Hacking team sells intrusive hacking tools that have allegedly been used by some of the most repressive regimes in the world. The documents reportedly confirm Hacking Team has

Press release

Civil society organisations remain seriously concerned by Pakistan’s Prevention of Electronic Crimes Bill

A joint statement from international and domestic civil society organisations expresses continued serious concerns regarding the passage of Pakistan’s Prevention of Electronic Crimes Bill. Privacy International, ARTICLE 19, Human Rights Watch, Association for Progressive Communications, Digital

News & Analysis

Will They Hack Us? Will They Betray Us?

The relationship between users and companies is based primarily on trust. However, many recent developments have the potential to undermine this trust and to question companies loyalties to their users. From excessive data collection and transmission to the failure to guard against basic security

Press release

International Appeal To The Moroccan Authorities To Drop Charges Against Human Rights Defenders

Privacy International is deeply disturbed by the Moroccan government’s crackdown on media, human rights defenders, and civi society. Our friend Hisham Almiraat will be appearing in court on Thursday November 19th, 2015 along with six other journalists and human rights defenders members, and is

Long Read

Compliant or complicit? Thai Government made American industry complicit in speech prosecution

Written by Eva Blum-Dumontet A recent case of lèse-majesté in Thailand (speaking ill of the monarchy) is a worrying example of how Western companies do not just work with governments that fall short of international human rights standards, but can actually facilitate abuses of human rights. Our

News & Analysis

From Britain, with Bulk Love: A Dark Digital Magna Carta

The UK Government introduced a draft surveillance bill on Wednesday – the innocuously named 'Investigatory Powers Bill'. Trumpeted as 'world leading' by the Home Secretary, the only sense in which this is true is that other Governments around the world will now also seek a mandate for mass

Press release

Privacy International Pressures Government About Accessing Bulk Phone Data of British People

Privacy International has today written to the Investigatory Powers Tribunal (IPT), the secret court that hears complaints about the UK's surveillance regime, to demand that the Government comes clean about when and how it began collecting bulk communications data in the UK, and just as importantly