News and Analysis

N&A, Long Reads, Press Release

News & Analysis
On legal reform "RIPA, obscure since its inception, has been patched up so many times as to make it incomprehensible to all but a tiny band of initiates. A multitude of alternative powers, some of them without statutory safeguards, confuse the picture further. This state of affairs is undemocratic
News & Analysis
With powers to snoop on our communications that are unprecedented anywhere in the world, it is essential the Investigatory Powers Bill doesn't let politicians decide who is spied on. The bill, if it is passed, aims to give the police and intelligence agencies sweeping powers to scoop up our emails
News & Analysis
This is a guest piece. It does not necessarily reflect the views or position of Privacy International. In 1997, plans for a Civil Identification Registry (RIC) were signed into law in Brazil, promising to unify the 27 regional identification registries into a centralized federal one by 2020. The law
News & Analysis
Despite Wednesday's publication of the Investigatory Powers Bill being trailed as world leading legislation that would balance security and privacy, what the Government is actually seeking is a mandate for mass surveillance. This is a new Snoopers' Charter and we must oppose many of its most
Press release
Privacy International said "The true debate on surveillance can begin today. After years of downplaying, obscuring, and denying the Snowden revelations, the Government has finally entered the conversation. For the first time Parliament and the British public will be able to debate mass surveillance
News & Analysis
Photo: Flickr/Elvert Barnes. Some rights reserved. In the wider civil society space, the opportunities for travel come thick and fast. From the multi-stakeholder perspective, the Internet Governance Forum will be held during November in João Pessoa, Brazil. There is the Stockholm Internet Forum in
Press release
Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni directed intelligence and police officials to use a powerful, invasive malware to spy on domestic political opponents – including parliamentarians, activists and media houses – following the 2011 presidential election, during a period of urban unrest and police
News & Analysis
According to Snowden documents analysed by Privacy International, the Australian Signals Directorate had access to and used PRISM, a secret US National Security Agency program which provides access to user data held by Google, Facebook and Microsoft. This is the third spy agency of the 'Five Eyes'
Long Read
We hate to say we told you so. Privacy International has for years warned that powerful surveillance technologies are used to facilitate serious human rights abuses with insufficient technological and legal safeguards against abuse. We now have the most solid evidence to date that we were right. Our
News & Analysis
Privacy is a human right, and needs very clear legal protections. 'Safe Harbor' was clear as mud and placed privacy rights globally at risk. Today's European Court of Justice decision should be no surprise for industry or governments. For over fifteen years the U.S. Government has resisted
News & Analysis
Today the Grand Chamber of the Court of Justice of the European Union ruled that mass surveillance is in violation of the right to privacy and that a legal system that provides no legal redress against interference with someone's privacy falls short of EU human rights standards. The Court was seized
Press release
28 October 2015 Leading privacy and consumer organizations meeting in Amsterdam this week called on data protection officials around the world to support a meaningful legal framework that would protect the fundamental rights of both citizens and consumers in the online era. In a statement issued
News & Analysis
Today Privacy International together with other international human rights organisations call on the French parliament [PDF] to reject a bill on international surveillance, which, as it is currently worded, fails to protect and respect the right to privacy of individuals worldwide. In June this year
Press release
Human Rights Watch and three individuals have today lodged a legal challenge to establish whether their communications were part of those unlawfully shared between the US National Security Agency (NSA) and UK Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ). Despite billions of records being shared
News & Analysis
While two of the Vice journalists who were recently arrested in Turkey and charged with terror offenses have now been released, this remain a deeply concerning incident.* It is the latest episode in what is a pincer movement against our right to protect our data. Two British journalists and their
Press release
Privacy International's new report exposes the companies that have built the Colombian Government's controversial and highly invasive surveillance systems. The report “Demand/Supply: Exposing the Surveillance Industry in Colombia” shows the extensive dealings that companies from Israel, the UK, the