News and Analysis

N&A, Long Reads, Press Release

News & Analysis

Open letter to Members of the Eerste Kamer and Tweede Kamer regarding Dutch ID proposals

Privacy International is writing this Open Letter to Members of both Chambers of the Netherlands Parliament to express our deep concern over Justice Minister Donner's proposed 'Wet op de uitgebreide identificatieplicht'. We believe these requirements will violate the European Convention on Human

Press release

UK government agencies seize millions of phone records per year

A conference held today at the London School of Economics will hear new statistics showing that UK law enforcement and investigation agencies are demanding an unprecedented quantity of customer records from communications providers. Privacy International has compiled figures based on estimates

Press release

PI condemns mass fingerprinting of UK primary school children

The global human rights watchdog Privacy International (PI) has warned that tens of thousands of UK school children are being finger printed by schools, often without the knowledge or consent of their parents. The electronic finger printing is being conducted as part of a cost cutting "automation"

News & Analysis

FAQ: ID Cards In The United Kingdom

On July 3rd 2002, the UK Government published a consultation paper on a national identity card. Privacy International has investigated such proposals across the world for more than a decade. Here, we answer all the questions the government has failed to answer. What sort of ID card does the

News & Analysis

CCTV Frequently Asked Questions

1. What is CCTV? CCTV (Closed Circuit Television) is a visual surveillance technology designed for monitoring a variety of environments and activities. CCTV systems typically involve a fixed (or "dedicated") communications link between cameras and monitors. In the past decade, the use of CCTV has

News & Analysis

Privacy International statement on CCTV surveillance in the UK

In recent years, the use of Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) in the UK has grown to unprecedented levels. Between £150 and £300 million per year is now spent on a system that involves an estimated 200,000 cameras. According to the British Security Industry Association, more than three quarters of

News & Analysis

Some personal views from around the world on ID cards

In 1994, in an attempt to discover the problems caused by ID cards, Privacy International compiled a survey containing reports from correspondents in forty countries. Amongst the gravest of problems reported to Privacy International was the over zealous use or misuse of ID cards by police - even

News & Analysis

French wiretapping scandal leads to electoral defeat

The French Socialist Party suffered a resounding defeat in parlimentary elections on March 21st and 28th, in part due to a wiretapping scandal that broke a week before the elections. Results showed that they lost over 200 seats in the Parliment and became the minority party. Socialist President