Reports

Reports, Long Reads, Country Reports

Long Read

Why we are so concerned about Government Hacking for Surveillance

Government hacking is unlike any other form of existing surveillance technique. Hacking is an attempt to understand a system better than it understands itself, and then nudging it to do what the hacker wants. Fundamentally speaking, hacking is therefore about causing technologies to act in a manner

Report

Report on the National Data Retention Laws since the CJEU’s Tele-2/Watson Judgment

This report sheds light on the current state of affairs in data retention regulation across the EU post the Tele-2/Watson judgment. Privacy International has consulted with digital rights NGOs and industry from across the European Union to survey 21 national jurisdictions (Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria

Long Read

BPD/BCD : Reference to CJEU October 2017

On 8 September 2017, the Investigatory Powers Tribunal decided to refer questions to the Court of Justice of the European Union (‘CJEU’) concerning the collection of bulk communications data (‘BCD’) by the Security Intelligence Agencies from mobile network operators. The BCD regime was initially

Long Read

Association Confraternelle de la Presse Judiciare and 11 Other Applications v. France

European Court of Human Rights Intervention On 15 September 2017, Privacy International filed an intervention to the European Court of Human Rights in Association Confraternelle de la Presse Judiciare and 11 Other Applications v. France. This case challenges various surveillance powers authorised

Report

Cyber Security In The Global South: Giving The Tin Man A Heart

In this paper, Privacy International explores* what it means to be secure, and how governments and companies enact policies and laws that undermine security globally. Good cyber security policies and practices put people and their rights at the centre. By prioritising the individual and protecting

Long Read

Privacy International v Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs et al. (Bulk Personal Datasets & Bulk Communications Data challenge) - Disclosure

Long Read

In the U.S.-U.K. Deal, Both Sides Deserve Scrutiny

This piece was originally published in Just Security in August 2017 We recently published an analysis in Lawfare of the United Kingdom’s surveillance framework as it relates to the proposed U.S.-U.K. agreement for cross-border law enforcement data requests. Implementing the U.S.-U.K. agreement is

Long Read

The Weak Link in a Double Act: U.K. Law is Inadequate for Proposed Cross-Border Data Request Deal

This piece was originally published in Lawfare in July 2017. The United Kingdom has been a key partner in the United States’ efforts to reform the process that law enforcement officials use to make cross-border requests for data. These efforts address both foreign governments’ requests for data

Long Read

Briefing: UK-US Intelligence Sharing Arrangements

6 July 2017 Full briefing: UK-US Intelligence Sharing Arrangements Urgent transparency is needed regarding the UK’s intelligence sharing arrangements with the United States, which allows UK and US agencies to share, by default, any raw intelligence and methods and techniques related to the

Long Read

New Documents Reveal Kenya's Worrying Attempts to Monitor the Internet

In January 2017, Kenya’s information and communication technology regulator, the Communications Authority of Kenya, announced that it was spending over 2 billion shillings (around 14 million USD) on new initiatives to monitor Kenyans’ communications and regulate their communications devices. The

Long Read

DOJ Cross-Border Legislation: Meeting Human Rights Requirements from Both Sides of the Pond

This piece was originally published in Lawfare in May 2017. This post is part of a series written by participants of a conference at Georgia Tech in Surveillance, Privacy, and Data Across Borders: Trans-Atlantic Perspectives. Cross-border law enforcement demands have become increasingly important to

Long Read

Cambridge Analytica Explained: Data and Elections

Disclaimer: This piece was written in April 2017. Since publishing, further information has come out about Cambridge Analytica and the company's involvement in elections. Recently, the data mining firm Cambridge Analytica has been the centre of tons of debate around the use of profiling and micro

Report

Track, Capture, Kill: Inside Communications Surveillance and Counterterrorism In Kenya

This investigation focuses on the techniques, tools and culture of Kenyan police and intelligence agencies’ communications surveillance practices. It focuses primarily on the use of surveillance for counterterrorism operations. It contrasts the fiction and reality of how communications content and

Report

The Right to Privacy in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan: UPR 28th Session

This stakeholder report is a submission by Privacy International (PI). PI is a human rights organisation that works to advance and promote the right to privacy and ght surveillance around the world. Privacy International wishes to bring concerns about the protection and promotion of the right to

State of Privacy

State of Privacy Thailand

A study of privacy and surveillance issues in Thailand. The State of Privacy project was last updated on January 2019, unless otherwise provided on specific pages.

Long Read

A Brief Guide: How To Talk About Privacy At the UN

This briefing highlights opportunities for NGOs to raise issues related to the right to privacy before some selected UN human rights bodies that have the mandate and the capacity to monitor and provide recommendations and redress. The briefing provides some examples based on Privacy International’s