Advocacy

Campaigns, Legal Case Description, Advocacy

Advocacy

Giorgi Balakhadze (licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license)

Submissions to the Australian and UK competition authorities on the Facebook/Giphy merger

On 24 February and 1 March 2021 respectively, PI made submissions to the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), commenting on Facebook's acquisition of Giphy.

Advocacy

Open letter to the Home Secretary

Privacy International and other organisations have submitted a letter to the UK Home Secretary demanding a reform to the way asylum seekers are receiving their benefits, which involves heavy surveillance from the Home Office on this vulnerable population.

Explainer

What is an Aspen Card and why does it need reform?

An 'Aspen Card' is a debit payment card given to UK asylum seekers by the Home Office. The Aspen Card provides basic subsistence support, but purchases on the card are closely monitored by the Home Office, making it an insidious surveillance tool.

Video

An asylum seeker's testimony: ‘I realised that I was at the mercy of the system because I did not know how things work’

This real life testimony of a UK asylum seeker's experience of using their 'Aspen Card' payment card, explores the stress and anxiety caused by both the Home Office's surveillance of their purchases and the highly punitive measures that it can then take.

Video

An asylum seeker's testimony: ‘I feel like I am being watched by the Home Office everywhere I go’

Video

An asylum seeker's testimony: ‘My support was cut off by the Home Office because of Aspen monitoring’

News & Analysis

The Hostile Environment is incompatible with public health: PI joins the Vaccine For All campaign

PI joins more than 140 UK migrants’ rights charities, faith groups, local authorities, health institutions and trade unions in a call to the Department of Health calling for an end to Hostile Environment immigration policies in the NHS so that everyone can access the vaccine without fear.

Advocacy

Open Letter to Facebook and Google

Privacy International is part of a 60+ coalition calling on Facebook and Google to provide equal and better transparency regarding political advertising on their platforms globally.

Long Read

PI highlights the need for urgent reform of the use of personal data in political campaigning.

Privacy International investigates the use of personal data in political campaigning, focusing on the ecosystem of private companies hired by political parties, the policies of online platforms, and the laws that regulate micro-targeting around the world.

Long Read

Data Exploitation and Political Campaigning: A Company Guide Resource

PI presents here 5 profiles of companies involved in political campaigning in order to provide a snapshot of how the digital political campaign sector works and further highlight the opacity and concerns for privacy.

News & Analysis

World map indicating countries where mandatory transparency tools apply

Online political ads - a study of inequality in transparency standards

In its new report, PI looks into the implementation of transparency tools by Facebook, Google and Twitter in relation to political advertising. This work was produced in collaboration with partner organisations InternetLab and ELSAM.

Advocacy

Image by Guillaume Périgois via unsplash

Interoperability in the Digital Markets Act - Joint letter to the European Commission

A group of European technology firms and civil society organisations, including PI, calls on the European Commission to support a strong ex ante interoperability requirement for dominant “gatekeeper” firms in the forthcoming proposal for a Digital Markets Act.

Advocacy

Cooperating With Who?! Answers Needed as UK Retailer Southern Co-Op Tests Facewatch

Privacy International is seeking answers and assurances from UK supermarket chain Southern Co-Op following its trial of the Facewatch facial recognition network

Report

Submission to the UN on its guidance document on countering terrorism financing

In this submission, Privacy International (PI) responds to the call for inputs to assist the UN Global Counter-Terrorism Coordination Compact Working Groups on “Criminal Justice, Legal Responses and Countering the Financing of Terrorism” and “Promoting and Protecting Human Rights and the Rule of Law while Countering Terrorism and Supporting Victims of Terrorism” in developing a guidance document intended to support Member States in their efforts to implement countering terrorism financing measures, in compliance with relevant Security Council resolutions, including resolution 2462 (2019), and in full respect of international human rights law.

Advocacy

Response to the Call for Evidence by DCMS: Review of Representative Action Provisions (Section 189, Data Protection Act 2018)

On 27 August 2020, the UK Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport published a call for views and evidence relating to the review of the Data Protection Act 2018’s representative action provisions. This is a summary of Privacy International's response to that call, with a full copy of our submissions to the DCMS available for download at the bottom of this page.

Advocacy

figure of a man in front of a window displaying the word "SALE"

WTO trade talks must safeguard privacy, 42 organisations urge

In a statement coordinated by the European Consumer Organisation (BEUC), PI and others underline the importance of trust in the digital economy. This can only happen by placing people’s fundamental rights to data protection and privacy first.