Advocacy

We analysed the WHO's guidance on "Digital Documentation of COVID-19 Certificates: Vaccination Status" (DDCC:VS). Here is our take on it and what we will keep an eye out for as countries deploy their own digital Covid-19 vaccination certificates.

PI's submission regarding France's compliance with the International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights highlighting concerns regarding Covid emergency measures, surveillance powers, and transgender people difficulties to change their ID.

On 28 June 2021, Privacy International alongside 15 other civil society organisations published an open letter to all Members of the European Parliament Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection raising concerns about the European Commission’s Digital Markets Act (DMA) proposal. Privacy International believes that the proposal needs further strenghtening as we noted also in our analysis of the DMA.

Privacy InternationaI, Liberty, Defend Digital Me, Open Rights Group and Big Brother Watch submitted a response to the College of Policing's public consultation on the Police use of live facial recognition technology.

In the response, we make it clear that all the aforementioned organisations believe that LFRT poses significant and unmitigable risks to our society. 

Privacy International submitted its input to the forthcoming report by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (HCHR) on the right to privacy and artificial intelligence (AI.)

In our submission we identify key concerns about AI applications and the right to privacy. In particular we highlight concerns about facial recognition technologies and the use of AI for social media monitoring (SOCMINT). We document sectors where the use of AI applications have negatively affected the most vulnerable groups in society, such as the use of AI in welfare and in immigration and border control.

The briefing also argues for the adoption of adequate and effective laws accompanied by safeguards to ensure AI applications comply with human rights.

PI submitted with TEDIC a joint stakeholder report on the state of privacy in view of Paraguay's review at the 38th session of the UPR.

Privacy International welcomes the aim of the EU Digital Markets Act to address some of the challenges posed by the way the current digital markets operate. However, we believe that the proposal put forward by the European Commission in December 2020 contains some shortcomings that need to be addressed, if the DMA were to be effective in tackling these challenges.

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.

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.