Legal

Legal Case Description, Legal Case Files

Long Read

We won our case against the UK’s Security Service (MI5) and the Secretary of State for the Home Department (SSHD)

Following on from our initial reaction, we answer some key questions about the judgement below.

Press release

The European Ombudsman has found that the European Commission failed to take necessary measures to ensure the protection of human rights in the transfers of technology with potential surveillance capacity supported by its multi-billion Emergency Trust Fund for Africa. 

Report

PI’s Guide to International Law and Surveillance aims to provide the most hard-hitting results that reinforce and strengthen the core principles and standards of international law on surveillance. You can find UN resolutions, independent expert reports and international human rights bodies jurisprudence.

News & Analysis

PI, together with 5 other human rights groups, has submitted a complaint to the European Ombudsman calling for an investigation into EU surveillance aid to non-EU countries

Press release
In a landmark judgment, handed down today (Monday 30 January 2023), the Investigatory Powers Tribunal have found that there were “very serious failings” at the highest levels of MI5 to comply with privacy safeguards from as early as 2014, and that successive Home Secretaries did not to enquire into
News & Analysis

In a case that found seizing and extracting data from migrants' mobile phones breached their fundamental right to privacy, UK courts breathe some life into the human rights principle of access to remedy.

News & Analysis

The right to privacy encompasses bodily autonomy and the right to access safe abortion care. In light of the recent decision of the United States’ Supreme Court in Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health, we at Privacy International (PI) wanted to examine how the right to privacy has evolved around the world and in the U.S.

 

Press release

On 14 June 2022, the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) upheld the Competition and Markets Authority’s (CMA) assessment that Meta’s purchase of GIPHY harms competition. On 18 October 2022, the CMA confirmed its order for Meta to sell GIPHY, citing risks over users' data quoting among the key competition concerns.

Explainer

Electronic tags have been a key part of criminal justice for many years throughout the world. As traditional radio-frequency tags are replaced by GPS ankle tags, we examine how these different technologies work and the seismic shift that will result from 24/7 location monitoring and data analytics, enabled by GPS tags.

News & Analysis

The Home Office has been seizing mobile phones from migrants arriving in the UK by small boats. Last week, PI intervened in a judicial review at the High Court challenging the lawfulness of this highly intrusive practice.

News & Analysis

Bit by bit regulators across the world are chipping off the toxic business model that Clearview AI relies on.

Video

The ICO has provisionally issued a £17 million fine against facial recognition company Clearview AI.

Long Read

At Privacy International, we challenge companies and governments who infringe on our privacy and facilitate, as well, violations of other human rights. Read on to find out about some of our biggest legal successes.

Long Read

A brief summary and timeline of legal proceedings of PI's bulk personal datasets and bulk communications data challenge in the UK

News & Analysis

The UK Investigatory Powers Tribunal issued a declaration in our challenge to the bulk communications data regime, finding UK legislation to be incompatible with EU law. 

Long Read

On 25 May 2021, a Grand Chamber judgment against the UK broke new ground in the regulation of bulk interception capabilities requiring enhanced safeguards to protect the rights to privacy and freedom of expression against abuse. It is a complex judgment with lights and shades, and the fight against mass surveillance is not over. Find here our initial take on the judgment and what comes next.