Legal

Legal Case Description, Legal Case Files

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.

Long Read

The UK goverment’s Independent Human Rights Act Review has shone the spotlight on the relationship between domestic jurisprudence and the European Court of Human Rights. We look at this relationship from a privacy perspective.

 

Video

Investigative journalist Sam Sole, managing partner at amaBhungane and co-applicant to the case, discusses with us how he found out that he was under surveillance and what the case is all about.

Long Read

The Constitutional Court of South Africa declared that bulk interception by the South African National Communications Centre is unlawful and invalid.

News & Analysis
Today, the Constitutional Court of South Africa in a historic judgment declared that bulk interception by the South African National Communications Centre is unlawful and invalid. The judgment is a confirmation of the High Court of South Africa in Pretoria’s powerful rejection of years of secret and
Long Read

In today’s digital markets, data is increasingly a source of market power. The link between market power and data brings together elements of competition law, which regulates market power, and data protection regulation, which seeks to ensure the fair, lawful and transparent processing of personal data. This paper argues that when tackling anticompetitive data practices by dominant market players, data protection elements should be incorporated into the design of competition law remedies. This paper was written by Alessia D’Amico, PhD student at the European University Institute, during her placement at, and in collaboration with, Privacy International.

Long Read

We explain in some detail what our case involving UK intelligence services using general warrants is about.

Frequently Asked Questions

We won our judicial review challenge to a 2016 decision by the Investigatory Powers Tribunal (IPT). The UK High Court has held that the security and intelligence services can no longer rely on ‘general warrants’ to interfere with property, including computers.

News & Analysis

In another victory for the rule of law, the UK High Court has held that the security and intelligence services cannot rely on non-specific warrants - otherwise known as general warrants - to authorise wide-ranging property interference and certain forms of computer hacking.

Press release

In a major victory for the rule of law, the UK High Court has ruled that the security and intelligence services can no longer rely on ‘general warrants’, which until today could be used to interfere with property, including computers, of thousands or even millions of people based on a single warrant.

News & Analysis
Today, the CNIL announced fines of €100 million and €35 million for Gooogle and Amazon, respectively, for breaches of the French Data Protection Act. The fines resulted from two separate investigations carried out by CNIL in relation to the use of cookies on the French websites of Google and Amazon
Long Read

We are now close to receiving the final documents we demanded using the Freedom of Information Act from US agencies regarding their hacking activities, and we’re concerned with what we’ve seen thus far. You can find the disclosures here.

Long Read

The Court of Justice of the European Union issued judgments in three cases in the UK, France and Belgium. We answer some of the main questions.