Privacy International

🆕 In a significant and forceful decision, the Information Commissioner's Office found that the UK Home Office’s GPS tagging of migrants arriving to the UK by small boats and other “irregular” routes was unlawful. Immigration authorities in the UK and elsewhere have been abusing migrants’ privacy in a bid to exercise performative power and control over a vulnerable population. Since January 2021, the Home Office has been placing migrants released on immigration bail under GPS ankle tagging, subjecting them to 24/7 surveillance. This results in vast amounts of highly sensitive, sometimes intimate, data being collected by immigration authorities. This policy was expanded to people arriving on small boats in 2022, in spite of efficacy, well-being and human rights concerns. We filed a complaint in August 2022 with the ICO alleging widespread and significant breaches of privacy and data protection law. Our complaint relied extensively on anonymous testimonies of individuals who recounted the debilitating impact that tagging was having on their private and family life, as well as physical and mental health. These were clients of Bail for Immigration Detainees (BID), Public Law Project, Duncan Lewis Solicitors Ltd., and Wilsons Solicitors London. The ICO concluded its investigation of our complaint, finding that the Expansion Pilot was unlawful, as it failed to comply with data protection law in a number of ways. It also issued a warning to the Home Office regarding all future data protection compliance of the whole GPS tagging scheme. Of huge significance, it found that the Home Office had failed to assess the systemic necessity and proportionality of tracking people’s 24/7 location, and additionally failed to take into account the fact that these may be people in vulnerable situations. A running thread seemed to emerge over the years throughout the Home Office’s policy, evident in the relentless deployment of invasive surveillance against migrants, signalling a further step in their criminalisation: migrants don’t deserve the same human rights and protections as British citizens. Today’s decision is a powerful reminder that migrants have the same data protection rights as everyone else. And a serious warning to immigration authorities in the UK and elsewhere, who have been abusing migrants’ privacy to exercise performative power and control, that they are not above the law. This isn’t the end, as data protection law is only a piece of the puzzle against absurd, racialised, costly and harmful anti-migrant policies. We are still awaiting judgment in two court cases. This is a significant win for all those who were subject to this vindictive, costly and cruel policy. It must be abandoned. Read our more detailed analysis: https://lnkd.in/gyidRdjY #privacy #surveillance #migration #humanrights

Governments have the ability to hack personal devices. Once a device is hacked, a government can do any number of things. They can gain access to your emails, photos, browsing data, and contacts. They can even take control of your device: switching on mics and cameras without you knowing it. Very worryingly, a government can even delete, alter, or place content on a hacked device. It's dangerous to give any government that kind of power over our devices, and by extension, over us. https://pvcy.org/GovHackIm #GovernmentHacking

Join our partner Digital Rights Foundation tomorrow for an enlightening Instagram Live on Pakistan’s Privacy Landscape: Data Protection and Article 14! 🗓️ Thursday, 25th July 2024 🕛 12:00 pm PST 📍 Instagram 🔗 https://lnkd.in/dW_6XFEh They’ll be diving deep into crucial topics like: 🔐 Constitutional privacy and dignity in Pakistan 📜 Recent legal developments affecting privacy 💾 Data protection in the digital age ⚠️ Emerging online privacy threats, especially with GenAI 🛡️ Best practices for safeguarding your data Don’t miss out on this opportunity to engage, ask questions, and exchange ideas with experts.

How do you feel about your car having the ability to tell your insurance company how good or bad your driving is? How about your fridge telling your employer that you drink three times more than the recommended amount? And what about the bigger picture? What if governments and companies could access a wider array of data about you? In our view, data exploitation isn't just an inevitable part of of technological advancement, and we don't just have to accept it. We need the law to catch up with the technology. https://pvcy.org/DataExIm #DataExploitation

What is government hacking? Watch our explainer video on how and why governments can hack you: https://lnkd.in/eSgQJdeB #GovernmentHacking

What is data exploitation? Watch our short video explaining the risks of data exploitation and what we need to do about it. #DataExploitation https://pvcy.org/DataExVid

This week, the UN Special Rapporteur (UNSR) on Contemporary Forms of Racism presented her thematic report to the UN Human Rights Council on AI & racial discrimination. The report raises key concerns around the use of new technologies, including artificial intelligence, in various contexts, such as law enforcement, education and health care. Echoing our concerns around the EU’s recently passed Artificial Intelligence Act (AI Act), the UNSR is deeply concerned that certain protections do not apply to people on the move, such as migrants, when dealing with law enforcement As we pointed out in our submission to the UNSR, prohibitions on AI systems in the AI Act do not extend to the migration context, allowing discriminatory risk assessments, emotion recognition or predictive analytics to persist. This exemption is a blatant denial of human rights for migrants. Moreover, transparency and oversight requirements are limited for AI systems used in migration control. We support the UNSR’s recommendation to States to “Avoid any exceptions within regulatory standards that could lead to violations of the prohibition of racial discrimination under international human rights law”. We further support the UNSR’s recommendations to states and business entities on the need for more human rights due diligence and stakeholder consultation before deployment of AI. The report is an invaluable resource that highlights the discriminatory impacts of AI, including for people on the move. Learn more about our work: https://lnkd.in/eRCTbV-R #ProtectNotSurveil #HRC56 #AI

As technology rapidly develops, new innovations are also penetrating the healthcare sector. Developments in digital technologies can significantly contribute towards improving access to healthcare and realising the right to health. However, at times, these digital technologies can raise concerns about privacy, security and data protection, and more widely about dignity, non-discrimination, and equality. In this evolving data intensive landscape, governments and industry may find opportunities in the health sector to exercise power over individuals through surveillance, exploitation, profiteering, market domination, and control, which PI has documented extensively. For instance, efforts by private companies to obtain and monetise health data, menstruation apps leaking user data, mental health websites and companies selling diet programmes and surveillance responses during the Covid-19 pandemic. Without careful scrutiny and consideration, the promised benefits of innovation may end up creating more harm than good. In our latest long read, we examine the right to health in the context of digitisation - and what this digitisation of healthcare means for your rights and freedoms.

🗓️ Last few days to apply to join us as a Legal Officer... Apply to join our team in London to help us achieve PI’s goals as we formulate new and creative ways to demand change globally, including working with our partners across the world. 🌐 📋 Full job description: https://lnkd.in/eMCVncbM 📨 Deadline: Sunday, 14 July 2024 at 11:59pm BST.

Data protection is about understanding how our data is being used, with whom it is being shared, how long it is being stored, and when/if it will be deleted. Learn more by watching this video! #DataProtection https://lnkd.in/ggTexpaD