UN report: The link between State surveillance and freedom of expression | Privacy International
▻https://www.privacyinternational.org/blog/un-report-the-link-between-state-surveillance-and-freedom-of-e
Importantly, the report recognizes the vital role of the private sector, in both the advancement of communications technology as well as facilitators of, or at worst complicit in, State surveillance. Innovations and research by the private sector undoubtedly have contributed greatly to how we communicate. What the report cautions, however, is the nature of the relationship between the state and corporations when it comes to surveillance.
Since the 1990s, governments have increasingly sought to require communication technologies and digital networks to allow for easy access to communications data, ie backdoors. The private sector not only interfaces with the State to deal with these requests, but how they store and process data, making them huge repositories of personal information available to the state at virtually any time, according to the report.
But the greatest danger, the report cautions, is the global industry that has developed around the sale of invasive and mass surveillance technologies to governments. The industry, the report highlights, remains virtually unregulated and often operates outside of existing legal standards. Repressive regimes are commonly the buyers of the technology, making it more likely that the products being sold and serviced by private companies will be used to carry out human right abuses. The report calls on governments to “ensure that the private sector is able to carry out its functions independently in a manner that promotes individuals’ human rights”. At the same time, the report states that corporations “cannot be allowed to participate in activities that infringe upon human rights, and States have a responsibility to hold companies accountable in this regard.”
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