Report Demonstrates State Surveillance Practices Do Not Meet Human Rights Obligations in the Digital Age

A comprehensive legal analysis of human rights obligations with respect to electronic surveillance has been released by the Electronic Frontiers Foundation and Article 19. The report was generated in support of the International Principles for the Application of Human Rights to Communications Surveillance (IPAHRCS), which represent an attempt to bring privacy protections into the digital age. The IPAHRCS also known as the "Necessary & Proportionate Principles" have been endorsed by over 470 civil society organizations, political parties, elected officials and privacy experts from around the world as well as by over 275,000 individuals, to date.

The report sets out the human rights law basis for elements of the IPAHRCS, including the extra-territorial application of the obligations they impose, the extension of strong human rights protections beyond the 'content' of communications to include metadata and subscriber information, and the adoption of an all-encompassing definition of communications surveillance that does not permit artificial definitions to justify invasive surveillance activities. It also justifies a number of other substantive elements of the principles, such as the need for prior independent authorization, the need to notify individuals that their communications have been surveilled and the need for effective safeguards against communications surveillance in violation of human rights, including through strong whistleblower protections. A short summary of the IPAHRCS can be found here. CIPPIC co-authored and co-edited the report.