OpenMedia calls upon decision-makers to protect privacy against unchecked Internet surveillance

Today, OpenMedia joins a huge international coalition in calling upon world leaders to assess whether national surveillance laws and activities are in line with their international human rights obligations. 

 

OpenMedia has endorsed a set of international principles against unchecked surveillance. The 13 Principles set out for the first time an evaluative framework for assessing surveillance practices in the context of international human rights obligations. 

 

According to Steve Anderson, Executive Director of OpenMedia International, “There’s now a rapidly growing global consensus that government surveillance activities have gone way too far and are undermining the human rights of law-abiding citizens across the globe. The 13 Principles on Surveillance and Human Rights are important because they set out what governments need to do to bring their activities into line with international human rights law. Citizens are speaking out to pressure their governments to take action to implement these principles.”

 

A group of civil society organizations officially presented the 13 Principles this past Friday in Geneva at a side event attended by Navi Pillay, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression and Opinion, Frank LaRue, during the 24th session of the Human Rights Council. The side event was hosted by the Permanent Missions of Austria, Germany, Liechtenstein, Norway, Switzerland and Hungary. 

 

Navi Pillay, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, speaking at the Human Rights Council stated in her opening statement on September 9:“Laws and policies must be adopted to address the potential for dramatic intrusion on individuals’ privacy which have been made possible by modern communications technology.” 

 

Frank La Rue, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression and Opinion made clear the case for a direct relationship between state surveillance, privacy and freedom of expression in this latest report to the Human Rights Council: “The right to privacy is often understood as an essential requirement for the realization of the right to freedom of expression. Undue interference with individuals’ privacy can both directly and indirectly limit the free development and exchange of ideas. … An infringement upon one right can be both the cause and consequence of an infringement upon the other.”

 

 

Find out more about the Principles at https://NecessaryandProportionate.org