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In the digital age, data plays a huge role in our everyday lives.
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It's present in lots of obvious ways. When we are shopping online for example and
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have to type in our name and address.
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But data collection can also be less visible.
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Take data brokers, for example. You've probably never heard of them, but these businesses specialise in
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creating in depth profiles of individuals for advertisers.
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A single profile may draw on up to 1,500 data points.
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This can include a person's sexuality, browsing history, political affiliation, and even medical records.
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One US based data broker, Acxiom, claims to have files on 10% of the world's population.
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It's not just businesses of course. In
2013, Edward Snowden uncovered a vast regime of
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mass government surveillance programmes, opening a global conversation which is still unfolding today.
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In this video, we'll take a closer look at this debate, focusing on the related but distinct concepts of privacy and data protection.
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By the end you should have a clear idea of:
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how these issues differ and overlap;
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how both are affected by the digital age; and
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how you can engage with companies and governments to protect and strengthen these rights.
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So what are we talking about when we say
privacy and data protection?
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Let's take privacy first.
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Article 12 of the Universal Declaration
of Human Rights treats privacy as a
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distinct human right. It says that:
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"No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence...
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Everyone has the right to the protection
of the law against such interference or attacks"
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This is simple enough. Agreeing on what
privacy actually means here has proved harder.
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Depending on the context, it can mean the right to freedom of thought in conscience,
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the right to be left alone,
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the right to control one's own body
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the right to protect your reputation,
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the right to a family life,
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or the right to a sexuality of your own definition.
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There are other ambiguities. In legal
terms, privacy isn't an absolute right.
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This means it can be restricted for
certain reasons - for example, to protect
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national security or Public Safety.
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Or if it conflicts with other rights,
like the right to free expression.
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An example could be a public figure invoking privacy to avoid disclosing their financial records.
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And what about data protection?
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Contrary to popular belief it is not the same thing as privacy.
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Privacy is a broad concept, referring to
the conditions which enable a basic
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foundation of human dignity and autonomy.
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Data protection is more specific.
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It's concerned with the ways third parties
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handle the information they hold about us - how it is collected, processed, shared, stored, and used.
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In other words, privacy is the big picture - and data protection is one corner of it.
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Like privacy, data protection is also
subject to limits - for example, when a
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warrant is obtained allowing law enforcement to access the phone records of a suspect.
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And while data protection is in some
ways more clearly defined than privacy,
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how it is applied legally can still vary greatly depending on which country you're in.
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The digital age has created new ways to
collect, access, analyse and use data,
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often across multiple borders and jurisdictions.
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Unsurprisingly, this poses challenges for human rights.
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One challenge relates to the
way companies use our data.
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The internet's business model depends on
people sharing their personal data in
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exchange for access to content, services
and social media platforms.
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While you might not pay anything upfront to go on Facebook,
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they still make money from you by
selling your personal information to advertisers.
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By clicking "agree" to terms of service, users technically consent to this model.
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But in practice, virtually no
one actually reads them.
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This is a problem because no one knows
what they're really signing up to,
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which creates opportunities for misuse.
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Another challenge relates to the
collection of personal data by governments.
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Technological developments now enable
governments to monitor our conversations,
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transactions, and the locations we visit.
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In some countries - including Russia, Brazil, Australia and South Korea - companies are legally required to
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store this data locally for long periods of
time, making it easier for governments to
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get information on their citizens.
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These measures are often introduced in
the name of fighting cybercrime and terrorism.
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But without adequate protections, this
data can easily be abused to target
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dissidents and activists - undermining freedom of expression and the rights to association and assembly.
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And these are just the technologies we have now.
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Emerging technologies - like the Internet of Things, wearables, and artificial intelligence - are likely to
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pose new challenges to human rights.
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As human rights defenders we need to be prepared for these.
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There are many bodies and forums where privacy and data protection issues are discussed and defined:
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National and regional courts have a crucial role here.
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The European Court of Human Rights, for
example, has imposed limits on 'stop and search'
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practices by the police, and on the amount of time data can be legally retained.
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At the national level, it's common to find a specific public body responsible for privacy and data protection.
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This can be a specialist post or an ombudsman.
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But the extent to which privacy is defined and protected varies greatly between different jurisdictions.
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For example, there is no clear right to privacy
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in the African Charter on Human and People's Rights (ACHPR).
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However, there are mechanisms at the
international level.
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Following a UN resolution on the right
privacy in the digital age,
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the Human Rights Council has established
a new Special Rapporteur for Privacy.
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And various internet policy forums, like the
Internet Governance Forum (IGF),
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the Council of Europe, the Organisation for Economic
Cooperation and Development, and
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conferences, like HOPE and CyFy, also contribute to shaping the scope of privacy in the digital age.
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And finally, we have companies.
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The decisions of companies can also have a huge impact on data protection and privacy rights.
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For example, by building end-to-end encryption into their software, as WhatsApp did in early 2016.
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Let's look at two examples of privacy
and data protection in the real world.
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First, let's look at the Apple vs. FBI case.
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After the 2016 terrorist attacks in the US city of San Bernardino, the FBI asked apple for the information
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stored on the iPhone of one of the suspects.
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However, Apple's operating system is
encrypted and only accessible through a pin code.
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The FBI asked Apple to modify the system
to let them in.
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Apple refused - opening alively debate on the right to privacy versus security needs.
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The case was almost taken to court - but in the end the FBI found a vulnerability to crack the phone.
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In privacy terms, this was a legal setback.
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If the case had gone to court, it could
have helped popularise the risks of
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weakening encryption for society, and
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establish what constitutes a legitimate limitation on privacy by the state.
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Next, let's look at surveillance in Kenya.
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In Kenya, a combination of invasive
surveillance measures and a lack of
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adequate data protection facilitated a
crackdown on civil society in 2013,
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which was documented by Peace Brigades International.
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Many human rights defenders had their offices raided,
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computers hacked and phones tapped by the government.
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One of the ways human rights defenders
have been fighting back is by pushing
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for the ratification of Kenya's first data protection law, long-stalled in Parliament.
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If implemented properly, this could limit
the worst excesses of state surveillance.
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Kenya is by no means the only country to bring in surveillance legislation justified by security concerns.
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But this example is a good demonstration of how
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seemingly abstract restrictions on online privacy can have physical consequences in the offline world.
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So what can human rights defenders do to
protect and strengthen privacy and data protection?
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An easy first step is taking digital
security measures yourself.
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This can be as simple as using encryption and anonymity tools,
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and encouraging your friends to do the same.
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Human rights defenders can also advocate
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for alternative digital business models, which aren't based on the extraction and sale of data.
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Economic pressure on the
existing model is already growing.
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For example, over the last few years, the number of users using adblock software globally has exploded.
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There is evidence that this is already pushing companies to less invasive advertising practices.
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Engagement in debates at the national
and regional level is, of course, crucial.
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Where privacy protections are weak, human rights defenders need to actively advocate for stronger ones.
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And even where they are stronger,
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we need to make sure legislation is
keeping up with new technological developments
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- like the Internet of Things.
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Ultimately, if we want things to change,
human rights defenders need to make
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these issues accessible and relatable by being more creative about the way we talk about them.
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When people see how data protection and
privacy affects them on a day-to-day basis,
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they may be more inclined to engage with
these concepts.
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In the next video we'll be taking a closer look at freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly.
