{"id":1664,"date":"2024-06-13T12:32:16","date_gmt":"2024-06-13T11:32:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mediadefence.org\/ereader\/publications\/online-violence-against-journalists\/module-2-digital-attacks-and-online-gbv\/surveillance-copy\/"},"modified":"2024-06-17T08:45:30","modified_gmt":"2024-06-17T07:45:30","slug":"commercial-surveillance","status":"publish","type":"publication","link":"https:\/\/www.mediadefence.org\/ereader\/publications\/online-violence-against-journalists\/module-2-digital-attacks-and-online-gbv\/commercial-surveillance\/","title":{"rendered":"Commercial surveillance"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Overview<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Commercial surveillance<\/strong>: This involves the collection, processing, monitoring, analysis, and storage of their data relying on technological tools developed by the private surveillance industry but could ultimately be conducted by either state or non-state actors.[footnote]UNHRC, \u2018Resolution on the Right to Privacy in the Digital Age,\u2019 (2019) (accessible at https:\/\/undocs.org\/Home\/Mobile?FinalSymbol=A\/HRC\/RES\/42\/15&amp;Language=E&amp;DeviceType=Desktop&amp;LangRequested=False).[\/footnote]<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Tools and technology<\/strong>: In recent years, a powerful, profitable, and growing private surveillance industry has emerged driven by the demand by state entities for the services and products of private technology companies. Many of these tools have been procured and used by states specifically to target journalists, activists, opposition figures and others critical of the state.[footnote]UNHRC, \u2018Report of the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression on Surveillance and human rights \u2019(2019) (accessible at https:\/\/ap.ohchr.org\/documents\/dpage_e.aspx?si=A\/HRC\/41\/35) (UNSR on FreeEx Report on Surveillance and human rights) and OHCHR, \u2018Digital surveillance treats \u201cjournalists as criminals\u201d\u2019 (2022) (accessible at https:\/\/www.ohchr.org\/en\/stories\/2022\/05\/digital-surveillance-treats-journalists-criminals).[\/footnote] Commercial surveillance tools and technologies \u201cultimately [serve] as a means of intimidation, increasing the risks faced by journalists and their sources and undercutting critical reporting.\u201d[footnote]UNSR on FreeEx Report on the safety of journalists in the digital age above n 128.[\/footnote]<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Calls for action<\/strong>: This targeting of journalists has led to calls from civil society for an immediate moratorium on the sale and transfer of these tools while appropriate human rights safeguards can be put in place.[footnote]ARTICLE 19 Eastern Africa, \u2018Unseen Eyes, Unheard Stories\u2019 (2021) (accessible at https:\/\/www.article19.org\/resources\/unseen-eyes-unheard-stories-documentaries-on-the-experiences-of-surveillance-in-kenya-and-uganda\/).[\/footnote] Privacy International has noted the various transparency, public procurement, accountability, oversight, and redress challenges of public-private surveillance partnerships.[footnote]Privacy International, \u2018Safeguards for Public-Private Surveillance Partnerships\u2019 (2021) (accessible at https:\/\/privacyinternational.org\/sites\/default\/files\/2021-12\/PI PPP Safeguards [FINAL DRAFT 07.12.21].pdf). Seea also Privacy International, \u2018PI\u2019s Guide to International Law and Surveillance\u2019 (2021) (accessible at https:\/\/www.privacyinternational.org\/sites\/default\/files\/2022-01\/2021 GILS version 3.0_0.pdf).[\/footnote]<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>International law and standards<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As noted above, surveillance implicates several rights under international human rights law, including privacy, dignity, freedom of expression, and media freedom. In the context of commercial surveillance important considerations around business and human rights come to the fore:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">While states are primary duty-bearers under international human rights law, the endorsement of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights by the UNHRC in its Resolution 17\/4 solidified that <strong>business entities also have responsibilities<\/strong> for respecting and promoting human rights.[footnote]UNHRC, \u2018Human rights and transnational corporations and other business enterprises\u2019 (2011) (accessible at https:\/\/ap.ohchr.org\/documents\/dpage_e.aspx?si=A\/HRC\/RES\/17\/4).[\/footnote] This includes:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>respecting human rights;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>mitigating human rights impacts of their operations; and<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>providing remedies for human rights violations.[footnote]UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights above n 47. See also OHCHR, The Corporate Responsibility to Respect Human Rights an Interpretive Guide\u2019 (2012) (accessible at https:\/\/www.ohchr.org\/sites\/default\/files\/Documents\/Publications\/HR.PUB.12.2_En.pdf). See further APC, \u2018Why cybersecurity is a human rights issue, and it is time to start treating it like one\u2019 (2019) (accessible at https:\/\/www.apc.org\/en\/news\/why-cybersecurity-human-rights-issue-and-it-time-start-treating-it-one#:~:text=However, when it comes to cybersecurity, international human,under the rubric of international security and disarmament).[\/footnote]<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As part of this responsibility, companies should \u201cconduct due diligence and impact assessment[s] to prevent or mitigate any adverse impact on human rights resulting from their operations, products, or services, including attacks on journalists and the erosion of media freedom.\u201d[footnote]UNSR on FreeEx Report on the safety of journalists in the digital age above n 128.[\/footnote]<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group highlight\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\">\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center\">Guidelines for tech companies<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In 2011, the UN established the Working Group on the Issue of Human Rights and Transnational Corporations and Other Business Enterprises, which has encouraged technology companies to \u201ccommit to the confidentiality of digital communications, including encryption and anonymity\u201d and urged tech companies to remind states that the surveillance of individuals, including journalists, \u201cmay only be conducted on a targeted basis, and only when there is reasonable suspicion that someone is engaging, or planning to engage, in serious criminal offences, based on principles of necessity and proportionality, and with judicial supervision.\u201d[footnote]UNHRC, \u2018The Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights: guidance on ensuring respect for human rights defenders\u2019, (2021) (accessible at https:\/\/www.ohchr.org\/en\/documents\/thematic-reports\/ahrc4739add2-guiding-principles-business-and-human-rights-guidance).[\/footnote] <\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>National laws<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Generally, in the SSA region, the commercial surveillance infrastructure remains obscured from public view, with public-private surveillance agreements frequently being negotiated in private with little public oversight.[footnote]Privacy International, \u2018Safeguards for Public-Private Surveillance Partnerships\u2019, December 2021 (accessible at https:\/\/privacyinternational.org\/sites\/default\/files\/2021-12\/PI PPP Safeguards [FINAL DRAFT 07.12.21].pdf).[\/footnote]<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As such, the use of <strong>litigation<\/strong> as a course of action to remedy unlawful or arbitrary commercial surveillance is <strong>challenging<\/strong>, with the UNSR on FreeEx noting that victims of targeted surveillance have frequently had little success in the courts and that at the domestic level, there is a lack of judicial oversight, remedies, and enforcement.[footnote]UNHRC, \u2018Surveillance and human rights &#8211; Report of the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression\u2019, 28 May 2019 (accessible at https:\/\/ap.ohchr.org\/documents\/dpage_e.aspx?si=A\/HRC\/41\/35).[\/footnote]<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group highlight\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\">\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center\">Litigation on Spyware Targeting Journalists: NSO Group<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In 2021, the Pegasus Project revealed that more than 180 journalists across 20 countries have been potentially targeted for surveillance by governments relying on spyware produced by NSO Group Technologies. Pegasus, NSO\u2019s premier spyware tool, breaks encryption protections for communications devices before proceeding to infect the devices with spyware to monitor communications.[footnote]ARTICLE 19, \u2018Rwanda: Surveillance revelations opportunity to reform legal and encryption environment\u2019, 26 July 2021 (accessible at https:\/\/www.article19.org\/resources\/rwanda-surveillance-revelations-opportunity-to-reform-legal\/).[\/footnote] NSO Group sells this software on a subscription basis to law enforcement and intelligence agencies around the world.[footnote]Ronen Bergman &amp; Mark Mazzetti, \u2018The Battle for the World\u2019s Most Powerful Cyberweapon\u2019, 28 January 2022 (accessible at https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2022\/01\/28\/magazine\/nso-group-israel-spyware.html).[\/footnote] <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Legal action has been taken against NSO Group by several actors with varying legal bases. In 2020, Amnesty International unsuccessfully approached an Israeli District Court seeking to have NGO Groups\u2019 export license revoked.[footnote]Amnesty International, \u2018Israel: Court rejects bid to revoke notorious spyware firm NSO Group\u2019s export licence,\u2019 (2020) (accessible at https:\/\/www.amnesty.org\/en\/latest\/news\/2020\/07\/israel-court-notorious-spyware-firm-nso\/).[\/footnote] In India, the Supreme Court ordered an investigation in 2021 into the government\u2019s alleged use of the spyware to illegally surveil journalists, activists, and political opponents.[footnote]The Guardian, \u2018Indian supreme court orders inquiry into state\u2019s use of Pegasus spyware,\u2019 (2021) (accessible at https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/news\/2021\/oct\/27\/indian-supreme-court-orders-inquiry-into-states-use-of-pegasus-spyware).[\/footnote] In 2022, the committee concluded its investigation but did not release its findings publicly beyond noting that the Indian authorities \u201cdid not cooperate\u201d with the investigators, and new incidents of the use of technology to spy on journalists continue to be revealed.[footnote]Amnesty International, \u2018India: Damning new forensic investigation reveals repeated use of Pegasus spyware to target high-profile journalists,\u2019 (2023) (accessible at https:\/\/www.amnesty.org\/en\/latest\/news\/2023\/12\/india-damning-new-forensic-investigation-reveals-repeated-use-of-pegasus-spyware-to-target-high-profile-journalists\/).[\/footnote] <\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Overview International law and standards As noted above, surveillance implicates several rights under international human rights law, including privacy, dignity, freedom of expression, and media freedom. In the context of commercial surveillance important considerations around business and human rights come to the fore: While states are primary duty-bearers under international human rights law, the endorsement [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"parent":1645,"menu_order":357,"template":"page-templates\/chapter.php","publication-category":[],"class_list":["post-1664","publication","type-publication","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Commercial surveillance | eReader<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"This module provides a high-level overview of online violence against journalists, with a focus on the gendered impact on women journalists.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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