Top News

Civil society groups call for end to telecommunications data retention 28/06/2010
More than 100 organisations from 23 European countries asked EU to repeal data retention law. Signatories include civil liberties, data protection and human rights associations as well as crisis line and emergency call operators, professional associations of journalists, jurists and doctors, trade unions, consumer organisations and industry associations.

European Parliament calls on search engine companies to spy on all EU citizens 24/06/2010
PI to mount campaign to defeat draconian, ill-informed, unlawful and deeply intrusive imposition to require internet search companies to retain search requests of all European citizens.

UK Police begin investigation into Google Wi-Fi grab 22/06/2010
Crime reference number 2318672/10 was today issued by London's Metropolitan Police, marking the commencement of investigations into Google for alleged criminal interception of Wireless content. Privacy International, which brought the complaint, has been briefed by police on the likely path the investigation will take.

Facebook founder faces death sentence in Pakistan 17/06/2010
Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg is facing prosecution under a Pakistan penal code that allows for sentence of death for blasphemy. The move to prosecute Zuckerberg parallels the government's attempts to shut down a substantial spectrum of internet activity.

PI launches new technology site 16/06/2010
Privacy International today launched "Cracking the Black Box"boxcrack.net, a site devoted to discovering the answers to key technical mysteries behind some of the world's most controversial IT systems. The site encourages experts and whistleblowers to help resolve crucial questions about how technology is designed and deployed. The first two issues being addressed are the Google Wi-Fi controversy and the EU proposal to retain search data.

Google Wi-Fi audit reveals criminal intent by the company 09/06/2010
Google today published an audit on its blog of the code used to collect Wi-Fi data as part of the company's global Street View operation. The report asserts that the system had intent to identify and store all unencrypted Wi-Fi content. This analysis establishes that Google did, beyond reasonable doubt, have intent to systematically intercept and record the content of communications and thus places the company at risk of criminal prosecution in almost all the 30 jurisdictions in which the system was used.

Plan to retain all EU search data is unlawful and absurd 04/06/2010
Privacy International is deeply concerned about Written Declaration 29, which positions the setting up of a European Early Warning Service for paedophiles and sex offenders by requiring retention and analysis of web searches throughout the EU. The initiative is unlawful and the consequences will cause grave harm to genuine efforts to protect children.

PI responds to Google's Wifi grab 14/05/2010
In its company blog Google today revealed that a "mistake" has resulted in WiFi content data being collected worldwide by StreetView cars since 2007. Can we ever believe a company's claim ever again?

Privacy and the new UK government 13/05/2010
Privacy and the new UK government: the local and international implications, and open letter from PI's Director to our Trustees, Advisory Board supporters and partners.

An Interview with Google on Government Access to Personal Information 27/04/2010
For the past couple of months we have been discussing with Google their transparency plans regarding governments accessing data held by Google. Last week Google released initial data on how many requests for data were coming from which governments. We congratulate Google on this first step, and we believe that by seeking answers to some additional questions, greater clarity may yet emerge.

Messages on our 20th Anniversary 19/03/2010
Some of the kind words said about us at our 20th anniversary party in London at the Law Society on March 18th, 2010.