United Kingdom

Reports and Analysis

Report

Is your Local Authority Looking at your Facebook Likes?

When Local Authorities aren't your Friends

The UK Chief Surveillance Commissioners have repeatedly raised concerns about local authorities using the internet as a surveillance tool and suggested they conduct an internal audit of the use of social media sites.

Privacy International sent Freedom of Information requests to local authorities in the UK to dig deeper into what's going on.

Case Study

…it ensures we are all recognised as people

You should be legally protected in the same way everywhere like anyone else.

Long Read

A secret MI5 policy that enables crime in the UK with no accountability: How safe would you feel?

*Photo by Kristina Flour on Unsplash The British government needs to provide assurances that MI5’s secret policy does not authorise people to commit serious human rights violations or cover up of such crimes Privacy International, along Reprieve, the Committee on the Administration of Justice, and

News

17th August 2020

Dear Home Secretary: Channel crossings are already inviable for asylum-seekers and human rights

20th March 2020

Extraordinary powers need extraordinary protections

15th January 2020

Advocate General’s Opinion: national security mass retention regimes are incompatible with EU Law

15th January 2020

Preliminary Statement: Advocate General's Opinion Advises that Mass Surveillance Regime is Unlawful

13th November 2019

Government implies having no responsibility for MI5 ‘agents’ human rights abuses

31st October 2019

PI and other rights groups demand political parties come clean on user of voters personal data in the UK general election

Examples of Abuse

Want to know how this translate in the real world? Here is the latest example in the news.

Public Health Wales posts on the web details of residents testing positive

In mid-September, “human error” led Public Health Wales to post the personal data of all 18,000-odd Welsh residents who tested positive for COVID-19 between the end of February and the end of August to a public server, where for about 20 hours it was readily searchable by any visitor to the site

See more examples of abuse

Our Advocacy

Privacy International’s response to the UK Parliament Joint Committee on Human Rights

In March 2019, Privacy International responded to a call for evidence for an inquiry by the UK Parliament's Joint Committee on Human Rights into "The Right to Privacy (Article 8) and the Digital Revolution". Our suggestions included that, the human rights framework should support: Increasing

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