Carly NystHead of International Advocacy

A race to the bottom? Trends in privacy and

surveillance in Asia, Africa and Latin America

Challenges to privacy

• Surveillance, intelligence and law enforcement

• SIM card registration • ID and Biometrics• DNA databases

Surveillance and interception trends

• Increasingly permissive surveillance laws– Kenya (Prevention of Terrorism Act 2012): indefinite

interception– Philippines (Cybercrime Prevention Act 2012)

• Access to communications data• UK (Communications Data Bill 2012)• South Korea – 36 million times a year

• Establishment of monitoring centres– India CMS– Uganda (Regulation of Interception of Communications Act

2010)– Kenya (Network Early Warning System (NEWS) to monitor

incoming and outgoing email traffic)

• Direct access to telecommunications infrastructure– Colombia (Ministries of Justice and ICTs Decree

1704/2012)– NSA/GCHQ/Five Eyes spying arrangements

• More power to intelligence services– Kenya (National Intelligence Services Act 2012)– South Africa (General Intelligence Laws Amendment

Bill 2011)• Extraterritorial application of surveillance

technologies– Pakistan (FTB 2012)

New surveillance technologies

SIM card registration

• 48/54 countries in Africa require mandatory registration of SIM cards

Identity cards and biometrics

DNA databases

Positive developments – data protection

• Scaling back of data retention laws• “the globalisation of Convention 108” • Heading towards the ubiquity of data

protection legislation• However, still regional weaknesses

Data retention

• Cf. African Union (?)• Australia• Romania• Germany• Czech Republic• Argentina• Canada• Sweden• Austria (?)

Data protection – global landscape

Data protection – Latin America

Legislation existing in• Argentina (2000)• Chile (1999)• Colombia (2012)• Costa Rica (2011)• Mexico (2010)• Nicaragua (2012)• Peru (2011)• Uruguay (2008)

Draft bills in• Brazil• Dominica • Dominican republic• Grenada• Jamaica• Barbados• Cayman Islands

Data Protection – Asia-Pacific

Legislation existing in• Hong Kong (1995)• Japan (2003)• Malaysia (2010)• Nepal (2007)• Philippines (2012) • Singapore (2012)• Vietnam (2010)• Taiwan (2010)• New Zealand (2010)• Australia (2001)

Draft bills in• Thailand

Data protection – Africa and Middle East

Legislation existing in• Cape Verde (2001)• Ghana (212)• Morocco (2009)• Senegal (2008)• Tunisia (2004)• Yemen (2012)• Zimbabwe (2002)

Draft bills in• Tanzania• South Africa• Nigeria• Niger• Mali• Madagascar• Kenya

The future?