Without going largely unnoticed by the Christmas-celebrating public, the UN General Assembly adopted the highly controversial UN agreement to combat cybercrime on Christmas Eve. The compromise proposal was approved by 193 members of the body without any vote. This became possible when a specially established UN committee unanimously approved the draft convention in August.
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USA plans to ban: TikTok launches its app offshoot Lemon8The initiative sparked years of controversy after Russia and China launched it in 2017. Until recently, the biggest points of contention included rules for cross-border access to personal data, for example through cloud services (e-evidence), extradition procedures, legal aid and liability of service providers. Civil rights activists and tech companies campaigned against the project for years. Despite the improvements, he criticized the result as a “surveillance agreement” that could be used for repressive purposes.
“This agreement is a threat to privacy, journalism, IT security and freedom of expression.” Philipp (Pipo) Berger complainedFollowing the decision on New Year’s Eve, co-vice-president of the Pirate Party Switzerland. His colleague Pascal Fouquet complained that passing such a far-reaching surveillance agreement during the Christmas holidays was “hard to beat in terms of contempt for democracy and fundamental rights”. According to the Pirate Party, the international agreement sets out sweeping requirements for member states to spy on users and exchange data in real time, “undermining the protection and value of human rights around the world.”
The door is open for abuse
American civil rights organization Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and its partners reminded them again in mid-DecemberThat the treaty provides “unlimited powers to gather evidence for crimes that have little to do with cybercrime.” Also, the convention only covers “minimum safety precautions and restrictions.” What is important are “troubling provisions and omissions that are inconsistent with international human rights standards.” This left the implementation of protective measures to the discretion of member states. Many of them had poor human rights records. They have national laws that do not protect privacy, but rather criminalize freedom of expression.
We have recently heard from the US government and this country’s State Office that they are committed to robustly enforcing human rights standards and guarantees. Therefore the risk of misuse is significantly reduced. The US said it is committed to preventing misuse of national cybercrime laws and tools to target journalists and activists. Critics consider it an empty promise.
Philemon Yang, President of the United Nations General Assembly, Emphasized the importance of the new agreement: “We live in a digital world where information and communication technologies have immense potential for the development of society, but it also increases the potential threat of cyber crime.” By adopting the convention, Member States will have tools available to “prevent and combat cybercrime and strengthen international cooperation in protecting people and their rights online.” The agreement will be opened for signature at an official ceremony in Hanoi, Vietnam in the next few months. It takes effect 90 days after ratification by the 40th state.
(No)
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