Two years after the groundbreaking revelations of Edward Snowden on mass surveillance, a new mandate on the right to privacy within the UN system has been established.
On March 26, 2015, the Unite Nations (UN) adopted a resolution to establish a Special Rapporteur on privacy. This, as put by one eloquent human rights defender, means that finally we will have someone to watch those that are watching us.
Not only will the new expert provide intellectual leadership on the topic, but he or she will also fill the institutional gap.
A consequential response to today’s challenges
This brave move by the UN did not appear out of nothing, but was rather a logical response to one of the most pressing latter-day issues – privacy in the digital age. We all leave our digital footprint and do not have full control over it, which render us vulnerable. The establishment of a new mandate also reflects sustained efforts made by two States, which spearheaded the resolution – Brazil and Germany.
Germany is an avid defender of privacy rights, which is perhaps mostly known for its complicated relationship with Google Street View in this regard. Currently, it has also been pressing for new European Union rules on data retention. Germany’s data-protection sensitivity may be attributed to the country’s painful past. East Germany was once penetrated by the Stasi – a notorious secret police that documented every move of citizenry and had more per capita agents than the CIA or KGB.
Brazil, for its part, also recently stepped into the privacy movement. President Dilma Rousseff of Brazil raised the importance of privacy in the digital context at the UN General Assembly in 2013. Her comments on privacy followed reports that both Rousseff and Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany were victims of United States espionage. More importantly, Brazil has managed to pass a so-called “internet constitution”, which guarantees online privacy of Brazilian users and enshrines equal access to the global network.
The judiciary has not been silent on the issue either. The European Court of Justice’s (ECJ) milestone judgment on the right to be forgotten, the Facebook data privacy case led by a Austrian law student and financed via crowdfunding, and the very recent ECJ judgment on Data Retention Directive are but a few examples of the courts having to deal with data privacy and retention.
Who are the UN Special Rapporteurs exactly?
UN Special Rapporteurs are appointed by independent experts from the UN Human Rights Council (UN HRC). They hold either a country-based or a thematic-based mandate, and are nominated by Governments, international organisations, NGOs, among other.
Formally, they do not belong to the UN’s staff and do not receive remuneration there from. They usually carry out country visits, gather information on specific allegations of human rights violations, and send communications to States. The comprehensive list of all UN special rapporteurs is available here.
The particular expert on privacy is set to be appointed in June for a period of three years. He or she will be responsible for global protection and promotion of the right to privacy, and its interaction with other fundamental human rights. Among other things, the new expert will need to systematically analyze and monitor the implementation of right to privacy, develop its common understanding and best practices, and communicate his or her findings to the UN HRC and UN General Assembly.
Why it all matters and what is next?
The right to privacy is a fundamental human right, which is inter alia enshrined in Article 12 of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights, Article 17 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights.
It has been described as a gateway right, which facilitates the enjoyment of other human rights, or, as put by William O. Douglas, the right to be left alone is indeed the beginning of all freedom. Some even say, that civilization itself would not be possible without privacy*.
The reasons why we should protect right to privacy are plenty. Not only is it crucial for self-development and individual dignity, but it also serves as a power-limiting force. More precisely, privacy nurtures freedom of thought and freedom of social and political activities, which are essential to any liberal democracy. When everything we say or do can be monitored or intercepted, it has a chilling effect on how we actually behave. This is convincing enough to make sure our secrets and private moments are not traded away.
We at the Fruitful Politics congratulate the creation of a new rapporteur on the right to privacy position as timely and hope that he or she will provide enough guidance on laws and policies on such a salient issue as privacy in the digital age. At the same time, we recognize that the international legal framework will need to be further elaborated in order to meet new challenges presented by the rapid pace of technological development.
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* – As Ayn Rand once observed in her incredible novel “The Fountainhead” – Civilization is the progress toward a society of privacy. The savage’s whole existence is public, ruled by the laws of his tribe. Civilization is the process of setting man free from men.
Fruitful Politics 