Background Information

About PI - Principal Office Holders and Staff 05/07/2009

About PI - International Advisory Board 01/05/2009
Privacy International's Advisory Board currently has 82 members from 36 countries. Their professions vary widely, and range from Parliamentarians to former government officials, from academics to civil liberties advocates, consumer rights specialists to corporate and legal consultants. Specifically because our Advisory Board consists of such a broad spectrum of interests and expertise, PI is able to wade through the murky waters of a number of issues in a variety of countries.

About Online Advertising 19/03/2008
Online advertising may very well shape the future of the internet. Advertisers spend billions online because online ads can be targeted to match your interests far more accurately than with TV or a billboard. PI is offering this online library resource to connect concerned consumers with the key information from online advertising companies, as well as to provide some limited means of controlling how their personal information is processed.

PHR2006 - Privacy Topics - Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) 18/12/2007
Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) is a type of automatic identification system that enables data to be wirelessly transmitted by portable tags to readers that process the data according to the needs of a particular application.

PHR2006 - Privacy Topics - Surveillance of Communications 18/12/2007
Most countries around the world regulate the interception of communications by governments and private individuals and organizations. These controls typically take the form of constitutional provisions protecting the privacy of communications and laws and regulations that implement those requirements.

PHR2006 - Privacy Topics - Authentication and Identity Disclosure 18/12/2007
Authentication is the process of verifying a claim that is being made regarding an identity, an attribute pertaining to an identity (e.g., "this person is a citizen of the United States"), or a set of attributes. Traditionally, the greatest demand for secure authentication solutions has come from enterprises looking to meet their own intra-organizational security needs, as well as from government organizations in contexts where national security interests are believed to be at stake.

PHR2006 - Privacy Topics - Satellite Surveillance 18/12/2007
Developments in satellite surveillance (also called "remote sensing") during the last decade have embraced features similar to those of more conventional visual surveillance.

PHR2006 - Privacy Topics - Travel Surveillance 18/12/2007
Since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, one of the greatest fears of security officials in the world has been that would-be terrorists would board commercial airline flights without their malicious intentions being detected in advance. As a result, several countries have placed a high priority on identifying, tracking, and profiling travelers, especially air travelers.

PHR2006 - Privacy Topics - Digital Rights Management 18/12/2007
Several companies have developed Digital Rights Management (DRM) systems to prevent the unauthorized use of digital files. There are significant privacy implications arising from these technological designs.

PHR2006 - Privacy Topics - Interactive Television and Online Video 18/12/2007
The convergence of communications networks, computers and mass media into an interactive network combining television and the Internet is the next progression of the technology currently being developed.

PHR2006 - Privacy Topics - UN Internet Governance Forum 18/12/2007
The Internet Governance Forum was created by the UN to address ongoing issues associated with the growth of the Internet.

PHR2006 - Privacy Topics - Public Records 18/12/2007
In recent years nations around the world have made strides in providing access to public records to their citizens as a means of fighting abuse of government authority, corruption, and promoting freedom of the press. Today, over 70 nations around the world have adopted open government or freedom of information laws.

PHR2006 - Privacy Topics - Video Surveillance 18/12/2007
Surveillance cameras (also called Closed-Circuit Television or CCTV) are increasingly being used to monitor public and private spaces throughout the world.

PHR2006 - Privacy Topics - Border Security Programs 18/12/2007
In the past few years, countries have begun expanding their border security programs.

PHR2006 - Privacy Topics - Voting Privacy 18/12/2007
Technology that facilitates the right of citizens to participate in the public discourse may threaten privacy, especially when it is associated with the administration of elections and, under certain conditions, the very act of voting.

PHR2006 - Privacy Topics - Genetic Privacy 18/12/2007
Genetic data poses unique privacy issues because it can serve as an identifier and can also convey sensitive personal information. Not only does genetic information provide something like a fingerprint through variations in genetic sequences; it also provides a growing amount of information about genetic diseases and predispositions.

PHR2006 - Privacy Topics - Workplace Privacy 18/12/2007
Workers around the world are frequently subject to some kind of monitoring by their employers. Employers supervise work processes for quality control and performance purposes. They collect personal information from employees for a variety of reasons, such as health care, tax, and background checks.

PHR2006 - Privacy Topics - Census and Census Data 18/12/2007
A national census raises important privacy issues. The risks that accompany the electronic compilation of personal information include re-identification, which is the practice of linking individuals' identities to anonymous census records; the use of personal information for marketing solicitations; and even more serious consequences of political abuse.

PHR2006 - Privacy Topics - WHOIS Database 18/12/2007
In the first quarter of 2007, more than 10.7 million new domain names were registered. This brings the total number of registrations to an all time high of 128 million domain names. Registrants are required to provide information in the registration process, which is then made publicly available.

PHR2006 - Privacy Topics - Behavioural Targeting 18/12/2007
Behavioural targeting is a technique used by advertisers that involves the secret collection of information about individual’s interests, actions, habits, and traits in both the online and off-line worlds. Theoretically, this improves the effectiveness of advertising by tailoring messages for individual consumers. The practice raises troubling privacy concerns, as well as the obvious problem of subliminal manipulation.