News and Developments

PI advises Kyrgyzstan on internet privacy and surveillance 25/02/2009
At the request of the Civil Initiative on Internet Policy, a Kyrgyz public foundation, Privacy International participated in an international conference on Internet and Law in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.

How to deal with the Heathrow fingerprint system 23/03/2008
BAA, the operators of Heathrow, have decided to illegally fingerprint all domestic travellers. Privacy International has come up with a privacy 'travel guide' to advise you on how to deal with Heathrow's illegal actions. We advise you to photograph Heathrow personnel as they fingerprint you because they are in breach of law, and using glue to protect your fingerprints from illegal capture.

Privacy International response to European Commission approval of the Google-Doubleclick merger 11/03/2008
Privacy International today expressed dismay and disbelief at the EC's unconditional approval of the Google-Doubleclick merger. PI's Director, Simon Davies, said "This single reprehensible action by the Commission represents this decade's greatest threat to online privacy. The EU will rue the day that it allowed a near monopoly market to be controlled by this company. Online privacy will now be a hostage to fortune, inevitably suffering death from a thousand cuts".

PI explains risks to census data by using U.S. contractor without strong protections 28/02/2008
Privacy International has briefed the UK House of Commons Treasury subcommittee on the risks to UK census data if a company with a U.S. data centre is called on to run the census. Under weak U.S. laws on safeguarding personal information, the UK census data could be abused without any knowledge of the UK government.

EU to announce fingerprinting for all visitors 12/02/2008
The European Commission is about to announce the compulsory fingerprinting of all visitors to the EU, both visa holders and non-visa holders, along with automated border checks of EU nationals through the analysis of fingerprints and facial scans.

PI Comments on UK Tax Agency Data Breach 20/11/2007
PI warns of “imminent and unprecedented” criminal attacks following major data leak in the UK.

An Open Letter to Google 10/06/2007
A letter responding to Google's media tactics against Privacy International.

Google accused of conducting smear campaign against Privacy International 09/06/2007
As Privacy International prepares to publish the first privacy ranking of major Internet companies, Google has embarked on a smear campaign within the media to discredit both PI and the report.

Europe's Privacy Commissioners rule against SWIFT 24/11/2006
In a strongly worded press release, the Article 29 Working Party of the European Commission ruled that SWIFT operated in breach of EU privacy law by transferring financial data to the U.S. Government. They also call on EU Banks to notify customers of the fact that SWIFT hands this data over to the U.S. Treasury.

Swiss Privacy Commissioner claims SWIFT and Swiss banks infringed privacy law 24/10/2006
The Swiss Federal Privacy Commissioner judges that the SWIFT transfer of financial data to the U.S. Government is in breach of Swiss privacy law.

Belgian Prime Minister condemns SWIFT data transfers to U.S. as 'illegal' 28/09/2006
The Belgian government released a report today on the SWIFT case. SWIFT has been subject to a PI campaign against its transfer of financial transaction data to the U.S. Government. The Belgian government concluded that "Swift should have respected its obligations under Belgian data privacy laws."

Canadian investigation into rendition faults authorities for inaccurate data 19/09/2006
The national Commission that was charged to investigate the case of Maher Arar, a Canadian citizen who was rendered from the U.S. to Syria in 2002, released its report finding that the Canadian authorities relied and passed on inaccurate information to the U.S. government and wrongly placed Arar and his wife on border watchlists.

German Lander Commissioner legal analysis condemns SWIFT transfers to U.S. 25/08/2006
The Data Protection Commission for the German Lander of Schleswig-Holstein released its legal analysis of the SWIFT transfer of transactional data to the US Government. The analysis concludes that the transfers violate German and European data protection law, and calls for the immediate cessation of the mirroring of European data in the U.S. data centre.

An Open Letter to the CEO of SWIFT on other covert programmes for access to financial data 12/07/2006
PI writes to the CEO of SWIFT asking if there are other covert programmes run by SWIFT in co-operation with other governments around the world for access to personal financial data held by SWIFT.

European Parliament resolution on SWIFT builds on PI work 07/07/2006
The European Parliament adopted a resolution demanding explanations from EU governments and institutions regarding their complicity in the SWIFT transfers of financial data to the U.S. The resolution refers directly to PI's campaigning on the issue.

EU announces fingerprint specifications for passports 30/06/2006
Despite there being no reason for their introduction, the EU has released specifications for the inclusion of fingerprints in all EU passports.

US Government accused of communications data retention and data mining 12/05/2006
The U.S. National Security Agency is accused of approaching four land-line phone companies in the U.S. and collecting traffic data on millions of telephone communications for the purpose of data mining.

Scotland to expand DNA and Fingerprint Retention 31/01/2006
Despite previously rejecting the expansion of police powers governing retention of fingerprints and DNA profiles in 2001, the Scottish Executive is now pursuing this controversial policy. A consultation period on the expansion of powers terminated in September 2005 and Ministers are reported to be considering a response to the consultation.

UK National DNA Database retains innocent children's DNA 31/01/2006
A campaign to eliminate the DNA profiles of 24,000 innocent juveniles from the database has been instigated by a Conservative Member of Parliament after a lengthy battle to remove the record of a concerned constituent’s son who was arrested as a result of misidentification. The National DNA Database currently holds the records of 750,000 juveniles – some who have been convicted of offences but many who were simply charged, cautioned, questioned or were mere witnesses to incidents.

Mass Screenings of Volunteers helps to build UK DNA Database 31/01/2006
Despite public assertions by a Government Minister that records on the National DNA Database belonged to individuals who had at least been arrested, statistics released in Parliament in December 2005 revealed this is not the case. At that time, DNA profiles belonging to 15,116 volunteers, who were attempting to assist police investigations and exonerate themselves from being suspects in some criminal investigation, were retained on the DNA Database on the grounds that they had ‘consented’.