The UN committee approved the text of the Convention on Combating
Cybercrime. Human rights organizations and information technology
experts have called it a threat to democracy and the free world.
“One of the world’s most dangerous surveillance treaties was approved
with a standing ovation,” wrote Austrian digital rights group Epicenter
Works.
The UN General Assembly is now due to vote on the adoption of the Convention in September.
“It can be assumed that the treaty will be accepted without
difficulty at the UN General Assembly in September, and will thus be
officially considered a UN convention. After that, it will be available
for signature and subsequently it can be ratified,” said political
advisor Tanja Fachathalerová. “It can be assumed that it will not be a
big problem to achieve the necessary forty ratifications, which are
necessary for the treaty to enter into force.”
Legitimization of Repression against Journalists and Opponents
The proposed international treaty aims to combat cybercrime and improve
international cooperation between law enforcement agencies. However,
more than a hundred human and civil rights organizations around the
world have warned of a serious threat to human rights and criticized the
fact that the text of the treaty lacks adequate safeguards. According
to them, the planned agreement would oblige UN member states to
introduce comprehensive measures for the supervision of a wide range of
crimes.
“The contract is really a surveillance agreement with too few
provisions on data protection and human rights. In practice, it
legitimizes the more repressive measures against political opponents or
journalists that we now see in authoritarian states,” writes the
netzpolitik.org server.
China and Russia Stood at the Beginning of the Convention
It all started with a UN resolution initiated in 2019 by Russia, China,
and other countries (such as Iran, Egypt, Sudan, and Uzbekistan) with 88
votes in favor, 58 against, and 34 abstentions.
European states have proposed changes, but according to experts, the
resulting compromise does not even meet the conditions necessary to
preserve privacy and protect human rights.
Unfortunately, a data access treaty has been drawn up that will allow
governments around the world to exchange citizens’ personal information
in perpetual secrecy in the event of any crime the two governments
agree is ‘serious.’ This would include eavesdropping on location and
real-time communications around the world, and force IT workers to
divulge passwords or other access keys that would compromise the
security of global systems that billions of people rely on every day.
And it’s not just private sector systems – government systems are also
at risk,” said Nick Ashton-Hart, Digital Economy Policy Director at
APCO, who is also leading the Cybersecurity Tech Accord delegation to
the Convention negotiations.
The Threat of Criminal Prosecution of Journalists and White Hackers
The Ashton-Hart treaty also puts journalists and whistleblowers at risk
of prosecution. The International Press Institute was so concerned about
this risk that it placed a full-page ad in the Washington Post.
Independent security experts around the world also warned in February
that they could face criminal prosecution for their work protecting IT
systems from cybercriminals under the draft Convention....<<<Read More>>>...
