United Nations: Counter-terrorism 'rhetoric' used to justify rise of surveillance technology

Some countries and private companies are using “counter-terrorism and security rhetoric” to justify a major increase in the deployment and use of cutting-edge surveillance technology, with no regulation, and at an “enormous cost” to human rights, said the UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights while countering terrorism, Fionnuala Ní Aoláin.

In a report to the Human Rights Council, the UN Special Rapporteur warned of an alarming increase in the use of intrusive and high-risk technologies. 

This includes drones, biometrics, artificial intelligence (AI) and spyware, which is being ramped up in the ongoing fight against terrorism, without due regard for the rule of law, governance and human rights. Exceptional justifications are becoming the norm. The Special Rapporteur stressed that “there must be a pause in the use of intrusive high-risk technologies until adequate safeguards are in place”

The Human Rights Council-appointed independent expert expressed concern about the growing domestication of the use of drones in several countries, the widespread misuse of spyware technology against civil society groups, dissidents and journalists, and the increasing adoption of biometric data collection.

This is worsened by the unregulated transfers of high-risk technologies to States engaging in systematic human rights violations. Ms. Aoláin urged authorities to more effectively regulate companies involved in the transfer of surveillance technologies abroad.

She also joined the call for a global ban on lethal autonomous weapons systems and highlighted the specific obligations of the various UN counter-terrorism bodies to ensure that any guidance and advice provided on new technologies is fully consistent with the UN Charter, and international law.

The Special Rapporteur presented to the Council in her new report a new and innovative approach to regulating spyware, which would focus on ensuring that “minimum human rights standards” are applied, by both governments and companies, in the development, use and transfer of high-risk surveillance technologies.