APC Comments on UNGA Resolution on 'The Right to Privacy in the Digital Age'

• The Association for Progressive Communications (APC) has submitted formal comments on the zero draft of the UN General Assembly resolution regarding the right to privacy in the digital age.
• The submission calls for addressing differentiated impacts of surveillance, protecting human rights defenders (HRDs), strengthening encryption and anonymity, regulating AI, and enforcing corporate accountability.

Differentiated Impacts of Surveillance

• Privacy infringements disproportionately affect marginalized communities, including activists, journalists, ethnic/religious minorities, and particularly women human rights defenders (WHRDs).
• States are urged to avoid using biometric identification and facial recognition for mass surveillance and to support a moratorium on the sale and use of invasive surveillance technologies until human rights safeguards are implemented.

Encryption and Anonymity

• Encryption is vital for journalists and HRDs operating in restrictive environments, as well as for protecting marginalized groups from online harassment and violence.
• Anonymity allows individuals to seek solidarity and express opinions without fear of identification.
• The resolution should encourage states and private enterprises to actively support technical solutions that ensure strong encryption and anonymity.

AI Risks

• AI systems often rely on non-consensual large-scale data extraction, posing significant risks to privacy for LGBTQIA+, racialized, and low-income populations.
• Without human rights safeguards, AI applications risk reinforcing existing structural inequalities and enabling discriminatory surveillance.

Private Sector Accountability

• States should mandate that businesses conduct transparent and ongoing human rights due diligence, with active participation from civil society.
• Companies should prioritize "privacy by design and by default" and improve transparency regarding privacy-related risks and human rights impacts.