Security News > 2023 > April > Friday Squid Blogging: More Squid Camouflage Research
"Rather than focusing on core cybercrimes like network intrusion and computing system interference, the draft treaty's emphasis on =>content-related crimes could likely result in overly broad and easily abused laws that stifle free expression and association rights of people around the world."
This is despite the right to free expression-including the right to insult and offend-being protected under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights-of which the U.N. Member States negotiating the new treaty are parties to.
Governments may only limit these rights in very narrow circumstances.
These laws disproportionately restrict the rights of those already marginalized and targeted in society, with personal data on religious beliefs, political affiliations, and other sensitive information collected in mass without guardrails against abuses.
The circumstances upon which police are permitted to access personal data during criminal investigations should always be subject to robust human rights safeguards and !!! overseen by an impartial and independent oversight mechanism to ensure that individuals' human rights are not at risk and to prevent police abuse of power.
On top of government attempts to keep human rights safeguards out of the draft treaty, negotiators have proposed a variety of broad, ! vague provisions that expand surveillance powers across borders as well as within each country.