DETECTER: The Human Rights Risks of Selected Detection Technologies

DETECTER Deliverable 17.1 was written by Rozemarijn van der Hilst as part of Work Package 9. You can read the whole thing here:

Executive Summary

1. Intelligence is a vital element in successful counter-terrorism. There is rapid development in detection technologies that aid in the gathering of information. However, there are concerns over the privacy intrusion these detection technologies cause.
2. Privacy is important for individual well-being, as well as the proper functioning of a democratic society. The right to privacy is vested in different national, European and International laws, which prescribe that the right to privacy may only be limited by measures that have a sound legal basis and are necessary in a democratic society for the protection of national security.
3. From the legal and moral framework around privacy it emerges that detection technologies used in counter-terrorism should take account of: legitimacy, proportionality, necessity, transparency, factors concerning the person targeted, the sensitivity of the data sought, the effectiveness, the possibility of function creep and the extent to which PET’s are implemented.
4. Privacy concerns arise with the widespread and indiscriminate use of communication surveillance; the covert use of CCTV technology; the sensitivity of biometric data; and the ineffectiveness (and therefore disproportionateness) of data mining and analysis and decision support technologies.
5. There are also risks inherent to the use of detection technologies in general. The use of detection technologies can have a ‘chilling effect’ and can be ineffective due to the huge amount of gathered data. However, positive effects of the use of detection technologies are the ability to detect and therefore prevent terrorist attacks and the deterrent effect they have.
6. Detection technologies should be used, provided that their authorization is based on legislation that protects against abuse and presents fair consideration to the proportionality and necessity of the aim pursued. The ultimate assessment of the threat detection technologies pose to privacy depends on the actual usage of the technologies.