Mass surveillance endangers human rights says CoE assembly

The parliamentary assembly of the Council of Europe stated in a report it is “deeply concerned” about the advanced technology the US and UK have used to collect and store data on private citizens.

The assembly described the revelations revealed by former NSA agentEdward Snowden as “stunning”.

The report adds that laws lending GCHQ various powers are incompatible with the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), saying surveillance may conflict with article 8 of the ECHR – the right to privacy; article 10 – freedom of expression; and article 6 – the right to a fair trial.

It states: “These rights are cornerstones of democracy. Their infringement without adequate judicial control jeopardises the rule of law.

It adds there is evidence that intelligence agencies in the US and elsewhere are gathering up information on a “massive scale” and says operations of the US and UK concern “numerous persons against whom there is no ground for suspicion of any wrongdoing.

The assembly comprises delegates of 47 member states, among themEuropean Union and former Soviet countries.

While its recommendations are not binding on states, the European Court of Human Rights sometimes cites the assembly in its rulings and takes heed of its reports.

A number of British surveillance cases are before the Strasbourg court at the moment. Amnesty International, the American Civil Liberties Union, Liberty and Privacy International all claim GCHQ’s data collection is in breach of European law.

The UK’s Investigatory Powers Tribunal (IPT) dismissed their complaint last month.

The assembly’s report was written by Dutch MP Pieter Omtzigt and provides a quotation from the Russian novelist Alexander Solzhenitysn at the beginning: “Our freedom is built on what others do not know of our existences”.

It calls for greater use of encryption of software and activities on the internet to combat the deeply worrying fact that intelligence agencies have created back doors to bypass computer security – which also leaves computeres vulnerable to cyber criminals.

In, addition the reports expresses concern about the use of secret courts and secret interpretations of applicable laws which, it says, “are very poorly scrutinised”.

However, the assembly did recognise there is need for surveillance of suspected terrorists and organised criminals but added there is a paucity of evidence mass surveillance has helped in these investigations.

It states: “Instead, resources that might prevent attacks are diverted to mass surveillance, leaving potentially dangerous persons free to act.”

Read the report here.