Foreign surveillance: law and practice in a global digital environment

In: https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:aa86a748-c281-481d-a6b4-5ae0233e9e36

Open Access

Abstract

The reporting of leaks from whistleblower Edward Snowden has led to a global debate about privacy in the Internet era. This article reviews US and UK alleged practices related to surveillance of foreign Internet communications content and "metadata", and the international human rights law issues they raise. Often, these practices are based on vague laws that are applied on the basis of secret guidance or interpretations—which in international human rights terms is not "law" at all. To the extent that there are specific, published laws, their hallmarks are the sweeping, largely discretionary powers that they grant, a lack of effective oversight, and (often) discrimination between nationals or residents and non-nationals or non-residents. Spying on citizens, politicians and companies in another country, and obtaining data from servers in that other country, without the consent of the target country, furthermore violates the sovereignty of the latter country.