Reprieve pursues international legal action against US and allies for drone attacks in Pakistan

According to Reprieve, “it has emerged that up to 2,283 people have been killed by US unmanned aircraft, or ‘drones’, since 2004 — with the numbers rapidly escalating in the past two years under President Obama. As many as 730 victims have been wholly innocent, according to one official source.” Preliminary investigation by Reprieve suggests [...]

Freedom of expression and privacy risks across the ICT sector

The BSR report ‘Protecting Human RIghts in the digital age’ describes the evolving freedom of expression and privacy risks faced by information and communications technology (ICT) companies and how these risks can be more effectively mitigated by the industry.  It focuses on the issues for telecommunications services; cell phones and mobile devices; internet services; enterprise [...]

EESC condemns body scanners as a breach of fundamental rights

(EDRI) On 16 February 2011, the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) issued its opinion on the use of body scanners in EU airports. The EESC has opposed the eventual adoption of any measures that would introduce body scanners on an EU-wide level, and feel that the Commission Communication on the use of security scanners [...]

Ethical and Legal Aspects of Unmanned Systems. Interviews.

Excellent series of interviews by Gerhard Dabringer. John Canning, Gerhard Dabringer: Ethical Challenges of Unmanned SystemsColin Allen: Morality and Artificial IntelligenceGeorge Bekey: Robots and EthicNoel Sharkey: Moral and Legal Aspects of Military RobotsArmin Krishnan: Ethical and Legal ChallengesPeter W. Singer: The Future of WarRobert Sparrow: The Ethical Challenges of Military RobotsPeter Asaro: Military Robots and [...]

Proposal for cyber war rules of engagement

BBC reports that the EastWest Institute in New York will propose that cyber war needs rules of engagement. The draft document also calls for a fresh definition of “nation state”, with new “territories” and players in cyberspace beyond government – such as multinationals, NGOs and citizens. The proposal also says that ambiguity about what constitutes [...]

Russian Federation Invests in Enhanced Surveillance

On January 28, 2011, Russian media outlets reported that on January 11, 2011, the government had issued a resolution approving a two-year program of investing in high technology in the field of security. The program, which was recommended by the President’s Commission on Modernization and Technological Development, entrusts the FSB with the responsibility of spending [...]

New Study Documents Growing Role for Private Companies in Policing Online Communications

A new EDRI study finds that powers traditionally employed by law enforcement agencies and the judiciary “are silently being delegated by governments to ISPs and corporations under the guise of industry “self-regulation”. The report details significant efforts to entrust intermediaries with policing powers, surveys the impact of “voluntary ‘self-regulation’” on online content and draws attention [...]

Former CIA and NSA heads on the ‘the need to know’, Wikileaks and increased information sharing

Michael Hayden and Samuel Visner have an open-ed in the Baltimore sun in which they defend wider information sharing, if aided by sound security practices and advanced technology to protect information Vital information sharing need not be a victim of WikiLeaks. The principle of “need to know” requires segmenting information according to sensitivity and topic. [...]

TSA chief seeks less ‘invasive’ methods

Transportation Security Administration chief John Pistole said Thursday the agency is looking at new technology such as body scanners that show passengers as “stick figures” and security methods used in Israeli airports in a drive to make air travel security “as minimally invasive as possible.” In a speech before the American Bar Association in Washington, [...]

OECD cybersecurity report

This OECD report was written by Peter Sommer and Ian Brown as a contribution to the OECD project ―Future Global Shocks. The authors have concluded that very few single cyber-related events have the capacity to cause a global shock. Governments nevertheless need to make detailed preparations to withstand and recover from a wide range of [...]