Growing Privacy Concerns During COVID-19

What: During these unprecedented times, across the globe governments are responding to COVID-19 in ways that pose a real risk to privacy, and may leave a lasting legacy. This includes everything from an increase in military or police powers, to policies criminalizing the publication of misinformation, to tracking citizens via apps. Already this has led to digital rights and human rights violations.

Join Alison Carmel Ramer and Maria Paz Canales who will share their thoughts on the impact to privacy current trends could have, particularly in global south countries. Learn:

• What technologies are being implemented to respond to the outbreak in Global South countries, and the challenges they are facing in regard to technology adoption, infrastructure, and internet access.

• What human rights and privacy concerns does it raise in places like Palestine and Latin America, and especially in places with vulnerable populations.

Who:

• Alison Carmel Ramer, 7amleh (The Arab Center for the Advancement of Social Media)
• Maria Paz Canales, Derechos Digitales

Date: Thursday, April 23

Time: 11:00am EST /3:00pm UTC+0

Bios:

Maria Paz Canales is a Chilean lawyer and hold a Master's Degree with specialization in Law and Technology from the University of California, Berkeley. Since 2017 Executive Director of Derechos Digitales (DD), a 15 years old independent non-profit organization based in Chile, working across Latin America on human rights in the digital environment, particularly freedom of expression, privacy, and access to knowledge and information. She was part of the group who founded the organization in 2005. On behalf of DD, she has been part for the last three years of the programing committee of LAC IGF preparatory meeting and Multistakeholder Advisory Group of global IGF. Previously, her work in private practice and academia covered telecommunications regulation, competition, data protection and intellectual property.

Alison Carmel Ramer is a digital rights defender, writer, researcher and activist. For the past ten years she has supported building the capacity of human rights defenders and civil society organizations to advocate for their rights utilizing digital technologies and the Internet. She has worked with dozens of local and international organizations including Oxfam and World Vision. She is currently with 7amleh – Arab Center for Social Media Advancement, One of the few organizations focused on the digital rights of Palestinians.

---

Notes [check out other session's note at CKS Notes]

Maria Paz Canales's slidedeck: https://cryptpad.fr/file/#/2/file/sXiCsNH3qxqDmTKlAFyFW33P/

Resources / extra reading

In English: Containing spread of Covid-19 requires exceptional measures, but these cannot come at the cost of fundamental rights
https://buff.ly/3aqBPDg

Joint declaration with other Latam digital rights organizations and we will be building together a regional Observatory in this topic in the following months.
https://www.derechosdigitales.org/14301/civil-society-from-latin-america-and-the-caribbean-demands-to-respect-human-rights-when-governments-deploy-digital-technologies-to-fight-against-covid-19/

In Spanish: Technology against the pandemic: fundamental rights much more than collateral damage that provides the conceptual framework in which the implementation of technology solutions that can be really useful to fight the pandemic and that are respectful of fundamental rights must be evaluated.
https://www.derechosdigitales.org/14355/tecnologia-contra-la-pandemia-derechos-fundamentales-mucho-mas-que-dano-colateral/

Technoptism is back! In the form of coron-apps which provides an initial account of the initiatives that have appeared in the region regarding the use of apps to fight COVID-19.
https://www.derechosdigitales.org/14368/el-tecnoptimismo-volvio-en-forma-de-coron-apps/

CoronApp: The uselessness of the technological shortcut deployed by the Government and its risks which analyzes the App launched by the Chilean government yesterday.
https://www.derechosdigitales.org/14387/coronapp-la-inutilidad-del-atajo-tecnologico-desplegado-por-el-gobierno-y-sus-riesgos/

Ecuador: Surveillance technologies in the context of a pandemic must not put human rights at risk which criticise the approach taken by Ecuadorian government of using geolocation data for quarantine surveillance.
https://www.derechosdigitales.org/14285/ecuador-las-tecnologias-de-vigilancia-en-contexto-de-pandemia-no-deben-poner-en-riesgo-los-derechos-humanos/

Secure home networks for working online guide
https://www.derechosdigitales.org/wp-content/uploads/Recomendaciones-de-seguridad-en-Redes-caseras-de-cara-al-teletrabajo.pdf