Product, Range and Distribution: Privacy International

Privacy International is a London-based charity. They investigate the secret world of government surveillance and then expose the companies enabling it. They litigate to ensure that surveillance is consistent with the rule of law. They advocate for strong national, regional, and international laws that protect privacy. They conduct research to catalyse policy change. They raise awareness about technologies and laws that place privacy at risk, to ensure that the public is informed and engaged. To ensure that this right is universally respected, they strengthen the capacity of their partners in developing countries and they also work with international organisations to protect the most vulnerable.

"Privacy enables us to create barriers and manage boundaries to protect ourselves from interferences in our lives. Privacy helps us limit who has access to our bodies, places and things, as well as our communications and our information. It's the right to know that your personal communications, medical records, metadata and bank details are secure, but it is also about ensuring that they are under your control. Privacy is essential to human dignity and autonomy in all societies. Privacy is at the cross-section of technology and human rights. The right to privacy is a qualified fundamental human right - meaning that if someone wants to take it away from you, they need to have a damn good reason for doing so.


Technologies are enabling new forms of empowerment and interaction as we integrate them into our lives. They may also enable powerful institutions to amass our personal information. The threat of terrorism is giving governments across the world carte blanche to ramp up state surveillance. Industry is voracious in its appetite to profile us, predict what we will do, and profit from our data. We believe that technological developments should strengthen, rather than undermine, the right to a private life, and that everyone’s privacy must be carefully safeguarded, regardless of nationality, gender, race or ethnicity, personal or economic status."

One of their projects is called Big Brother Incorporated, Below is the information they have provided about it.
Today, surveillance technology ranges from malware which infects a target computer to record every keystroke, to systems for tapping undersea fibre-optic cables in order to monitor the communications of entire populations. In countries where detention without trial, torture and extra-judicial killings are commonplace, these technologies imperil the lives of every activist and dissident.

Exposing the surveillance industry
The global surveillance industry is valued at around $5 billion. Today, surveillance technology ranges from malware that infects a target mobile or computer to record everything, to systems for tapping undersea fibre-optic cables in order to monitor the communications of entire populations. Today, companies based in Western countries develop some of the most intrusive and sophisticated surveillance technologies, but other manufacturers are catching up.

The Surveillance Industry Index catalogues this industry. It is the largest index of the private surveillance sector ever assembled, comprising of materials collected at surveillance trade shows around the world by Privacy International staff and information provided by the WikiLeaks SpyFiles alongside other organisations and individuals.

Ensuring redress for victims of surveillance technology
Surveillance technology can facilitate large-scale human rights abuses by Governments. It can be used to track the activities of dissidents, human rights activists, journalists, student leaders, minorities, trade union leaders, and political opponents. The information and communications infrastructures of developing or authoritarian countries can be hijacked for limitless surveillance purposes, and the information thereby collected used to facilitate unlawful interrogation practices, torture and extrajudicial executions.

Big Brother Incorporated investigates these abuses and the networks, companies, and authorities that enable them. We pursue litigation in national and international courts and through various multilateral forums to ensure redress for victims.

Holding the surveillance industry to account
Despite the scale of the industry and the proliferation of surveillance technology across the world, it is a sector that operates wholly in the shadows. The companies developing and selling surveillance technologies must be made accountable.

Privacy International coordinates a global coalition aimed at ensuring surveillance technologies are not used to facilitate human rights abuses or internal repression. The Campaign Against Unlawful Surveillance Exports brings together human rights, arms control, tech policy, and media freedom civil society groups campaigning for stronger safeguards. Governments need to urgently agree on strong commitments to regulate the industry, and must use their export control systems to ensure the trade of surveillance technology is done in line with their human rights obligations.