Inherent danger in increased state surveillance, Amnesty International warns
Amnesty International has warned that the digital surveillance employed by many governments to assist in the fight against COVID-19 can only be justified if it respects human rights.
The South African government is ramping up its efforts to curb the spread of the virus by using cell phone data to trace people who might have come into contact with a COVID-19 carrier.
Amnesty International spokesperson Mienke Steytler says technology can play an important role in the global effort to contain the pandemic.
However, this does not give governments carte blanche to expand digital surveillance.
"The recent past has shown governments are reluctant to relinquish temporary surveillance powers. We must not sleepwalk into a permanent expanded surveillance state now," she says.
While technology can play a vital role in distributing public health messages and increasing access to healthcare, an increase digital surveillance through mobile phone location data also threatens privacy, freedom of expression and freedom of association.
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"Increased digital surveillance to tackle this public health emergency, can only be used if certain strict conditions are met,” Steytler explains.
“Authorities cannot simply disregard the right to privacy and must ensure any new measures have robust human rights safeguards. Wherever governments use the power of technology as part of their strategy to beat COVID-19, they must do so in a way that respects human rights."
Steytler says more than 100 civil society groups have signed a joint statement setting out conditions that must be met before the use of surveillance technology can be given the green light.
