GPD article on cybersecurity published on openDemocracy

GPD’s Executive Director Andrew Puddephatt and Head of Programmes and International Policy Lea Kaspar have co-written an article for openDemocracy, titled Cybersecurity is the new battleground for human rights.

In the article, Andrew and Lea argue that human rights defenders need to start engaging with cybersecurity, both as an urgent threat to our privacy and Internet freedom and as a potential site for broader debates on what a free, open and rights-focused Internet might look like.

It also imagines what a new definition of cybersecurity, centered on the security and rights of the end user – rather than on systems – might look like:

“It might mean a legal and normative shift in our conception of data ownership, putting ownership and control of personal information in the hands of the user, rather than the service provider. It might mean guaranteed end-to-end encryption and public education programs that focus upon personal privacy and data protection. It could mean instilling stronger accountability and oversight structures where data collection is deemed necessary, by ensuring that the scope of such powers is narrowly defined, and that oversight mechanisms include staff with high level computer skills, and judicial authorisation for any interference in people’s’ privacy.”

Read the full article here.