{"id":74099,"date":"2014-09-18T11:41:52","date_gmt":"2014-09-18T15:41:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cdt.org\/?post_type=blog&p=74099"},"modified":"2014-09-18T11:41:52","modified_gmt":"2014-09-18T15:41:52","slug":"five-us-surveillance-programs-undermining-global-human-rights","status":"publish","type":"insight","link":"https:\/\/cdt.org\/insights\/five-us-surveillance-programs-undermining-global-human-rights\/","title":{"rendered":"Five US Surveillance Programs Undermining Global Human Rights"},"content":{"rendered":"

Those of us in the United States often like to think\u2014rightly or wrongly\u2014that our overall human-rights record is in pretty good order.\u00a0 However, even those who view the US as a global human-rights leader have had to take a deep breath when considering the past year of Big Brother-like surveillance revelations.\u00a0 A major UN body highlighted these revelations\u2014along with a decidedly sobering array of other US human-rights issues\u2014in a set of recommendations<\/a> back in April. \u00a0In order to keep drawing attention to these surveillance-related problems, CDT and the ACLU submitted comments<\/a> this past Monday to the United Nations describing five particularly egregious surveillance programs that have had a grievous impact on human rights around the world.<\/p>\n

Every four years, the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) evaluates all of a country\u2019s human-rights commitments during a process called the Universal Periodic Review (UPR). \u00a0During the UPR, the UN HRC examines the promises a country has made\u2014i.e., in human rights treaties such as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights<\/a> and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights<\/a>\u2014and evaluates to what extent that country is living up to its obligations.<\/p>\n

We make it crystal clear that on a daily basis, US authorities are intercepting the private communications and other personal electronic data of hundreds of millions of people across the globe, the vast majority of whom are not suspected of any wrongdoing.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In anticipation of next year\u2019s UPR of the United States, CDT and the ACLU sought to do something unique: after wading into the sea of NSA-related surveillance revelations that have emerged during this past year, we highlighted (and used our technical expertise to explain) five specific surveillance programs that have a particularly outrageous and broad impact on the human rights\u2014including privacy, freedom of expression, and freedom of assembly\u2014of people around the world. We aimed to provide an accessible technical description of the five programs and explain the impact these programs have on millions of people throughout the world, regardless of any suspicion of wrongdoing and without any judicial oversight. The five programs we analyzed include:<\/p>\n