Surveillance abuse


Surveillance abuse is the use of surveillance methods or technology to monitor the activity of an individual or group of individuals in a way which violates international human rights standards, social and cultural norms or the laws of a particular society.
During the FBI's COINTELPRO operations, there was widespread surveillance abuse which targeted political dissidents, primarily people from the political left and civil rights movement.
Other abuses include "LOVEINT" which refers to the practice of secret service employees using their extensive monitoring capabilities to spy on their love interest or spouse.
There is no prevention in the amount of unauthorized data collected on individuals and this leads to cases where cameras are installed inappropriately. “For instance, according to the BBC, four council workers in Liverpool used a street CCTV pan-tilt-zoom camera to spy on a woman in her apartment.”. This is just one case where culprits have been caught; however, there are still many common acts such as this. Another incident of inappropriate installation now has “Pennsylvania parents suing their son's school, alleging it watched him through his laptop's webcam while he was at home and unaware he was being observed.”. This leads to the misconception of surveillance, as it once was a tool to monitor and make sure citizens abide by the law, it has now created even more problems. With cameras only becoming more advanced and more common, it is difficult to determine whether these surveillance cameras are helping to ensure a safe society or leading to bigger issues altogether.
With the growing of Web 2.0 and social networking sites, surveillance may be more easily and commonly abused in many situations for a variety of reasons. For example, the Communications Security Establishment, formerly known as Communications Security Establishment Canada, has previously spied on Canadians through the public wireless internet connections in an airport in the country. Through this they gathered information on who people called or texted and where they were when they communicated with others. The CSE search through approximately 10-15 million downloads daily. An example of where surveillance may have been abused is where Facebook and Apple have admitted to allowing government officials to access personal information of their account users.
A device which may be used to abuse surveillance, called a Stingray, acts and looks similar to a cellphone tower but it tricks mobile devices into connecting with it. After connected an operator can take information stored on the device, sometimes intercepting phone calls and text messages. This method of surveillance can be used on random civilians or in an investigation of a particular person.

Surveillance and Human Rights Law

According to international human rights law, as summarized by Privacy International’s Guide to International Law 'and Surveillance, any form of surveillance must comply with the following four key principles to be considered human rights–compliant:
  • Lawfulness: Surveillance must be prescribed by publicly accessible law. Individuals must be able to foresee when and how the law might apply to them.
  • Necessity: It must be strictly necessary to achieve a legitimate aim recognized in a democratic society, such as national security or the prevention of serious crime. If less intrusive means exist, surveillance cannot be justified.
  • Proportionality: The extent of interference with privacy must be proportionate to the gravity of the threat or situation. The benefit gained must outweigh the harm to privacy.
  • Adequate safeguards: Effective oversight and safeguards must exist to prevent abuse. These include independent authorization and review, time-limited and targeted measures, eventual notification to affected individuals, and access to adequate remedies for victims.
Failure to meet these principles renders surveillance measures incompatible with human rights obligations under instruments such as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and regional frameworks including the European Convention on Human Rights '.