Global survey on internet privacy and freedom of expression

Privacy is a fundamental right, even though it is difficult to define exactly what that right entails. Privacy can be regarded as having a dual aspect – it is concerned with what information or side of our lives we can keep private; and also with the ways in which third parties deal with the information that they hold – whether it is safeguarded, shared, who has access and under what conditions.

The right to privacy underpins other rights and freedoms, including freedom of expression, association and belief. The ability to communicate anonymously without governments knowing our identity, for instance, has historically played an important role in safeguarding free expression and strengthening political accountability. At the same time, the right to privacy can compete with the right to freedom of expression. Striking this balance is a delicate task. For this reason it has long been a concern of the courts to manage this relationship.

The Internet presents significant new challenges for protecting the right to privacy. This paper explores international law and the practice of different States, in terms of respecting privacy on the Internet, taking into account potential conflicts with other rights, in particular freedom of expression.

A range of threats to privacy which have developed through the Internet are considered in more detail in Section 2. International legal standards on privacy, and responses to these emerging issues, are explored in Section 3. The rights to privacy and freedom of expression relate to each other in complex ways – Section 4 explores these intersections in greater detail. Section 5 contains recommendations to states and corporations for better practice based on research and consultations. Finally, Section 6 provides an overview of literature, background material and tools on international and national policy and practice on privacy and freedom of expression on the Internet.