The UN side event entitled “Privacy in the Digital Age” / Side eventul denumit „Intimitatea in era digitală”
Andrada C. Baba and Aurelian D. Mohan organized together with the UN Youth Delegates of Germany, Luxembourg, Slovakia, and Bulgaria a UN side event at the Permanent Mission of Germany to the UN (October 2018, New York City), entitled “Privacy in the Digital Age”.
Background
The right to privacy, as first set out in Article 12 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, is one of the basic pillars of a democratic society, its exercise is fundamental for the realization of the rights of freedom of expression, and freedom of peaceful assembly and association. Up to today, the right to privacy has not only been confirmed by several Human Rights Documents, such as in Article 17 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights or in Article 16 of the Convention of the Rights of the Child, but has also been guaranteed by over 150 national Constitutions.
The right to privacy was created to ensure that nobody would be subjected to arbitrary or unlawful interference with his or her privacy, family, home or correspondence, as well as the right to the protection by law against any such interference. Back in 1948 when this right was first created, and also when it was mentioned for the second time in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights that entered into force in 1976, the Internet had still to be invented. The right was thus primarily designed to protect citizens and their communication in an offline world. However, the way in which people communicate, do business, purchase their daily goods, access the news and voice their political opinion has radically changed with the invention of the Internet and continues to be transformed by social media, the Internet of Things or other new emerging data driven technologies.
People spend a great deal of their time online where many also willingly share an abundance of information about themselves. By doing so, they open up completely new spaces for states and private companies to access our data and to enter into our private spaces. Private companies already have wide-ranging possibilities to access the data of the consumers of their products. Personal Data is one of the most valuable resources for many companies today and can even be regarded as “the gold of the 21st century”.
The vulnerability of users’ privacy online has become especially obvious with some of the data privacy scandals that were detected during the last year, with the case of Cambridge Analytica probably being the most well-known.
This event will thus explore the status quo of the right to privacy in the digital world, how new, disruptive technologies interact with the right to privacy and what the international community can or should do to ensure that everybody’s right to privacy is guaranteed online.
Schedule of the event
- Short introduction (related to the event + objectives + subject) by the moderator or by one UNYD (5-10 min)
- Statement by someone from the German Mission (5 – 10 Min)
- Panel discussion: 45 Minutes discussion on the panel, 45 Minutes Fishbowl discussion
- Q&A audience (10 min)
- Feedback (online feedback form)
