Center for Democracy & Technology

"Freedom of expression" was the phrase of the day on Day 2 of the World Conference on International Telecommunications (WCIT), as delegates debated Tunisia's proposal to include in the treaty an explicit reference to the right to freedom of opinion and expression, as guaranteed by Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. With delegates from China, to Europe, to the US all opposing the measure, the language was ultimately not adopted into the treaty. But was Member States' commitment to free expression really driving this decision?

The Tunisia proposal asserted that:

During the first day of the ITU’s World Conference on International Telecommunications (WCIT), being held in Dubai, leaders of government delegations decided to open the conference’s plenary sessions to the public.  We hope this move will increase opportunities for advocates and experts to observe and participate in key discussions over the next two weeks of this conference that could affect the Internet.

The lack of transparency and openness in the WCIT process has been a central concern for civil society advocates following the treaty conference. While it is heartening to hear from CDT’s expert on the ground, Matthew Shears, that the public will be permitted to enter the conference venue, we are disappointed to see that a formal announcement of this decision has not yet appeared on the ITU’s website.

Members of the public will also be permitted to attend the meetings of Committee 5, where substantive proposals to amend the treaty (called the International Telecommunication Regulations, or “ITRs”) will be under review.  Committee 5 will divide into two working groups focused on the various treaty articles, but it is not clear whether or how the public will be able to watch or participate in those.

Foundational Fights

Today, the Senate Judiciary Committee adopted by voice vote legislation that would amend the Electronic Communications Privacy Act to require government agents to obtain a warrant in order to access the content of email and other communications stored in the cloud. The legislation would help ensure that email, draft documents, and photos that people store online are as secure against government access as regular mail and material stored in a desk drawer. Establishing this principle has been a top CDT priority for years, and it is among the most important recommendations made by the Digital Due Process coalition, a diverse group of leading Internet companies and policy advocates from across the political spectrum. CDT’s statement to the press about the bill can be found here and those of other DDP members can be found here.

Updated December 5

The telecommunications standards arm of the U.N. has quietly endorsed the standardization of technologies that could give governments and companies the ability to sift through all of an Internet user’s traffic – including emails, banking transactions, and voice calls – without adequate privacy safeguards.  The move suggests that some governments hope for a world where even encrypted communications may not be safe from prying eyes.

At the core of this development is the adoption of a proposed international standard that outlines requirements for a technology known as "Deep Packet Inspection" (DPI).  As we’ve noted several times before, depending on how it is used, DPI has the potential to be extremely privacy-invasive, to defy user expectations, and to facilitate wiretapping.