Report presented to the 74th session of the UNGA in 2019 on the persisting impunity for human rights violations committed against human rights defenders and the challenges that exist in combating it, noting that digital attacks require complex investigations and most States have the resources to acquire technology and powerful software that can be used in digital attacks on human rights defenders and that the existence of legislation restricting access to public information and the lack of independent accountability mechanisms makes it impossible to determine how the acquired technology is being used, let alone establishing responsibility, and recommending that States should establish independent to monitor and investigate the use of digital technologies for surveillance, to ensure that any such use is consistent with the principles of legality, necessity and legitimacy of objectives and that companies that sell surveillance technology should refrain from doing so if there are indications that it is being used in ways that violate human rights.

Privacy, surveillance, data

Human Rights Council, Report of the Special Rapporteur on the Right to Privacy, Joe Cannataci,

Report presented to 41st session of the HRC in 2019 on the opportunities and challenges facing the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association in the digital age, addressing, among other things, State obligations, roles and responsibilities of business, opportunities, and trends in State restrictions such as surveillance, arbitrary blocking or filtering of online content, and network disruptions

Human Rights Council, Report of the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, David Kaye, Report presented to the 41st session of the HRC in 2019 on the private surveillance technologies and human rights, especially the right to freedom of opinion and expression

Human Rights Council, Report of the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, David Kaye. Report presented to the 38th session of the HRC in 2018 in follow up to the Rapporteur?s prior report to the HRC in 2015 on the use of encryption and anonymity to exercise the rights to freedom of opinion and expression in the digital age, examining new trends and issues since the initial report

Report presented to the 40th session of the HRC in 2019 on privacy in the context of security and surveillance, from a gender perspective, and in relation to health data. In addition, the Taskforce on Health Data identified a range of issues, such as 'Smart' implanted health devices devices/prostheses that transmit ongoing real life data back to companies and others, which positions the 'body as data' and subject to use in legal proceedings, and artificial intelligence/machine learning and automatic processing, that will be explored in consultations during 2019

Report presented to the 74th session of the UNGA in 2019 on the protection and use of health-related data, examining, among other things, that artificial intelligence, algorithmic transparency, and big data, recommending that medical algorithms should be regulated transparently, fairly and predictably; that all algorithms and artificial intelligence should facilitate monitoring for adverse effects, including characteristics protected under applicable laws and United Nations conventions; and that processes and systems must be designed and implemented to identify and address algorithmic bias

Report presented to the 73rd session of the UNGA in 2018 on effective access to justice for migrants, stressing, among other things, the need to foster the establishment of firewall protections to safeguard the right to access justice for migrants without the fear of being deported