A/HRC/41/35/Add.4 an intuition to search for new information, as manifested in the desire for “security” in the military context. This has grown to military-style counterterrorism strategies, the use of imitation profile accounts on platforms like Tinder and Facebook, facial recognition, mass surveillance, large scale targeted surveillance, and financial surveillance. It was agreed that each of these situations present unique challenges and threats to human rights. 10. Participants also noted that financial surveillance is a large-scale issue in multiple ways. One participant noted that certain entities and programs, like Google Pay, are closely related to the government. This raises concerns because surveillance in the banking industry allows for easier access to financial records of individuals and companies. This discussion also raised the issue of states providing non-governmental organisations (NGOs) or NGO members foreign funds in exchange for biometric data. 11. Participants noted that there are various actors, including those with political objectives, police officials, and those with public safety concerns, that have an interest in the information collected. Some participants suggested that private surveillance companies often function at the request of the government. They noted that the relationship between private surveillance providers and governments function as a revolving-door. This relationship raised several issues of concern: (i) What is the nature of the power dynamic between the companies, governments, and individuals; (ii) What is and what should be the relationship between transparency and privacy; and (iii) How do we define government entity? 12. The participants also agreed that national security or safety is often used as a justification for using private surveillance technology. One participant noted that the national security argument sometimes stretches into a good governance argument. Participants emphasized the concern with national security being loosely defined, particularly that the government is provided a lot of flexibility in justifying national security. 13. One concern raised was the difficulty of detecting the surveillance, yet people often “feel surveilled” creating a chilling effect on freedom of expression among civil society. Anonymity and encryption are often encouraged by human rights activists and civil society organizations. One participant noted that while these mechanisms are meant to protect individuals, it places the burden on the individual and not on the governments or private surveillance companies. One suggestion would be to determine what a more proactive approach looks like, including ideal legislation. 14. Participants also expressed concern that individuals defended by civil society organizations, like victims of targeted surveillance attacks, are not always aware of their rights or understand the harm. It can be difficult to advocate on behalf of civil society when the underlying issues are not always clear. There was one suggestion on increasing public education efforts. 15. Participants agreed that the legal framework regulating this technology is weak. One participant noted that at time the European Union haphazardly mimics the United States and this ultimately weakens surveillance efforts. Overall, countries are not following in their own laws. The suggestion was to make an effort to incentives governments to commit to the little framework they have. Additionally, larger companies like Microsoft have broadly used national laws in using technology like geotagging. Again, proactive legislation was suggested as a solution. 16. Participants also raised concerns with the hyper-masculinity surrounding the private surveillance industry. One participant suggested that larger colonial dimensions could be at play. B. Session 2: the use of private surveillance tools 17. After having explored the multifaceted threats that the use of surveillance technologies poses in different parts of the world, the aim of this second session was to more specifically discuss the type of surveillance tools, identify if there are any trends in their use worldwide and better understand how companies develop and market them. 4