A/HRC/41/35/Add.4
63.
The fourth group worked on the issue of international normative development.
Key questions
64.
How should international and regional mechanisms support and encourage the
development of rights-oriented standards and norms governing the private surveillance
industry and the use of these tools?
65.
What is the role of regional bodies, such as the OECD, the European Commission and
the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights?
66.
What is the role of standard-setting organizations (such as the Internet Engineering
Task Force or Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) and other technical bodies
(such as the International Telecommunications Union)?
67.
The participants discussed potential ways to create “best practices” for the private
surveillance industry. There was no general consensus on the overall mechanism to establish
best practices. Participants noted that in addition to industry self-regulation, looking at the
World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and
Development (OECD) could be helpful. The OECD may be particularly useful for
developing relevant norms concerning the financial industry.
68.
One participant mentioned that governments may create “action plans” on governing
private surveillance tools. Participants deliberated on how to identify the desired principles
of an action plan and whether or not action plans would be useful. Ultimately, participants
agreed that whatever mechanism is used, they should include, at a minimum, strategies for
mitigating surveillance-related human rights abuses. But there was no consensus on whether
action plans were the most effective way to encourage rights-oriented standards.
69.
Other suggestions for normative development included: improving or developing
protocols for e-mail communication from States and companies, in order to better distinguish
genuine communications from those that are phishing e-mails in disguise. Governments and
companies may also consider ways to educate users on avoiding malicious links and
suspicious requests. In relation to company responsibility, the participants discussed using
human rights impact assessments to increase transparency and awareness. Concerns were
raised about the accuracy of such assessments, how such information would be framed, and
what companies would overlook. One participant suggested that an independent impact
assessment could potentially increase transparency and alleviate concerns.
9
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