Some of the world’s largest telcos are violating...
Some of the world’s largest telcos are violating Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) guidelines on human rights by giving the U.K. General Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) unfettered access to Internet and phone traffic passing though undersea cables, said Privacy…
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International on Monday. PI filed formal complaints with the OECD against BT, VeriSign Enterprise, Vodafone Cable, Viatel, Interoute and other companies for helping GCHQ’s spy program Tempora. Those companies had no comment for this report. By granting GCHQ access to fiber cables, the companies may have undermined their customers’ internationally recognized human rights, PI said. It wrote to the telcos in August about their role in Tempora but didn’t get answers showing the companies have taken steps to mitigate or prevent the adverse rights impacts that took place, PI said. There are reports that some of the telecom providers went “well beyond” what was legally required and were paid for their cooperation, it said. Its OECD complaints allege breaches of OCED guidelines for multinational enterprises relating to human rights and privacy. The complaints ask the telcos to: (1) Explain the steps taken to oppose, resist or challenge efforts by GCHQ to obtain mass interception, to the extent they're being legally forced to cooperate with the agency. (2) Exhaust all legal avenues available to challenge GCHQ requests or directions to facilitate its mass surveillance programs. (3) Stop any voluntary compliance. (4) Act to mitigate their contributions to the impact of the spy program. (5) Put policies in place to ensure that all measures available are taken to resist requests from any government for mass surveillance that is contrary to privacy rights. Some companies, such as Google, Microsoft and Facebook, have pushed back against government surveillance requests, PI said. “It is unconscionable to think that the companies that carry our most personal information either refuse to stand up for us, or remain silent when our rights are violated,” said Head of Research Eric King.