Data Privacy Brasil Research’s agenda at RightsCon: upholding Data Protection principles as means of ensuring procedural justice in investigations and fighting Techno Authoritarianism:

The 2021 edition of Rightscon starts today and it will be one of the main events  at Data Privacy Brasil Research’s agendas for the upcoming week. The event is the world’s leading summit on human rights in the digital age and is on its 10th edition, period in which it  has mobilized key civil society organizations, activists, governments, private sector representatives and many others around key and fundamental discussions about topics such as data protection, right to privacy, gender issues, access to information and freedom of expression. 

Data Privacy Brasil Research Association is delighted to share that its team is facilitating two sessions at this year’s Rightscon regarding privacy and data protection in the digital age, as well as how the increasing collection of citizens personal information by governments might  be facilitating a scenario of rights violations and reinforcing non-human rights compliant practices and, finally, what should stakeholders do in order to resist such conducts. 

The first of our sessions, facilitated under the format of a lightning talk, will discuss the increasing adoption of surveillance technologies in the public security area and how it inevitably highlights concerns around the use of technologies such as facial recognition, or the disproportionate collection and processing of data for criminal purposes. The Lightning Talk named Police, law enforcement, and data protection: regulating investigations for procedural justice and as a fundamental human right, is already available on the website and consists of a conversation between our Senior Researcher Daniela Eilberg and Cecilia Olliveira, journalist and founder of Fogo Cruzado. Make sure to tune in today, June 7th, at 16h45 BRT for a live chat with our panelists. 

On June 8th, at 12h45 BRT, the main subject in our agenda will be the intersection between technology and authoritarianism. The panel The rise of techno-authoritarianism: the use and employment of technology to violate rights, has the goal of debating the expansion of state power through the use of information communication technologies and personal data processing with the objective of increasing surveillance and control capabilities over the population, resulting in amplified risks and violations to fundamental rights. The panel will include  civil society activists from Brazil, Iran, Argentina and India and our Executive Director Rafael Zanatta and Advocacy Coordinator, Bruna Santos. 

Last but not least, and also happening tomorrow, is the strategy session facilitated by Coalizão Direitos na Rede called Pandemic surveillance: deployment of COVID-19 monitoring solutions in Latin America. This limited participation session intends to gather  key civil society organizations in the Latin American region to discuss how the health emergency prompted by COVID-19 led to the expansion of technologies into society in everyday life, including those with a surveillance bias. This session is taking place on June 8th, at 3:45pm BRT. 

Make sure to tune in and follow our work over the course of the next week as we join the celebration of the 10th edition of Rightscon and see you online! In case you want to find out more about the event, please take a look at https://www.rightscon.org/program/.