Draft Background Paper: Friend or Foe? Protecting freedom of expression and privacy in the digital age May 2016 Draft Background paper: version accompanying public consultations on the Principles Table of Contents Introduction .................................................................................................................................. 3 The rights framework ..................................................................................................................... 5 The right to freedom of expression ............................................................................................... 5 The medium of expression ....................................................................................................... 5 Permissible limitations of freedom of expression ....................................................................... 5 The rights to privacy and the protection of personal data ............................................................... 6 Permissible limitations on the right to privacy ........................................................................... 6 The protection of personal data ................................................................................................ 7 The right to a reputation? ............................................................................................................ 9 The development of a balancing test under international law ....................................................... 10 Public figures ....................................................................................................................... 11 Non-public figures ................................................................................................................ 16 The role of reasonable expectation of privacy .......................................................................... 18 Privacy as a condition to free expression ........................................................................................ 20 Mass surveillance of digital communications .............................................................................. 20 Mandatory data retention and bulk data disclosure ..................................................................... 23 Trans-border data flows ............................................................................................................ 26 Restrictions on encryption ......................................................................................................... 27 Mandatory use or registration of identity..................................................................................... 28 Big, ambient and anonymised data analysis ............................................................................... 29 Open source intelligence gathering ............................................................................................ 30 Restrictions on investigative journalism and access to information ............................................... 32 Measures undermining the protection of sources and whistleblowers ............................................ 33 Privacy in conflict with freedom of expression ................................................................................ 35 Protection of reputation ............................................................................................................ 36 Protection of reputation under international law ...................................................................... 36 Protection of reputation under domestic law ........................................................................... 37 Balancing protection of reputation with freedom of expression ................................................. 41 Protection of personality and images .......................................................................................... 42 Personality rights in civil law jurisdictions ............................................................................... 42 Common law understandings of personality rights .................................................................... 43 Personality rights in ECtHR jurisprudence ............................................................................... 44 New challenges in the context of the Internet .......................................................................... 45 Balancing protection of personality with freedom of expression ................................................. 46 Protection of personal data ....................................................................................................... 46 Common law equitable actions and torts ................................................................................. 47 Data protection claims .......................................................................................................... 48 New challenges in the context of the Internet .......................................................................... 50 Balancing protection of personal data with freedom of expression ............................................. 54 Sanctions and remedies for privacy violations ............................................................................. 54 Pecuniary penalties and the compelled publication or retraction of statements .......................... 54 Prior restraint and prior notice ............................................................................................... 55 Criminal prosecution ............................................................................................................. 56 Protection orders .................................................................................................................. 57 Imposition of liability on Internet intermediaries ..................................................................... 58 ARTICLE 19 – Free Word Centre, 60 Farringdon Rd, London EC1R 3GA – www.article19.org – +44 20 7324 2500 Page 2 of 61 Draft Background paper: version accompanying public consultations on the Principles Introduction It is possible to see the rights to free expression and privacy as being two sides of the same coin, with the right to privacy enabling ordinary individuals the autonomy and dignity to independently develop and impart their ideas, opinions and information. The right to privacy provides the space and security necessary for individuals to seek out and receive information. Both rights play an essential role in placing fundamental restraints on the exercise of power by those who possess it – governments and their agents, as well as corporate actors and public figures. The right to freely express and receive information is a fundamental pillar of any democratic society, ensuring individuals are able to participate wholeheartedly in cultural, educational or political endeavours, and keep public and private power in check. In ensuring that individuals have a secure physical and intellectual space to seek information, expand their knowledge, develop opinions, and express ideas free from intrusion or critique, the right to privacy acts as a pre-condition to the exercise of the right to freedom of expression and information. The confidence to communicate our ideas and opinions, however controversial, is underpinned by the knowledge that we are protected from any unlawful interference with our communications by those we might wish to conceal them from. Yet the potential for conflict between these two pillars of a democratic society has also long existed, and indeed is provided for by international human rights law. To the extent that privacy can shield individuals from public scrutiny, it constitutes a restriction on the right to freely and unselfconsciously espouse opinions and report information. Oftentimes, the competing imperatives established by each of the rights can be difficult to reconcile, including when media reporting involves the exposure of private information of public individuals, situations which necessitate complex determinations of the definition of the public interest. The contest between free expression and privacy is particularly acute in the context of internet publishing platforms, social media networks and search engines that facilitate the vast and contemporaneous dissemination of information and expression, and which challenge traditional conceptions of journalism, private space, public figures, celebrity and publication. Digital technologies have multiplied the means for expression and information dissemination, creating new platforms for public and private speech, new opportunities for dissent and critique, and new ways of scrutinising State and corporate behaviour. At the same time, these digital technologies have enabled an exponential increase in the creation of private data pertaining to individuals' movements, communications, shopping habits, political preferences, and financial flows. This data is often generated and interrogated by the corporate entities which provide internet services and technologies, but also is increasingly tracked and surveilled by State actors as well, impacting on individuals’ privacy and chilling their free speech. Internet users are also consciously publishing greater amounts of private information about themselves and, as they interact with and make full use of publication platforms such as social media networks. The auxiliary effects of social media use include the proliferation of activities such as trolling,