Surveillance: Civil society warns against signing the Cybercrime Convention

Civil society organizations are once again sounding the alarm about the UN Convention on Cybercrime (UNCC), whose signing ceremony began on Saturday in Vietnam's capital, Hanoi. The objectors, including Access Now, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), Human Rights Watch, Privacy International, and Epicenter.works, are deeply concerned: the first global agreement of its kind facilitates cross-border human rights violations. They call on the international community to refrain from signing and ratifying it. Alternatively, they must at least emphasize the protection of human rights in the implementation of the treaty.

The criticism is primarily directed at the overly broad scope of the convention. The UNCC goes beyond pure cybercrime in the form of attacks on computer networks and data, obliging participants to comprehensive electronic surveillance as well as investigation and cooperation in various serious offenses. Even if these are not directly related to information and communication systems.

A "serious offense" is defined as any offense that can be punished by at least four years' imprisonment under national law. According to the open letter from the organizations, this opens up the danger that the convention could be misused to criminalize internationally protected activities. Mentioned here are government criticism, peaceful protests, investigative journalism, or whistleblowing.

Lack of Safeguards

According to the NGOs, the agreement calls on governments to collect electronic evidence (E-Evidence) and share it with foreign authorities without establishing adequate safeguards. This creates a legal framework that undermines trust in secure communication and violates fundamental rights. The weaknesses are exacerbated by the absence of a mechanism to suspend states that systematically disregard human rights or the rule of law.

The international treaty dates back to a proposal by Russia and China from 2017. It has been contentious from the outset.

Rush at the Signing Table

According to agency reports, more than 60 states have already signed the agreement at the ceremony in Hanoi. For EU member states, the Council of Ministers had cleared the way for this. UN Secretary-General António Guterres hailed the convention as a milestone in the fight against digital crime. He emphasized the need for a "strong global-connected response" and pointed to the daily scale of "sophisticated scams" that harm families and cost the economy billions of US dollars.

As an example of the threat, the UN cites the ease with which citizens can fall into the trap of cybercriminals. A slight deviation in a URL for an online order is enough.

Tech companies are also against the agreement. An industry association, which includes giants like Meta and Dell, canceled its participation in the ceremony. It criticized that the convention gives states the power to cooperate "on almost any crime of their choice." The location of the signing also caused additional criticism. Human Rights Watch objected that the Vietnamese authorities systematically suppress freedom of expression on the internet.

(nen)