Human Rights Big Data and Technology: Digital Policing and Human Rights, 2023

The main project aims were to examine the human rights implications of rapidly developing technologies. As noted above, in an increasingly digitised world, technological developments and the collection, storage and use of 'big data' pose unprecedented challenges for the protection of human rights. The aim of the project was to examine the intersection of such technological developments and the ideals of human rights protection. The work focused on both positive and negative aspects of this relationship. As noted above, the core research aims were organised on these issues that cut across the threats and opportunities:1) How is the use of ICT and big data shaping the content and scope of rights? (2) How does the use of ICT and big data shape operational practices across state and non-state activities? What new theoretical questions and implications for human rights are generated? (3) What methodologies are needed to identify and document the misuse of modern technologies and the failure to comply with rights-based obligations? (4) How can the use of ICT and big data best support evidence-based approaches to human rights protection and advocacy? (5) What possibilities and limitations exist for regulating the collection, storage and use of ICT and big data by states and non-state actors?
The deposited data largely focuses on interviews with law enforcement and security agency representatives about uses of digital technology. We found that an enthusiastic embrace of technnology often existed yet this was not always accompanied by the development of codes of practice, regulatory frameworks and operational guidence on how they should be used. In addition to a potential regulatory vacuum, such disconnects also placed additional burdens on law enforcement themselves as they sought to apply existing rules and regulations. This is something we have described in publications as 'surveillance arbitration'. We also include interviews with civil society actors and lawyers that interrogate these issues and associated digital rights campaigning matters in more detail.