Dr Eliza Watt | Middlesex University (original) (raw)
Papers by Dr Eliza Watt
The International Journal of Human Rights, May 23, 2017
This article considers the feasibility of the adoption by the Council of Europe Member States of ... more This article considers the feasibility of the adoption by the Council of Europe Member States of a multilateral binding treaty, called the Intelligence Codex (the Codex), aimed at regulating the working methods of state intelligence agencies. The Codex is the result of deep concerns about mass surveillance practices conducted by the United States' National Security Agency (NSA) and the United Kingdom Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ). The article explores the reasons for such a treaty. To that end, it identifies the discriminatory nature of the United States' and the United Kingdom's domestic legislation, pursuant to which foreign cyber surveillance programmes are operated, which reinforces the need to broaden the scope of extraterritorial application of the human rights treaties. Furthermore, it demonstrates that the US and UK foreign mass surveillance se practices interferes with the right to privacy of communications and cannot be justified under Article 17 ICCPR and Article 8 ECHR. As mass surveillance seems set to continue unabated, the article supports the calls from the Council of Europe to ban cyber espionage and mass untargeted cyber surveillance. The response to the proposal of a legally binding Intelligence Codexhard law solution to mass surveillance problem from the 47 Council of Europe governments has been so far muted, however a soft law option may be a viable way forward.
Whilst the political dust on mass surveillance is slowly settling down, what has become apparent ... more Whilst the political dust on mass surveillance is slowly settling down, what has become apparent is the uncertainty regarding the interpretation and application of the right to privacy norms under Article 17 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights 1966 in the context of cyberspace. Despite the worldwide condemnation of these practices by, inter alia, the United Nations and international human rights organisations, little consensus has been reached on how to bring them in line with international human rights law. This paper proposes that the most pragmatic solution is updating Article 17 by replacing General Comment No.16. There are many issues that require attention. The paper focuses on two fundamental aspects of this process, namely the development of more detailed understanding of what is meant by the right to privacy in the 21st century, and the challenge posed by foreign cyber surveillance to the principle of extraterritorial application of human rights treaties. To that end, the paper identifies that the 'effective control' test, developed by international human rights courts and bodies adopted to determine jurisdiction, is unsuitable in the context of state-sponsored cyber surveillance. The paper considers a number of suggestions made by legal scholars, which hinge on the control of communications, rather than the physical control over areas or individuals. Such a 'virtual control' approach seems in line with the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights, according to which extraterritorial obligations may arise when states exercise authority and control over an individual's human rights, despite not having physical control over that individual. The paper argues that the 'virtual control' test, understood as a remote control over the individual's right to privacy of communications, may help to close the normative gap that state intelligence agencies keenly exploit at the moment.
Journal of Conflict and Security Law, 2019
Full bibliographic details must be given when referring to, or quoting from full items including ... more Full bibliographic details must be given when referring to, or quoting from full items including the author's name, the title of the work, publication details where relevant (place, publisher, date), pagination, and for theses or dissertations the awarding institution, the degree type awarded, and the date of the award.
Edward Elgar Publishing eBooks, 2021
Edward Elgar Publishing eBooks, 2021
Edward Elgar Publishing eBooks, 2021
Edward Elgar Publishing eBooks, Apr 20, 2021
107 ('US DoD Dictionary'). The US DoD defines 'intelligence' as: '(1) the product resulting from ... more 107 ('US DoD Dictionary'). The US DoD defines 'intelligence' as: '(1) the product resulting from the collection, processing, integration evaluation, analysis, and interception of available information concerning foreign nations, hostile or potentially hostile forces or elements or areas of actual or potential operations; (2) the activities that result in the product; (3) the organizations engaged in such activities.'
The thesis titled, Cyberspace, Surveillance, Law and Privacy analyses the implications of state s... more The thesis titled, Cyberspace, Surveillance, Law and Privacy analyses the implications of state sponsored cyber surveillance on the exercise of the human right to privacy of communications and data privacy of individuals, subject to untargeted interception of digital communications. The principle aim of the thesis is to assess the legality of mass cyber surveillance of the Five Eyes alliance, with an emphasis on the United States and the United Kingdom. The study also considers the growing trend among the law enforcement agencies to access data without consent located in foreign jurisdictions without recourse to the Mutual Legal Assistance arrangements. The objective of the thesis is to demonstrate that these activities breach states’ human rights obligations under the international human rights frameworks and to show the unprecedented impact that surveillance technologies continue to have on this right. The research also highlights the inadequate protection of privacy in the internet. This leads to the evaluation of a number of possible legal solutions on the international level to the problem of mass surveillance, since the internet is a global environment designed for unrestricted data flows among jurisdictions and therefore facilitates continued violation of privacy of communications and data privacy. The thesis finds that bearing in mind (a) the highly politicised nature of the internet governance discourse, (b) the reluctance of states to subject peacetime espionage to international law regulation through a legally binding treaty, (c) the fact that international human rights law relating to privacy of communications is in need of modernization, (d) the reluctance of states to commit to a legally binding cyber treaty, (e) the slow pace with which customary cyber international law rules emerge and (f) the tendencies of states on the domestic level towards the introduction of draconian surveillance legislation at the expense of privacy, any progress in this regard at this stage will be piecemeal and likely to be achieved through a combination of the updating of the existing international and regional human rights and data protection instruments and soft law agreements.
State Sponsored Cyber Surveillance, 2021
The article discusses the uncertainty surrounding the interpretation and application of the right... more The article discusses the uncertainty surrounding the interpretation and application of the right to privacy norms under Article 17 of the International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights 1966 in the context of State sponsored cyber surveillance. The paper supports the updating of General Comment No. 16 to Article 17. To that end, it focuses on two fundamental aspects of this process, namely the development of more detailed understanding of what is meant by the right to privacy in the 21st century and the challenge posed by foreign cyber surveillance to the principle of extraterritorial application of human rights
State Sponsored Cyber Surveillance, 2021
State Sponsored Cyber Surveillance, 2021
The thesis titled, Cyberspace, Surveillance, Law and Privacy analyses the implications of state s... more The thesis titled, Cyberspace, Surveillance, Law and Privacy analyses the implications of state sponsored cyber surveillance on the exercise of the human right to privacy of communications and data privacy of individuals, subject to untargeted interception of digital communications. The principle aim of the thesis is to assess the legality of mass cyber surveillance of the Five Eyes alliance, with an emphasis on the United States and the United Kingdom. The study also considers the growing trend among the law enforcement agencies to access data without consent located in foreign jurisdictions without recourse to the Mutual Legal Assistance arrangements. The objective of the thesis is to demonstrate that these activities breach states’ human rights obligations under the international human rights frameworks and to show the unprecedented impact that surveillance technologies continue to have on this right. The research also highlights the inadequate protection of privacy in the intern...
State Sponsored Cyber Surveillance, 2021
Whilst the political dust on mass surveillance is slowly settling down, what has become apparent ... more Whilst the political dust on mass surveillance is slowly settling down, what has become apparent is the uncertainty regarding the interpretation and application of the right to privacy norms under Article 17 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights 1966 in the context of cyberspace. Despite the world-wide condemnation of these practices by, inter alia, the United Nations and international human rights organisations, little consensus has been reached on how to bring them in line with international human rights law. This paper proposes that the most pragmatic solution is updating Article 17 by replacing General Comment No.16. There are many issues that require attention. The paper focuses on two fundamental aspects of this process, namely the development of more detailed understanding of what is meant by the right to privacy in the 21st century, and the challenge posed by foreign cyber surveillance to the principle of extraterritorial application of human rights tre...
The article discusses and compares the proposed legislation governing the use of surveillance pow... more The article discusses and compares the proposed legislation governing the use of surveillance powers in the United Kingdom (UK), namely the Investigatory Powers Bill (now the Investigatory Powers Act 2016) and the United States (US) Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act 2015. These laws reflect the UK and US governments' attempt to clarify and consolidate the use of the surveillance methods, whilst attempting to address their citizens' significant privacy and security concerns. The piece examines the extent to which the proposed legislation has achieved these aims.
Peacetime espionage as a method for states’ gathering military, political, commercial or other se... more Peacetime espionage as a method for states’ gathering military, political, commercial or other secret information by means of spies, secret agents or monitoring devices has a long and well-documented history. It has and continues to be an indispensable part of the activities that most governments undertake, but characteristically it is shrouded in secrecy and usually denied. The international law's stance regarding peacetime espionage has traditionally been and remains rather ambivalent. Some commentators argue that it exists in the twilight of international law, whilst others contend that the rules of lex lata have little role to play as they neither prohibit nor allow states to engage in this method of gathering information. [...]
The International Journal of Human Rights
The International Journal of Human Rights, May 23, 2017
This article considers the feasibility of the adoption by the Council of Europe Member States of ... more This article considers the feasibility of the adoption by the Council of Europe Member States of a multilateral binding treaty, called the Intelligence Codex (the Codex), aimed at regulating the working methods of state intelligence agencies. The Codex is the result of deep concerns about mass surveillance practices conducted by the United States' National Security Agency (NSA) and the United Kingdom Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ). The article explores the reasons for such a treaty. To that end, it identifies the discriminatory nature of the United States' and the United Kingdom's domestic legislation, pursuant to which foreign cyber surveillance programmes are operated, which reinforces the need to broaden the scope of extraterritorial application of the human rights treaties. Furthermore, it demonstrates that the US and UK foreign mass surveillance se practices interferes with the right to privacy of communications and cannot be justified under Article 17 ICCPR and Article 8 ECHR. As mass surveillance seems set to continue unabated, the article supports the calls from the Council of Europe to ban cyber espionage and mass untargeted cyber surveillance. The response to the proposal of a legally binding Intelligence Codexhard law solution to mass surveillance problem from the 47 Council of Europe governments has been so far muted, however a soft law option may be a viable way forward.
Whilst the political dust on mass surveillance is slowly settling down, what has become apparent ... more Whilst the political dust on mass surveillance is slowly settling down, what has become apparent is the uncertainty regarding the interpretation and application of the right to privacy norms under Article 17 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights 1966 in the context of cyberspace. Despite the worldwide condemnation of these practices by, inter alia, the United Nations and international human rights organisations, little consensus has been reached on how to bring them in line with international human rights law. This paper proposes that the most pragmatic solution is updating Article 17 by replacing General Comment No.16. There are many issues that require attention. The paper focuses on two fundamental aspects of this process, namely the development of more detailed understanding of what is meant by the right to privacy in the 21st century, and the challenge posed by foreign cyber surveillance to the principle of extraterritorial application of human rights treaties. To that end, the paper identifies that the 'effective control' test, developed by international human rights courts and bodies adopted to determine jurisdiction, is unsuitable in the context of state-sponsored cyber surveillance. The paper considers a number of suggestions made by legal scholars, which hinge on the control of communications, rather than the physical control over areas or individuals. Such a 'virtual control' approach seems in line with the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights, according to which extraterritorial obligations may arise when states exercise authority and control over an individual's human rights, despite not having physical control over that individual. The paper argues that the 'virtual control' test, understood as a remote control over the individual's right to privacy of communications, may help to close the normative gap that state intelligence agencies keenly exploit at the moment.
Journal of Conflict and Security Law, 2019
Full bibliographic details must be given when referring to, or quoting from full items including ... more Full bibliographic details must be given when referring to, or quoting from full items including the author's name, the title of the work, publication details where relevant (place, publisher, date), pagination, and for theses or dissertations the awarding institution, the degree type awarded, and the date of the award.
Edward Elgar Publishing eBooks, 2021
Edward Elgar Publishing eBooks, 2021
Edward Elgar Publishing eBooks, 2021
Edward Elgar Publishing eBooks, Apr 20, 2021
107 ('US DoD Dictionary'). The US DoD defines 'intelligence' as: '(1) the product resulting from ... more 107 ('US DoD Dictionary'). The US DoD defines 'intelligence' as: '(1) the product resulting from the collection, processing, integration evaluation, analysis, and interception of available information concerning foreign nations, hostile or potentially hostile forces or elements or areas of actual or potential operations; (2) the activities that result in the product; (3) the organizations engaged in such activities.'
The thesis titled, Cyberspace, Surveillance, Law and Privacy analyses the implications of state s... more The thesis titled, Cyberspace, Surveillance, Law and Privacy analyses the implications of state sponsored cyber surveillance on the exercise of the human right to privacy of communications and data privacy of individuals, subject to untargeted interception of digital communications. The principle aim of the thesis is to assess the legality of mass cyber surveillance of the Five Eyes alliance, with an emphasis on the United States and the United Kingdom. The study also considers the growing trend among the law enforcement agencies to access data without consent located in foreign jurisdictions without recourse to the Mutual Legal Assistance arrangements. The objective of the thesis is to demonstrate that these activities breach states’ human rights obligations under the international human rights frameworks and to show the unprecedented impact that surveillance technologies continue to have on this right. The research also highlights the inadequate protection of privacy in the internet. This leads to the evaluation of a number of possible legal solutions on the international level to the problem of mass surveillance, since the internet is a global environment designed for unrestricted data flows among jurisdictions and therefore facilitates continued violation of privacy of communications and data privacy. The thesis finds that bearing in mind (a) the highly politicised nature of the internet governance discourse, (b) the reluctance of states to subject peacetime espionage to international law regulation through a legally binding treaty, (c) the fact that international human rights law relating to privacy of communications is in need of modernization, (d) the reluctance of states to commit to a legally binding cyber treaty, (e) the slow pace with which customary cyber international law rules emerge and (f) the tendencies of states on the domestic level towards the introduction of draconian surveillance legislation at the expense of privacy, any progress in this regard at this stage will be piecemeal and likely to be achieved through a combination of the updating of the existing international and regional human rights and data protection instruments and soft law agreements.
State Sponsored Cyber Surveillance, 2021
The article discusses the uncertainty surrounding the interpretation and application of the right... more The article discusses the uncertainty surrounding the interpretation and application of the right to privacy norms under Article 17 of the International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights 1966 in the context of State sponsored cyber surveillance. The paper supports the updating of General Comment No. 16 to Article 17. To that end, it focuses on two fundamental aspects of this process, namely the development of more detailed understanding of what is meant by the right to privacy in the 21st century and the challenge posed by foreign cyber surveillance to the principle of extraterritorial application of human rights
State Sponsored Cyber Surveillance, 2021
State Sponsored Cyber Surveillance, 2021
The thesis titled, Cyberspace, Surveillance, Law and Privacy analyses the implications of state s... more The thesis titled, Cyberspace, Surveillance, Law and Privacy analyses the implications of state sponsored cyber surveillance on the exercise of the human right to privacy of communications and data privacy of individuals, subject to untargeted interception of digital communications. The principle aim of the thesis is to assess the legality of mass cyber surveillance of the Five Eyes alliance, with an emphasis on the United States and the United Kingdom. The study also considers the growing trend among the law enforcement agencies to access data without consent located in foreign jurisdictions without recourse to the Mutual Legal Assistance arrangements. The objective of the thesis is to demonstrate that these activities breach states’ human rights obligations under the international human rights frameworks and to show the unprecedented impact that surveillance technologies continue to have on this right. The research also highlights the inadequate protection of privacy in the intern...
State Sponsored Cyber Surveillance, 2021
Whilst the political dust on mass surveillance is slowly settling down, what has become apparent ... more Whilst the political dust on mass surveillance is slowly settling down, what has become apparent is the uncertainty regarding the interpretation and application of the right to privacy norms under Article 17 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights 1966 in the context of cyberspace. Despite the world-wide condemnation of these practices by, inter alia, the United Nations and international human rights organisations, little consensus has been reached on how to bring them in line with international human rights law. This paper proposes that the most pragmatic solution is updating Article 17 by replacing General Comment No.16. There are many issues that require attention. The paper focuses on two fundamental aspects of this process, namely the development of more detailed understanding of what is meant by the right to privacy in the 21st century, and the challenge posed by foreign cyber surveillance to the principle of extraterritorial application of human rights tre...
The article discusses and compares the proposed legislation governing the use of surveillance pow... more The article discusses and compares the proposed legislation governing the use of surveillance powers in the United Kingdom (UK), namely the Investigatory Powers Bill (now the Investigatory Powers Act 2016) and the United States (US) Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act 2015. These laws reflect the UK and US governments' attempt to clarify and consolidate the use of the surveillance methods, whilst attempting to address their citizens' significant privacy and security concerns. The piece examines the extent to which the proposed legislation has achieved these aims.
Peacetime espionage as a method for states’ gathering military, political, commercial or other se... more Peacetime espionage as a method for states’ gathering military, political, commercial or other secret information by means of spies, secret agents or monitoring devices has a long and well-documented history. It has and continues to be an indispensable part of the activities that most governments undertake, but characteristically it is shrouded in secrecy and usually denied. The international law's stance regarding peacetime espionage has traditionally been and remains rather ambivalent. Some commentators argue that it exists in the twilight of international law, whilst others contend that the rules of lex lata have little role to play as they neither prohibit nor allow states to engage in this method of gathering information. [...]
The International Journal of Human Rights