Official data mining 'threat to human rights'

A Euro Space Agency image of low-orbit satellites around the earth. Photo / AP

GENEVA - Unfettered collection of personal data by intelligence agencies is a threat to basic human rights, a UN expert has warned.

In an advance copy of a report to the UN Human Rights Council, Martin Scheinin said so-called 'data mining' blurs the boundary between the targeted observation of suspects and mass surveillance.

The temptation to collect excess information because it may be useful, rather than for a specific purpose, could undermine a person's right to privacy and non-discrimination, he said.

"The technical capabilities of this technique can tempt the user towards broadening the definition of what is considered suspicious," according to the report published on a UN website.

Scheinin, the U.N.'s independent investigator on human rights in the fight against terrorism, also questioned the use of spy software that analyses people's internet postings to create profiles of terrorists.

Such software, he said, "must not be used as the basis for deprivation of liberty or inclusion on 'watch lists' that may impede air travel, banking, and employment opportunities at airports or in places where radioactive materials are used, such as hospitals."

Scheinin said it appeared the United States, Canada, China, Germany, Israel, Singapore and Taiwan make use this kind of software, known as 'sentiment analysis.'

The poor quality of some of the spy data collected also poses a risk, particularly when it is matched up with other databases, he said.

"There is an increasing trend of facilitating personal data-sharing amongst intelligence and law enforcement agencies at the national level and across borders," he said.

Scheinin said he had "serious concerns about the sharing of data and information between intelligence agencies in China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan within the framework of the Shanghai Convention on Combating Terrorism, Separatism and Extremism."

The Finnish law professor said countries should adopt laws and other measures - such as whistleblower safeguards for spies - to ensure data mining doesn't encroach on human rights.

- AP