United Nations-led Expert Group Meeting Advances Privacy and Data Protection in Counter-Terrorism Responses
By R Anil Kumar
UNITED NATIONS. Counter-terrorism measures increasingly rely on data-driven tools and advanced technologies to detect and tackle emerging security threats. Data collection, information sharing and strong international cooperation mechanisms play a crucial role in any counter-terrorism strategies and approaches. Yet these tools must be deployed in a way that ensures respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, including the right to be free from arbitrary interference with privacy.
States have started expanding the use of technological tools enhanced by algorithms, machine learning, and artificial intelligence, particularly in areas such as border management, countering organized crime, terrorism, and its financing. It is critical that these efforts comply with the rule of law. Additionally, as the need for cross-border sharing of data grows, so too must mechanisms to enhance international cooperation, within the framework of international law.
To help Member States face these challenges while respecting human rights, the United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism (UNOCT), the Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED) and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) joined efforts to launch a project on ‘Data Protection to Facilitate International Cooperation in Counter-Terrorism’.
As part of this joint project UNOCT, CTED and UNODC convened a 2-day Expert Group Meeting (EGM) to develop a Compendium of Existing Good Practices and Recommended Legal Provisions on Data Protection Rules to Facilitate International Cooperation in Counter-Terrorism, in Vienna. This technical-level EGM brought together experts to engage in insightful discussions and share their specialized inputs to further enrich and refine the draft tools. Participating entities included the United Nations Special Rapporteur for the Right to Privacy, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute (UNICRI), INTERPOL, the African Union, EUROPOL, the European Union Data Protection Officer Network, the Global Privacy Assembly, and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), as well as representatives of academia and the private sector.
In his opening remarks on behalf of the co-organizers, Mr. Roberto Arbitrio, Chief of the Terrorism Prevention Branch at UNODC, pointed to the growing threat posed by the use of new and emerging technologies by terrorist actors, such as drones and unlawfully acquired military equipment, the misuse of gaming platforms to radicalize youth to violence, and the manipulation of virtual assets to launder the proceeds of illicit activities and fund terrorist networks. He also underlined the importance of mainstreaming human rights and embedding data-protection and privacy safeguards into counter-terrorism efforts.
In turn, participants emphasized the value of greater alignment and adaptable frameworks ensuring that the guidance to be developed through this joint project will remain relevant and effective while keeping pace with the rapid evolution of unmanned systems, artificial intelligence, and other emerging technologies.
UNOCT, CTED and UNODC expressed their commitment to continued collaboration with a broad range of stakeholders to further promote strong data-protection practices and human rights-based approaches in countering terrorism.
