A/HRC/39/29 I. Introduction 1. The need to address the challenges that the digital world brings to the right to privacy is more acute than ever. Driven mostly by the private sector, digital technologies that continually exploit data linked to people’s lives, are progressively penetrating the social, cultural, economic and political fabric of modern societies. Increasingly powerful data-intensive technologies, such as big data and artificial intelligence, threaten to create an intrusive digital environment in which both States and business enterprises are able to conduct surveillance, analyse, predict and even manipulate people’s behaviour to an unprecedented degree. While there is no denying that data-driven technologies can be put to highly beneficial uses, these technological developments carry very significant risks for human dignity, autonomy and privacy and the exercise of human rights in general if not managed with great care. 2. International and regional actors are increasingly aware of the challenges and beginning to act accordingly. The Human Rights Council mandated a Special Rapporteur on the right to privacy in July 2015. In numerous resolutions, the Human Rights Council and the General Assembly have expressed concerns about the risks to privacy emanating from State surveillance measures and business practices. 1 At the regional level, several measures have strengthened data privacy protections, such as the European Union General Data Protection Regulation, which has recently taken effect with global implications; the Council of Europe protocol to update and modernize the Convention for the Protection of Individuals with regard to Automatic Processing of Personal Data and the African Union Commission Personal Data Protection Guidelines for Africa. At the same time, many Governments have adopted laws or proposed legislation that increases their surveillance powers, often in ways that fall short of applicable international human rights standards.2 3. The present report provides guidance on how to address some of the pressing challenges that the right to privacy faces in the digital age. It provides a brief overview of the international legal framework and includes a discussion of the most significant current trends. It then turns to the obligations of States and the responsibility of business enterprises, including a discussion of adequate safeguards and oversight. The final chapter gives some insights into how remedies can be provided for privacy infringements and abuses. 4. The report builds on the 2014 report by the High Commissioner on the right to privacy in the digital age (A/HRC/27/37) and on the presentations and discussions at an expert workshop that took place in Geneva in February 2018.3 It also relies on 63 written submissions received from a wide range of stakeholders. 4 II. Understanding the right to privacy in the digital age 5. The right to privacy is a fundamental human right, recognized in article 12 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, article 17 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and in many other international and regional human rights 1 2 3 4 2 See, for example, General Assembly resolutions 68/167, 69/166 and 71/199 and Human Rights Council resolutions 28/16 and 34/7 and decision 25/117. See, for example, Anja Seibert-Fohr, “Digital surveillance, metadata and foreign intelligence cooperation: unpacking the international right to privacy” (April 2018), available from https://ssrn.com/abstract=3168711; https://csrcl.huji.ac.il/people/line-surveillance-case-law-unhuman-rights-committee and www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/DigitalAge/ReportPrivacyin DigitalAge/SR_right_privacy.pdf. See www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/DigitalAge/Pages/DigitalAgePrivacyWorkhop.aspx and webcast available at http://webtv.un.org/search/part-1.1-un-expert-workshop-on-the-right-to-privacy-in-thedigital-age/5734527899001/?term=2018-02-19&sort=date&page=2. All submissions are available at www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/DigitalAge/Pages/ReportDigitalAge.aspx.