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to an actual danger to the investigation at issue orharm to a person.Before the internet, the police would knock on asuspect’s door, show their warrant, and provide theindividual a reason for entering the suspect’s home.The person searched could watch the search occurand see whether the information gathered wentbeyond the scope of the warrant. Electronic surveillance,however, is much more surreptitious. Datacan be intercepted or acquired directly from a thirdparty such as Facebook or Twitter without the individualknowing. Therefore, it is often impossible toknow that one has been under surveillance, unlessthe evidence leads to criminal charges. As a result,the innocent are the least likely to discover thattheir privacy has been invaded. Indeed, new technologieshave even enabled covert remote searchesof personal computers and other devices.The OHCHR report lays out four characteristicsthat effective remedies for surveillance-related privacyviolations must display:Effective remedies for violations of privacythrough digital surveillance can thus come in avariety of judicial, legislative or administrativeforms. Effective remedies typically share certaincharacteristics. First, those remedies must beknown and accessible to anyone with an arguableclaim that their rights have been violated.Notice (that either a general surveillance regimeor specific surveillance measures are in place)and standing (to challenge such measures)thus become critical issues in determining accessto effective remedy. States take differentapproaches to notification: while some requirepost facto notification of surveillance targets,once investigations have concluded, many regimesdo not provide for notification. Some mayalso formally require such notification in criminalcases; however, in practice, this strictureappears to be regularly ignored.The 2014 OHCHR report continues, stressing theimportance of a “prompt, thorough and impartialinvestigation”; a need for remedies to actually be“capable of ending ongoing violations”; and notingthat “where human rights violations rise to the levelof gross violations, [...] criminal prosecution will berequired.”Safeguards for international cooperationPrivacy protections must be consistent across bordersat home and abroad. Governments should notbypass national privacy protections by relying onsecretive informal data-sharing agreements withforeign states or private international companies.Individuals should not be denied privacy rights simplybecause they live in another country from theone that is surveilling them. Where data is flowingacross borders, the law of the jurisdiction with thegreatest privacy protections should apply.More to be doneThe Necessary and Proportionate Principles providea basic framework for governments to ensure therule of law, oversight and safeguards. They also callfor accountability, with penalties for unlawful accessand strong and effective protections for whistleblowers.They are starting to serve as a model forreform around the world and we urge governments,companies, NGOs and activists to use them to structurenecessary change.But while the Principles are aimed at governments,government action is not the only way tocombat surveillance overreach. All of the communicationscompanies, internet and telecommunicationsalike, can help by securing their networks and limitingthe information they collect and retain. Online serviceproviders should collect the minimum amount of informationfor the minimum time that is necessary toperform their operations, and effectively obfuscate,aggregate and delete unneeded user information.This helps them in their compliance burdens as well:if they collect less data, there is less data to hand overto the government. Strong encryption should be adoptedthroughout the entire communications chainand, where possible, for data in storage.It is clear that under the cloak of secrecy, malfunctioningoversight and the limited reach of outdatedlaws, the practice of digital surveillance in countriesfrom the far North to the far South has overrun thebounds of human rights standards. We all hope to seeactivists around the world showing exactly where acountry has crossed the line, and how its own policymakers and the international community might reinit back. We must call for surveillance reform to ensurethat our national surveillance laws and practicescomply with human rights standards and to ensurethat cross-border privacy is in place and effectivelyenforced. Working together, legal plus technical effortslike deploying encryption, decentralisation ofservices and limiting information collected, can serveas a foundation for a new era of private and securedigital communications.Thematic reports16 / Global Information Society Watch Introduction / 17