Forensic insights from
the world's most experienced
privacy advocate.
By Simon Davies The Privacy Surgeon has launched an EU-wide initiative to massively increase the number of class action legal claims against governments, security services and corporations. The aim of this ambitious exercise is to force greater accountability from such organisations by supporting anyone in Europe to participate in litigation. The concept of class action …
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By Simon Davies It has been just over five years since the Privacy Surgeon began. Since then, the experience has been a rollercoaster. I wanted to share with readers the things I have learned from taking on this challenge. I pledged back then: “These pages are devoted to promoting such tests of evidence and contrasting …
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In the first of an occasional series on the world’s leading privacy organisations, Simon Davies looks at the Washington DC-based Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC). In the eyes of the US government, King Henry 11’s famous outburst “Will no-one rid me of this meddlesome priest” could well have been intended for the Electronic Privacy Information …
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By Simon Davies To understand the value of our rights, it’s important to get a glimpse of what life in the future might be like without them. This is a letter from the future that tells us what life in 2044 might look like – and why we should think carefully about the path we …
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Simon Davies celebrates the influential – and perhaps surprising – privacy and human rights work of the world’s greatest-ever chess champion, Garry Kasparov. It would be a futile task to define Garry Kasparov. The man defies delineation. No sooner had he captivated the world with his chess prowess, than he became a blisteringly effective champion …
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By Simon Davies A controversy has been slipping increasingly into the privacy realm over the past couple of years. It concerns the question of whether intrusive surveillance can be justified through its results. That’s to say, if surveillance can be shown to – even marginally – benefit public safety, should we accept it? It’s the …
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The Privacy Surgeon’s Simon Davies recalls his brushes with terrorist attacks across the world, the friends he has lost – and explains why he believes the fight for individual liberties is more important now than ever. Like many of my fellow Londoners, I remember, with vivid clarity the morning of 7th July 2005. More than …
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By Simon Davies (This article appeared originally on the website of the International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP) in August 2016. In recent months, a small but tenacious army of privacy and consumer rights activists has been quietly ramping up for an assault on poor privacy and data protection practices by companies and governments. These …
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By Simon Davies Everyone can be a privacy advocate, so why not start 2016 with a bang with these fun and interesting activities. Go on… you know you want to! Refuse to hand it over Just once, when some interfering busybody asks for your personal information, say no. See what happens. The most entertaining aspect …
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By Simon Davies No human right has ever been subjected to as much deception and attack as privacy. I mean, no-one tries to dilute protections against torture by saying “it doesn’t really hurt anyone”. But privacy is open-season for anyone with an interest in killing it off. Here we summarise seven of the most common …
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