Archive
Interpol: multi-million dollar “predictive analytics” system under construction
The International Criminal Police Organisation, Interpol, is building a vast data-processing platform called INSIGHT that is ultimately supposed to provide police forces around the globe with “predictive analytics” generated from Interpol’s internal data, information received from its member states, “external” sources such as commercial databases, and “visual, video, audio recognition, facial and bio-data matching.” The US State Department has so far committed more than $12 million for the project. Read More
International police data-sharing: what are the UK and EU cooking up?
For the last few years, British and European officials have been seeking ways to regain the ability to instantly share police data across borders – an ability that was lost after the UK left the EU at the end of 2020. The plan currently under development is to build a new data-sharing architecture encompassing the UK, the EU and other “international partners,” but substantive details of it are being kept under lock and key. The implications go beyond privacy and data protection, and raise questions about the potential uses of a new system to crack down on the right to protest, as well as the right to seek asylum. Read More
Interpol must halt Turkey’s use of databases to pursue dissidents
Interpol must do more to prevent the Turkish government misusing its databases to target political dissidents abroad, says an open letter to the organisation's secretary-general signed by more than 25 individuals and organisations, including Statewatch. The letter calls for Turkey to be suspended from using Interpol databases - in particular, the Stolen and Lost Travel Documents (SLTD) system - until the problem is dealt with. Read More
Interpol must change its practices to protect human rights
Civil society organisations, elected representatives and other prominent public figures are calling on Interpol to take steps to prevent the abuse of international policing databases and alert systems by authoritarian and dictatorial regimes. A resolution sent to the policing organisation a week before its 89th General Assembly calls for the protection of human rights by the full implementation of recommendations made by the Council of Europe and European Parliament. Statewatch is one of the signatories of the resolution. Read More
G7: Still coming after encryption, plans to reinforce Interpol and global travel surveillance
The recent meeting of G7 interior and security ministers in London resulted in a detailed set of commitments, including reassertion of the need to undermine encrypted communications, reinforce Interpol, and to enforce new international standards on Passenger Name Record (PNR) travel surveillance and passenger profiling systems. Read More
Arriving soon: global air travel surveillance and passenger profiling with no democratic control
The ICAO, Interpol and various UN bodies are continuing their efforts to aid the establishment of systems for the surveillance of air travel and the automated profiling of passengers. Read More
Council of the EU: LIMITE documents on human rights, internal security, visas and asylum, EU-Interpol agreement, travel surveillance and “bio-secure borders”
A host of important LIMITE documents from the Council of the EU: Accession to the European Convention on Human Rights; draft conclusions on the impact of COVID-19 on internal security; proposals on the governance of Europol's 'Innovation Hub' for internal security technologies; a discusssion paper on visas and asylum applications; draft Council Decision authorising negotiations on an agreement between the EU and Interpol; draft conclusions on the surveillance of travel via Passenger Name Record (PNR) data; and the extension of PNR to maritime transport. Read More
UAE police chief would be a disastrous choice to lead Interpol
Peter Oborne argues that Interpol should reject the candidacy of Major General Nasser Ahmed al-Raisi, a police chief in the United Arab Emirates, for the policing organisation's top job. Al-Raisi is responsible for managing the UAE's security forces, who stand accused of serious crimes, including the repression of dissent and torture. Interpol's general assembly is due to decide the organisation's new chief in December. Read More
Interpol requests from Turkey: Sloppiness of German police puts own citizens into prison
"Two Germans are in extradition custody in Slovenia and Italy at the request of Turkish authorities. Both come from Turkey and were granted asylum in Germany for political persecution and later citizenship. Interpol should have withdrawn the request. The BKA, however, concealed the asylum status of the two." Read More
European Parliament studies: Interpol Red Notices, nuclear safety, “antigypsyism”
• Misuse of Interpol’s Red Notices and impact on human rights – recent developments (pdf): "International organisations continue to report the abuse by some states of Interpol’s Notice System to persecute national human rights defenders, Read More