[PEN-L:1729] Privacy Watchdog Outs Big Brother Companies (fwd)

[D Shniad <shniad@xxxxxx>]

> Date: 4 Dec 1995 10:33:40 -0500
> From: "Dave Banisar" <banisar@xxxxxxxx>
> To: "CPSR Civil Liberties Group" <cpsr-civilliberties@xxxxxxxxxx>
> Subject: PRIVACY WATCHDOG OUTS BIG B
>
>
> MEDIA RELEASE
>
> Contact: Simon Davies, Privacy International
> Davies@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>
> PRIVACY WATCHDOG OUTS BIG BROTHER COMPANIES
>
> New report uncovers a massive international surveillance trade
> funded by the arms industry and led by the UK
>
> On Monday 4 December, Privacy International will publish Big
> Brother Incorporated, a 150 page report which investigates the
> global trade in repressive surveillance technologies. The report, to
> be published on several Web sites on the Internet,  shows how
> technology companies in Europe and North America provide the
> surveillance infrastructure for the secret police and military
> authorities in such countries as China, Indonesia, Nigeria, Angola,
> Rwanda and Guatemala
>
> The reports primary concern is the flow of sophisticated
> computer-based technology from developed countries to
> developing countries  - and particularly to non-democratic regimes.
> The report demonstrates how these companies have strengthened
> the lethal authority of the world's most dangerous regimes.
>
> The report lists the companies, their directors, products and exports.
> In each case, source material is meticulously cited.
> Privacy International is publishing the report in digital form in
> several sites on the Internet to ensure its accessability by interested
> parties anywhere in the world.
>
> Surveillance technologies are defined as technologies which can
> monitor, track and assess the movements, activities and
> communications of individuals.  More than 80 British companies are
> involved, making the UK the world leader in this field. Other
> countries, in order of significance, are the United States, France,
> Israel, the Netherlands and Germany.
>
> _Big Brother Incorporated_ is the first investigation ever conducted
> into this trade.  Privacy International intends to update the report
> from time to time using trade fair documents and leaked information
> from whistleblowers.
>
> The surveillance trade is almost indistinguishable from the arms
> trade. More than seventy per cent of companies manufacturing and
> exporting surveillance technology also export arms, chemical
> weapons, or military hardware.  Surveillance is a crucial element
> for the maintenance of any  non-democratic infrastructure, and is an
> important activity in the pursuit of intelligence and political control.
> Many countries in transition to democracy also rely heavily on
> surveillance to satisfy the demands of police and military. The
> technology described in the report makes possible mass
> surveillance of populations.  In the past, regimes relied on targeted
> surveillance.
>
> Much of this technology is used to track the activities of dissidents,
> human rights activists, journalists, student leaders, minorities, trade
> union leaders, and political opponents. It is also useful for
> monitoring larger sectors of the population. With this technology,
> the financial transactions, communications activity and geographic
> movements of millions of people can be captured, analysed and
> transmitted cheaply and efficiently.
>
> Western surveillance technology is providing invaluable support to
> military and totalitarian authorities throughout the world.  One
> British computer firm provided the technological infrastructure to
> establish the South African automated Passbook system, upon
> which much of the functioning of the Apartheid regime  British
> surveillance cameras were used in Tianamen Square against the
> pro-democracy demonstrators.  In the 1980s,  an Israeli company
> developed and exported the technology for the computerised death
> list used by the Guatemalan police. Two British companies
> routinely provide the Chinese authorities with bugging equipment
> and telephone tapping devices.
>
> 	Privacy International was formed in 1990 as a non-government, non-profit
> organisation.  It brings together privacy experts, human rights advocates and
> technology experts in more than 40 countries, and works toward the goal of
> promoting privacy issues worldwide.  The organisation acts as an impartial
> watchdog
> on surveillance activities by governments and corporations.
>
> For further information or interview, contact Simon
> Davies in London at davies@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx  The address of the web
> site is  http://www.privacy.org/pi/reports/big_bro/
>
> _________________________________________________________________________
>
> David Banisar (Banisar@xxxxxxxxxxx)     *  202-544-9240 (tel)
> Privacy International Washington Office *  202-547-5482 (fax)
> 666 Pennsylvania Ave, SE, Suite 301     *  HTTP://www.privacy.org/pi/
> Washington, DC 20003
>
>