76
The decision to film people participating in a public gathering may influence their
behaviour, sometimes reducing the likelihood of disorder and sometimes triggering
an aggressive reaction.114 The manner in which the recording is captured can influence the reaction of those being recorded, e.g., when a law enforcement officer
stands very close to the person it can be perceived as aggressive or provocative.115
According to a UN report on the management of public assemblies, “[r]ecording
peaceful assembly participants in a context and manner that intimidates or harasses
is an impermissible interference [with the rights to freedom of assembly, association
and expression].”116
The use of interception technologies could potentially enable law enforcement
agencies to access and store personal and private information without a warrant
and without the knowledge of those targeted. Similarly, police could use these
technologies to pinpoint the location of specific people or to identify all people within
a specific area, again without their knowledge or a warrant. For example, IMSIcatchers can retrieve the unique identifying numbers of all mobile phones within
range, and these phones could then be matched to their owners through subscriber
data.117 This could lead to arbitrary investigations or other actions against people
who were not engaged in illegal activity, including passers-by.
Facial recognition systems can be inaccurate (generating false positive identifications) and contain built in biases that lead to certain groups being disproportionately
targeted.118
The 2018 UN Human Rights Council resolution on “The Promotion and Protection of
Human Rights in the Context of Peaceful Protests” noted the importance of being able
to use communications technologies securely and privately for the organization and
114 United Kingdom College of Policing, “Public Order: Tactical Options”, United Kingdom College
of Policing website , <ht tps:// w w w.app.c ollege.p olic e.uk /app -c ontent/public-order/
planning-and-deployment/tactical-options/#evidence-gathering-team>.
115 ODIHR, Human Rights Handbook on Policing Assemblies, op. cit., note 2, p. 70.
116 UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights to Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and of Association and the
Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions, “Joint Report Submitted to the
Human Rights Council on the Management of Public Assemblies”, op. cit., note 92, para. 76.
117 Richards, S.; Hernandez, J & MacDonald-Evoy, J., “Cellphone Surveillance Used on Black Lives
Matter Protesters at Fourth Precinct in Minneapolis”, North Star Post, 7 December 2015, <https://
w w w.nstarpost.com/news/cellphone-sur veillance-used-on-black-lives-matter-protestersat-fourth-precinct-in-minneapolis/>.
118 Privacy International, “Submission to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human
Rights on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights in the Context of Peaceful Protests”, op.
cit., note 110, <https://privacyinternational.org/sites/default/files/2019-12/PI%20OHCHR%20
peaceful%20protest%20submission%20October%202019.pdf>.
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