As privacy concerns continue to lead headlines across the United States and the world, Privacy International has put forward a lawsuit against GCHQ's use of alleged surveillance against average citizens that the organization says is "incompatible with democratic principles and human rights."
This is the latest put for transparency by the organization, which has been following the surveillance issue in earnest and has urged companies and government agencies to end what they call illegal observations.
GCHQ, Britain's governmental intelligence agency, is being accused by Privacy International of using tools to infect computer and smartphones with "malicious" software that allows the agency to hijack users' cameras and microphones without their prior consent. That information is then catalogued and analyzed by agents on citizens who have had no suspicious activity.
This is not the first lawsuit Privacy International has filed against the GCHQ.
The latest lawsuit has been filed with the Investigatory Powers Tribunal (IPT) and says that the intelligence agency used numerous surveillance tactics that are fringing on citizens' rights. In addition, Privacy International says no legal means were taken before hacking into computers and smartphones.
"The hacking programs being undertaken by GCHQ are the modern equivalent of the government entering your house, rummaging through your filing cabinets, diaries, journals and correspondence, before planting bugs in every room you enter. Intelligence agencies can do all this without you even knowing about it, and can invade the privacy of anyone around the world with a few clicks," said Eric King, deputy director of Privacy International.
"All of this is being done under a cloak of secrecy without any public debate or clear lawful authority. Arbitrary powers such as these are the purview of dictatorships not democracies. Unrestrained, unregulated Government spying of this kind is the antithesis of the rule of law and Government must be held accountable for their actions."
The 21-page complaint filed also accuses the GCHQ of secretly activating microphones on computers, obtaining sensitive personal information including usernames and passwords and downloading and storing communications, text messages, emails and other content that citizens may have on their devices.
"If the interception of communications is the modern equivalent of wiretapping," based on the complaint, "then the activity at issue in this complaint is the modern equivalent of entering someone's house, searching through his filing cabinets, diaries and correspondence, and planting devices to permit constant surveillance in future, and, if mobile devices are involved, obtaining historical information including every location he visited in the past year."
The GCHQ has not commented publicly on the lawsuit.
The claim is being filed under the European Convention for Human Rights. Privacy International has said that if a private citizen were caught doing similar things as the GCHQ, they would be prosecuted under cybercrime laws on the books.
