Middle School Model United Nations 2015 | 24th of April 2015

Forum:

General Assembly 6 Legal

Issue:

The question of digital and cyber surveillance on civilians

Student Officer: Hamizah Sukiman & Dhikshitha Gokulakrishnan

Position:

Deputy Presidents of GA6

Introduction
Cyber surveillance is a method used, usually by governments, to keep track of activities as well
as collecting and analyzing information regarding a person based on their private activities online. These
surveillance techniques are used to collect information regarding an individual or groups whereabouts in
order to prevent or stop a crisis, particularly those involving the government, from happening or to track
down a specific individual or group. These surveillances are conducted by surveillance computers that
filter through the millions of online information and activities and narrows down the information. Human
investigators then continue the search to find the specific information that they were looking for and
retrieve them. Technology has advanced to a point in which these information can be recovered in a
matter of minutes, from anywhere in the world.
These surveillance cases and the use of very advanced technology by the government brings
usefulness in terms of tracking criminal activities and maintaining peace through preventing threats from
happening. The tracking of activities assist and ease the process of determining dangerous parties that
directly affect the government or the innocent civilians, like local rebels or international terrorists and
keeping these crisis under control. However, this cyber surveillance breaches the question of privacy
when it is conducted on civilians. Civilians private activities are being monitored by their governments
and this monitoring is going by undetected due to the previously mentioned advancing technology that
they are using. The question of individual freedom arise when governments are seen to pry upon the
civilians private online activities.
The question of cyber surveillance, particularly on civilians, has raised queries regarding the
motive of the investigator and the government in the first place. The tracking of civilians, their daily lives
and activities as well as their general whereabouts serve neither political nor security advantages to the
government; thus this is immediately assumed an action to limit the freedom and to increase social
control within a country and its people. This seems to disrupt and not correlate with the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights, as it declares that one has the right to the freedom of speech as well as
the right to ones own privacy, mentioned in Articles 12 and 19. Due to this, the surveillance on civilians is
seen to serve no clear purpose than to simply pry and investigate on the civilians themselves.
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Definition of Key Terms

Cyber Surveillance
The monitoring of a persons or a groups online activities to collect information regarding them or
their whereabouts
Individual Freedom
An individuals rights to the freedom to expression of opinions, thoughts and ideas without being
forced or influenced by any party into having a specific opinion or point of view
Social Control
The control of an individual or a societys thoughts, behavior and points of view to fit a specific social
norm by convicting those who speak out against it
Privacy
A state of being free from observation or monitoring of other parties and the freedom from
unauthorized intrusion

Background Information
Anonymous
The Anonymous is an international network of online activists that aims for a safe and completely
free expression of ideas. Anonymous is completely opposing the idea of censorship, monitoring and
surveillance online. Anonymous has greatly grown and now holds influential positions in events like the
recent Charlie Hebdo shooting (2015), the shooting of Michael Brown and Tamir Rice (2014) as well as
many ongoing conflicts including those involving terrorist groups Al-Qaeda and ISIS, the conflict of the
Westboro Baptist Church as well as events involving extremist groups like the Ku Klux Klan (KKK).
Anonymous international spread had allowed it to gain strength and power from all around the world; a
prime example being their condemning statement after the Charlie Hebdo shooting of eight journalists in
France, by releasing a video on Twitter saying "We, Anonymous around the world, have decided to
declare war on you, the terrorists" and promises to avenge the killings by "shut[ting] down your accounts
on all social networks, and had soon after kept their word and took down a Jihadists website.
National Security Agency & Government Communications Headquarters
The National Security Agency (NSA) and the Government Communications Headquarters
(GCHQ) share similarities in the question of cyber surveillance on their respective people, the citizens of
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United States of America and United Kingdom, and have had their surveillance activities exposed to the
public. Both have had a breach of national sovereignty on other countries and nations surrounding it due
to the spying and surveillance of the heads of governments and/or citizens of other countries.
National Security Agency (NSA)
The National Security Agency, better known as the NSA, is known for their surveillance on their
own people; in terms of emails, contacts, phone calls, phone numbers, messages online and text,
and so on. The NSA was called out by former employee Edward Snowden, for their acts of
collecting information or spying on the citizens in 2013. Later in the year, it has been revealed
that the NSA had spied on other countries citizens as well as their head of governments for
information regarding the country or nation.
Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ)
The Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) is a security and intelligence
organization based in the United Kingdom, tasked by the British government to protect the nation
from threats and conflicts. The GCHQ have very close international relations with the NSA, thus
allowing them access to the mass surveillance data of the NSA. In 2009, it was revealed that the
GCHQ had access to foreign politicians communications, intercepting them. In 2013,
approximately during the revelation of NSAs activities, it was revealed that the GCHQ not only
had access to the international network of phones and online data, but had also collected these
personal data and shares them with the NSA.
Edward Snowden
Edward Joseph Snowden is a former National Security Agency (NSA) subcontractor who had
leaked top-secret NSA information to British newspaper The Guardian in June 2013. Snowden had
worked for the NSA for a few months before he went to work to copy documents regarding the invasion
of citizens privacy to strengthen his later claims to the mainstream media. The information leaked was
regarding the NSA and how they were tracking and spying on Americans through their messages, emails
and phone calls. All these information is stored within the government database and Snowden leaked
documents regarding this to The Guardian and the Washington Times while he sought shelter in China.
Snowden also revealed information regarding the international surveillance of the NSA on the heads of
governments of countries such as France and Germany, as well as the surveillance of China and Hong
Kong; which is a question of the breach of national sovereignty.

Previous Attempts to solve the Issue

European Union
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On the 13th December 2012, the European Union passed a resolution that banned exports from
the European Union on technologies that could be used to conduct mass surveillance, track a persons
movements or block information online. In the resolution, parliamentarians said that the European Union
should focus on protecting and promoting digital rights in all of its external actions. It also added that
companies must make sure that their products cannot be used for possible human rights violations in
other countries. The exports of certain information technologies have been banned to Syria and Iran.
Following various infringements on the rights of the press and expression, the European Union passed a
resolution on the 17th July 2014, calling for the ban on exports of all intrusion and surveillance
technologies, citing that they could be used to spy on and repress citizens, with an additional ban on
security equipment and military aid to Egypt, as they could be used in the suppression of peaceful
protest.

Big Brother Incorporated (BBI)

In countries where detention without trial, torture and extrajudicial killings are legal, exporting
surveillance technology to them can help further the agendas of oppressive regimes and the citizens of
that country at risk. With the advances made in surveillance technology, governments can use them to
facilitate large-scale social control. BBI investigates companies that produce such technologies and the
networks that allow for them to be sold to oppressive regimes in order to abuse human rights. BBI
encourages governments to regulate the surveillance industry and to use export control systems to make
sure that surveillance technology products are not traded

Possible Solutions
One possible solution to this issue is for countries to take steps to ban the exportation of
surveillance products and tools, especially to countries with known histories of extreme cyber
surveillance. However if all exportation was banned may lead to a downfall in the technology industry
and consequently will hurt the economy of the country. Therefore, to avoid such consequences, the
United Nations or another related NGO should create a list of all the countries that are known to perform
online surveillance on citizens. This will then allow countries to be aware and create a ban on the
exporting of surveillance tools to the particular counties on the list.
Another possible solution for this issue is for the companies that provide Internet services and
firms that produce and sell surveillance technologies to have increased transparency. An example would
to for network companies that provide internet services should be encouraged to provide reports and
listings on the amount of government surveillances and the extend to which the government monitors
groups or individuals.

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