[GA - PASSED] Prohibition of Unwarranted Digital Surveillance

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Prohibition of Unwarranted Digital Surveillance
Category: Civil Rights | Strength: Significant
Proposed by: Greater Cesnica | Onsite Topic​

The General Assembly,

Acknowledging that the specific targeting of private digital communications pertaining to certain individuals may be justified in the interest of protecting the general public from criminal acts,

Noting, however, that the practice of carrying out digital surveillance without the use of warrants, especially in cases of mass digital surveillance, has not been demonstrated to prevent acts of terrorism or other unlawful activities to any meaningful degree,

Aware that data collected from unwarranted digital surveillance is at risk of being accessed or stolen by unauthorized entities, with such data collection thus posing a risk to the integrity of private communications and data,

Seeking to preserve the guarantee to personal privacy and prevent violations of civil liberties,

Hereby:

  1. Defines for the purposes of this resolution:
    • "digital surveillance" as the collection or monitoring of digital communications through mediums that are ostensibly private,
    • "warrant" as an authorization issued by a court of law for the purposes of carrying out digital surveillance, and
    • "unwarranted digital surveillance" as any digital surveillance that lacks authorization via a warrant, where the warrantless carrying out of digital surveillance is not necessary to prevent imminent serious injury or death to one or more persons.
  2. Prohibits member states from:
    • carrying out unwarranted digital surveillance,
    • using the services of private entities or foreign governments to carry out unwarranted digital surveillance in their jurisdiction, or
    • using data gathered for non-prosecutorial or non-spying purposes for prosecutorial or spying purposes without a warrant.
  3. Clarifies that:
    • the particular suspicion of unlawful activities needed to perform digital surveillance shall not be primarily based on an individual's religion, sexuality, race, nationality, gender identity, or any other arbitrary, reductive categorization and that
    • the following does not constitute "unwarranted digital surveillance":
      • the use of closed-circuit television cameras for surveillance purposes,
      • the voluntary acquisition of data by a police informant without authorization from a warrant,
      • the acquisition of data accessible in the public sphere, or
      • the digital surveillance of foreign government entities and/or foreign entities that pose an active threat to national security.
  4. Affirms that the General Assembly may collectively act to further restrict surveillance operations in future legislation.
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Note: Only votes from TNP WA nations and NPA personnel will be counted. If you do not meet these requirements, please add (non-WA) or something of that effect to your vote.
Voting Instructions:
  • Vote For if you want the Delegate to vote For the resolution.
  • Vote Against if you want the Delegate to vote Against the resolution.
  • Vote Abstain if you want the Delegate to abstain from voting on this resolution.
  • Vote Present if you are personally abstaining from this vote.
Detailed opinions with your vote are appreciated and encouraged!
[TR][TD] For [/TD][TD] Against [/TD][TD] Abstain [/TD][TD] Present [/TD][/TR][TR][TD]13[/TD][TD]0[/TD][TD]0[/TD][TD]0[/TD][/TR]
 
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IFV - For
Overview
"Prohibition of Unwarranted Digital Surveillance" seeks to outlaw unnecessary digital surveillance and prohibit member states from maliciously using data. It covers loopholes which would allow foreign governments and private companies from doing surveillance on behalf of governments.

Recommendation
This proposal is clear and effective in executing its intent, and stops member states from using private entities to circumvent the resolution. Under this resolution, member states would be forced to respect citizens' digital privacy within reason, while still being able to protect national security and gather digital evidence on suspected criminals. There are further exemptions made to guarantee that the scope of this resolution does not extend beyond what is intended, prohibiting unwarranted digital surveillance.

For these reasons, the Ministry of World Assembly Affairs recommends voting For the at-vote General Assembly proposal,, "Prohibition of Unwarranted Digital Surveillance."

Recommendation written by Jedinsto, with input from Boston Castle, Greater Cesnica, and Cretox State.​
 
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I have been working on this proposal since January of this year. After a bit of a hiatus from NS, I returned and began to work on this again. A major issue I ran into whilst drafting was the definitions. That is, how should I even approach this topic? I tried various different definitions, before adopting advice I received from Separatist Peoples. This current definition scheme uses the concept of "unwarranted digital surveillance", which is a central element of the resolution.

Now, for the contents themselves. Warrantless surveillance is expensive and ineffective as a means of stopping terrorism and other illegal activities. In addition, its unrestricted application poses an existential threat to our very civil liberties.

As such, my resolution prohibits the domestic application of warrantless surveillance, save for rare instances where it would prevent imminent serious injury or death to one or more persons (WACC can oversee this to ensure that it is being interpreted in good faith). Furthermore, it also prevents governments from using the services of private entities or foreign governments to sidestep this prohibition, as well as using data gathered for non-prosecutorial or spying purposes for said purposes without a warrant. In addition, the warrantless surveillance of foreign entities is also prohibited, provided such surveillance is not of foreign government entities or foreign entities that pose an active threat to national security. Lastly, my resolution prevents member states from using arbitrary, reductive categorizations such as religion, sexuality, race, nationality, or gender identity as the primary grounds to perform digital surveillance in general.

I have compiled a brief list of sources and additional reading that y'all can peruse:
I hope that this helped out :)
 
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