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EFF’s statement on the proposed cybercrime convention

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In a new round of talks this week to formulate a UN Cybercrime Treaty, EFF is calling for strictly limiting the scope of the convention’s international cooperation provisions and safeguards to ensure that states respect human rights when responding to legal assistance requests. EFF is among a group of digital and human rights organizations participating in the UN-convened talks, which started in February. A third round of discussions that began yesterday in New York focuses on the scope of the treaty’s cooperation and mutual assistance provisions. The goal is to work towards finding consensus on the extent to which governments should cooperate and provide legal assistance to each other in cybercrime investigations.

EFF outlined a strategy for carefully limiting the scope of cooperation and safeguarding human rights. Their recommendations comprised three inter-related categories: clear limits on cooperation and providing technical assistance, safeguarding human rights, and guaranteeing nondiscrimination when providing assistance, and the continued use of Mutual Legal Assistance Treaties (MLATs) as the primary approach for legal cooperation.

Read more here

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2022/08/eff-calls-limiting-mandatory-cooperation-safeguarding-human-rights-international

Read EFF’s proposed statement:

https://www.unodc.org/documents/Cybercrime/AdHocCommittee/Third_session/Documents/EFF_Submission_to_the_Third_Session_of_the_Ad_Hoc29.pdf