Amnesty: Google and Facebook threaten human rights

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The "omnipresent" surveillance operated by Facebook and Google on billions of people represents a "systemic threat" to human rights. The accusation comes from Amnesty International in the report "The giant of surveillance" just published, where privacy risks are highlighted and a "radical transformation" of their business model is hoped for. In the report, however, the NGO recognizes the positive role of Google and Facebook in "connecting the world and crucial services to billions of people".

In the report, Amnesty emphasizes how the business model of Facebook and Google - based on the collection of user data, the tracking of online activities and their categorization for advertising purposes - allows users to "enjoy human rights online only by submitting to a system based on the abuse of human rights ".

In this, Amnesty sees in the first place "an attack on the right to privacy on an unprecedented scale", with knock-on effects that put at risk a series of other rights, from freedom of expression and opinion, to the right to non-discrimination.

"Google and Facebook dominate our modern lives, accumulating unparalleled power in the digital world by collecting and monetizing the personal data of billions of people," says Amnesty International general secretary Kumi Naidoo. "Their insidious control of our digital life undermines the very essence of privacy and is one of the main challenges for the human rights of our era".