Worker surveillance is as old as work itself, but new technology is making it easier and cheaper than ever. In this report, the authors make policy recommendations that would help redress the balance of power between workers and employers.

Remote biometric technologies – in particular, facial recognition – have gained a lot of traction in the security sector in recent years. This report presents a set of proposed principles for the use of facial recognition in law enforcement investigations, along with a self-assessment questionnaire...

This year's Freedom on the Net report finds that global internet freedom declined for the 12th consecutive year in 2022, and governments are on a campaign to divide the open internet into a patchwork of repressive enclaves.

The increasing sophistication and spread of artificial intelligence (AI) and digital surveillance technologies has drawn concerns over privacy and human rights. This paper provides five recommendations for democratic governments and three for civil society.

Our physical public areas – town squares, pedestrian zones, shopping centres and bus stops – are increasingly subject to unfettered digitalisation. This report sets out a number of concrete actions cities can take to increase their influence and effectiveness in protecting the data of their...

The Australian government has committed to the reform of Australia’s electronic surveillance legislative framework. This paper aims to contribute to the debate by examining how firms that provide digital communications services can provide assistance to law enforcement, even as strong encryption is increasingly common.

Data abundance, digital connectivity and ubiquitous technology are redefining national security and the way governments protect individual rights and freedoms. This analysis examines Australia’s policy options in a world defined by big data.

This research project investigated the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on people living in Australia, with a particular focus on their experiences, perceptions and practices—especially in terms of tracking technologies (the COVIDSafe app, the use of QR codes), masks and other prosocial techniques.

The Australian government has committed to reform Australia’s laws governing electronic surveillance. This discussion paper seeks early views from interested stakeholders and members of the public to inform the development of a new framework.

This report argues that the surveillance of home care workers through a mobile app called Electronic Visit Verification (EVV) erodes the quality of personal care and offloads significant, unacknowledged burdens onto workers and service recipients.

The implementation of Electronic Visit Verification (EVV) systems highlights the risks of uncritical adoption of data-centric technologies in the provision of public services. This policy brief describes the harms that EVV and—technologies like it—create, and the stakes of continued inaction by federal and state governments.

The aim of this paper is to provide an update on attitudes of the general public to data privacy during the COVID-19 period, as well as the factors associated with the use of QR codes and other government apps/web-sites for contact tracing purposes.

A year after the introduction of COVID-19 Contact Tracing Apps in Europe, this report looks at their impact on digital rights. The authors identify three main problems with the way Member State governments introduced contact tracing apps

This paper argues that as state governments begin trialling home quarantine programs, they need to take active steps to ensure they are not crossing a new frontier in the surveillance of citizens by using facial recognition technology.

The rapid development of facial recognition technology requires an exploration of how to use it responsibly, complemented in this report by an overview of the current legislative landscape in the United States.

Thanks to a decade of rapid progress in the field of computer vision, facial recognition technology (FRT) has become a commercial product available to almost any government or business in the world. This report examines how operators and policymakers can craft an appropriate and tailored...

While the debate around encrypted messaging applications and law enforcement is more relevant than ever, especially with the increased reliance on digital communication during the pandemic, this paper recommends that those looking to build policy to curb mis- and disinformation on these platforms recognise that...

As policy-makers consider how to regulate facial recognition, it is important that their efforts be grounded in fact. This report provides an examination of how the technology works and how to understand questions about its performance and operation.

This report argues that policy-makers must build robust data protections that empower workers, not just consumers, and also broaden their understanding of algorithmic harms beyond bias and discrimination.

In this article, the author suggests that rather than thinking about vaccine passports as temporary and isolated public health-related measures, we should view them as just one example of how the pandemic is accelerating the rollout of digital identity infrastructure across the world.

This report maps a range of social fault lines and data-related challenges that the COVID-19 pandemic has raised. In the process, it highlights some emerging best practices and lessons learned that can guide future emergency responses.

This report examines the use of electronic monitoring in franchises and the difference in incentives between franchise models that resemble independent entrepreneurship versus employment. The author argues that franchising provides a useful lens for policymakers to think about how to assign legal rights and responsibilities...

The use of live automated facial recognition (AFR) systems in England and Wales for law enforcement purposes has been the subject of criticism concerning the inadequacy of governance of the technology. This working paper contributes to public policy literature on technology governance, exploring governance through...

This review comprehensively examined the effectiveness of the legislative framework governing the National Intelligence Community, and prepared findings and recommendations for reforms. The review was supported by a Secretariat in the Attorney-General's Department (Australia).

This paper argues that the onus is on democracies to do more to counter the harmful aspects of China’s global technology agenda, and to find ways to harness technology, including artificial intelligence, for the global public good, while preserving hard-won democratic rights and liberties.