RightsCon Tunis 2019

Governments are getting more and more aggressive about getting ahold of data, regardless of where it is located. In particular, governments are seeking alternative channels to obtain private data held in foreign countries that go far beyond the traditional judicial-to-judicial cooperation embedded in the “Mutual Legal Assistance Treaties” (MLATs). These alternative legal processes are becoming a dangerous trend, and could weaken existing privacy norms on cross-border data requests in different jurisdictions. Much of these compromises are being couched as a bargain that will be made between Europe and North America. The fora where the new global rules are being struck are predominantly in the North: ranging from the second additional protocol to the Budapest Convention, the European Commission, and executive agreements with the United States as part of Cloud Act. But Latin American organizations too have been discussing how to react to this ever-growing trend -- especially as Latin America has different, and sometimes stronger (sometimes weaker) constitutional protections. EFF, together with nine Latin American partners, are currently analyzing lawful access legislation in nine countries in order to identify strengths and weakness in each countries’ law.