Interactive Dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on the Right to Privacy
Statement As Delivered by Dan Murphy
Statement by the Delegation of the United States of America
Human Rights Council – 49th Session
March 10, 2022
Thank you, Mr. Vice President. Thank you, Special Rapporteur Nougrères for your report. You describe the European Union personal data protection system as a global model for harmonization, cooperation, and guidance on data privacy.
There are multiple approaches for protecting privacy, and we should resist a “one size fits all” mindset.
In the United States’ domestic framework, for example, privacy is protected through our constitution and a set of laws enacted at the federal and state level. Our context-specific system includes layers of law, regulation, policy, and procedure, and layers of redress and rigorous oversight that focuses on concrete risks of harm to individuals.
These layers, coupled with a focus on specific risks, allow vigorous enforcement of the laws while simultaneously promoting and respecting privacy interests, resulting in privacy compliance rates among the world’s highest.
Question: We’re concerned with the misuse of surveillance technology by authoritarian governments, which results in arbitrary or unlawful interferences with one’s privacy and stifles fundamental freedoms. Madame Special Rapporteur, do you anticipate exploring this issue, particularly in Russia and Belarus?
Thank you.