Cybercrime bill could violate human rights, IPPR warns

The Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) has warned the government that the proposed cybercrime bill has major human rights implications.

This includes infringing on privacy, freedom of expression, and increasing surveillance.

The cybercrime bill, tabled by the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology, is currently undergoing stakeholder consultation.

The IPPR’s submission to the ministry this month flags that the proposed bill includes provisions with legitimate cybersecurity purposes, but they contradict established human rights practices.

“The procedural and substantive powers in Namibia’s cybercrime bill should be subject to clear protections for privacy, freedom of expression, and other human rights,” IPPR research associate Frederico Links said on Monday while presenting his report on the human rights implications of the bill.

For more than 20 crimes introduced by the bill, the IPPR details how the language of the law could lead to overreach, infringe on citizen’s privacy, and even violate constitutional rights.

To combat crime, the bill introduces legislation that would allow investigators access to electronic data, traffic data, and the content of communication.

“The grounds for exercising intrusive digital surveillance powers should be much more clearly and narrowly defined and should not be subject to the nebulous concept of the ‘public interest.’

“Rather, these should be restricted to a necessity for the investigations of serious offences, and where necessary to prevent serious imminent danger or death,” Links said on Monday.

In its current form, Links warned that the bill would negatively affect the work of information technology professionals, researchers, journalists, and civil society.

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