Concern 867 · Working draft · editorial review in progress
Right to privacy under AI surveillance
Privacy under AI surveillance concerns limits on collecting, linking and using information about people, even when parts of their lives are visible in public.
Understanding the concern
A camera records a scene; face recognition can connect that scene to a named person and other records. Repeated searches can turn scattered observations into a detailed account of someone's movements or associations. The privacy issue includes purpose, necessity, retention and access, not just whether a camera was visible.
In Glukhin v. Russia, the European Court of Human Rights found a privacy violation involving face recognition used against a peaceful protester. That specific judgment does not prohibit every use of the technology. An analogy is the difference between someone noticing you on a street and an organization building a searchable diary of your movements. Legal safeguards must address the actual use and its effects.
An example
A person attending a peaceful event is identified from images and later located through a transport camera system.
Illustrative unless identified as a documented case.
Words in plain English
- AI
- Software that learns patterns from examples or uses rules to perform tasks such as recognizing images or generating text. It can make mistakes and does not understand every situation as a person would.
Evidence and its limits
The court factsheet supports a specific European human-rights case, not a universal surveillance rule or an account of every national privacy law.
European Court of Human Rights · Court factsheet
New technologies: Glukhin v. Russia and other judgments ↗ (opens in a new tab)Glukhin found privacy and expression violations involving facial recognition of a peaceful protester. Not a blanket prohibition on every use.
Broader frameworks and background
These resources provide context. They do not establish every claim in this concern.
- EU AI Act — high-level summary (opens in a new tab)
regulation
- Council of Europe AI Convention (opens in a new tab)
regulation
- International humanitarian law (IHL)
framework
The body of law that governs the conduct of armed conflict and the protection of people who are not fighting, which applies to AI used in or for conflict.
A question to discuss
What justifies this identification and tracking, and what effective limits prevent unnecessary intrusion?
Keep track of different views, what needs checking, and any next step in your own discussion notes.
Open discussion notes →Principles for the conversation
Before you finish · reflect together
Virtues and principles to consider
Virtues are qualities we practice in how we treat people and make choices. They are not scores for judging someone. Use these ideas to explore what a thoughtful response could look like.
Justice
Justice means fair treatment, fair procedures, and attention to who receives benefits and burdens. It asks whether people with less power can be heard and seek repair.
Look at outcomes across different groups and individual cases. Provide a usable way to challenge decisions and correct harm. Equal wording in a policy does not guarantee equal treatment in practice.
Ask together: Who benefits, who bears the cost, and who can challenge the decision?
Accountability
Accountability means being answerable for decisions and taking responsibility for repair. It requires more than saying that the software made the choice.
Name the person or team responsible, keep useful records, and give them authority to correct problems. Make the route to a complaint clear to the people affected.
Ask together: Who will answer for the outcome and help put things right?
Dignity
Dignity means recognizing each person's worth regardless of usefulness, status, or a system's score. People deserve respect and a voice in matters that affect them.
Explain important decisions, avoid humiliating treatment, and keep room for a person's story. Do not treat a prediction as a complete account of who someone is.
Ask together: Does this use treat each person as someone whose experience matters?
Editorial ratings
These are editorial judgments from the register, not measured probabilities or predictions about your situation.
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