- 72 countries sign the UN Treaty on Cybercrime to unify global legal and investigative efforts
- The treaty mandates criminalization, evidence sharing and extradition, with guarantees of rights and privacy
- Critics warn that it enables surveillance and lacks strong protections for human rights and due process
Australia and Spain are among 72 countries that have signed the new UN Convention against Cybercrime – the first global treaty designed to fight cybercrime through common international rules and cooperation.
The treaty, adopted by the UN General Assembly in July 2024, establishes a legal framework for the investigation and prosecution of crimes such as ransom, online fraud and child exploitation.
The key argument here is that there are legal and cooperation gaps between countries, as cyber attacks often occur in one country, victims live in another, and the electronic evidence in yet another. The treaty aims to close these gaps by defining common offences, establishing procedures for digital evidence collection and cross-border data sharing, requiring each member state to criminalize core cybercrimes in its national law, creating mechanisms for international cooperation – including extradition – and “balancing enforcement” with protections for privacy, freedom of expression and due process.
Human rights at risk
However, it is the latter, together with evidence collection and extradition, that caused a number of countries and organizations to oppose it.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation, Human Rights Watch and Privacy International, as well as tech giant Cisco, all spoke out against the treaty, arguing that it forces countries to establish “broad electronic surveillance” while failing to adequately protect basic human rights.
72 countries have signed the convention so far – and while there is no comprehensive list of signatories, the list of declarations in support of the document includes Spain and Australia, with other supporters including the League of Arab States, Interpol, Iran, Peru, Luxembourg, China, the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, South Africa, The Philippines, Brazil, Chile, Thailand and the Czech Republic.
The signing of the convention is just the first step. Now different countries have to pass relevant legislation to be able to enforce it.
Via The register
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