US Likely to Sign Really Bad Cybercrime Treaty

An American diplomat that helped negotiate a UN cybercrime treaty pushed by Russia and China said it is likely to be approved by the UN. Administration officials have acknowledged concerns about the treaty in its current form.

Human rights advocates say it would enable surveillance on a massive scale and do so in complete secrecy. It would also require ISPs to retain even more data than they currently do.

US ambassador Deborah McCarthy said “it would be unheard of for us to pull out of a consensus after we led the system and joined”. Translating bureaucrat speak into English, it means that she would be embarrassed if we did not vote yes. On the other hand, if 300 million Americans had their personal data turned over to Russia and China, that is not a problem for her. Diplomats are strange.

The treaty requires governments to assist in investigations and share data for serious crimes, which is defined as any crime for which a totalitarian government would sentence people to four years. Do you kind of get the problem here?

The treaty fails to enumerate any human rights standards. For example, if China considers criticizing the government a serious crime, we would be compelled under this treaty to turn over data, even if that violates the US Constitution. I.e., the treaty trumps US law.

Not surprisingly, the tech industry fiercely opposes the treaty, in part because it requires them to turn over data without standard legal procedures.

It could also keep security researchers from reporting vulnerabilities because they will fear being prosecuted.

There are also eight references to keeping requests confidential and none to disclosure, so to say the treaty lacks transparency would be an understatement.

The treaty also requires service providers to hand over data directly to foreign governments, among many other bad requirements.

There is, however, one glimmer of hope. It is unclear whether, even if the UN approves it as expected, whether the Senate will ratify it.

A two thirds vote in the Senate would be required to ratify it and it is unclear which Senators would want to be branded with helping Russia and China steal American’s private communications.

Russia and China have been pushing for this treaty for years and that alone should make US Senators wary. If they think TikTok is bad, this makes TikTok look like a nun, by comparison.

Credit: The Record

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