- 72 countries sign UN cybercrime treaty to unify global legal and investigative efforts
- The treaty imposes criminalization, evidence sharing and extradition, with rights and privacy guarantees.
- Critics warn that it allows surveillance and lacks strong protections for human rights and due process.
Australia and Spain are among 72 countries to sign the new UN Convention against Cybercrime – the first global treaty designed to combat cybercrime through unified international rules and cooperation.
The treaty, adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in July 2024, establishes legal frameworks for investigating and prosecuting crimes such as ransomware, online fraud and child exploitation.
The key argument here is that there are legal and cooperation gaps between countries, since cyberattacks often occur in one country, the victims reside in another, and the electronic evidence in yet another. The treaty aims to close these gaps by defining common offenses, establishing procedures for digital evidence collection and cross-border data sharing, requiring each member state to criminalize key cyber offenses in its national law, creating mechanisms for international cooperation – including extradition – and “balancing enforcement” with safeguards on privacy, freedom of expression and procedure regular.
Human rights in danger
However, it is the latter solution, along with evidence collection and extradition, that has caused many countries and organizations to oppose it.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation, Human Rights Watch and Privacy International, as well as tech giant Cisco, have all spoken out against the treaty, arguing that it requires countries to establish “large-scale electronic surveillance” while failing to adequately protect basic human rights.
So far, 72 countries have signed the convention – and while there is no complete list of signatories, the list of statements in favor of the document includes Spain and Australia, as well as other supporters including the League of Arab States, Interpol, Iran, Peru, Luxembourg, China, Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Philippines, Brazil, Chile, Egypt, Thailand, and Czechia.
Signing the Convention is only the first step. Now, different countries need to pass relevant legislation to be able to enforce it.
Via The register
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