Civil Society Groups Say ITU Wrong Forum to Discuss Privacy-Related Issues

ITU lacks capacity or expertise to address privacy, as some governments proposed, said Access Now, Article 19 and Public Knowledge in a joint statement Monday. Instead, nations should use bilateral or multilateral agreements, national laws and other frameworks, the groups said. Brazil, Mexico, a regional group of Arab states and one formed by Russia and former Soviet republics suggested at the World Telecommunications Development Conference this month that ITU should expand its mandate into privacy-related issues, the groups said. They argued that ITU is vulnerable to "harmful types of politicization, as states and regional coalitions seek to leverage this forum to grab greater control over Internet policy and standards development." The groups said ITU's main goal is to facilitate interoperability of telecom infrastructure and therefore is limited in its expertise.