Positions

Stance

If the UN wants to help humanity, it should not fall for AI hype

How should the international governance of AI look like? This is the thorny question the UN Secretary General’s AI Advisory Body tries to address in its first interim report. We have highlighted some concerning aspects of the report in a recent consultation process.

Press release

The Council of Europe’s Convention on AI: No free ride for tech companies and security authorities!

The Convention on AI is intended to be the first legally binding international agreement on AI. The final round of negotiations will take place in Strasbourg starting 11 March 2024. The members of the Council of Europe (including Switzerland and the EU member states) and non-members such as the US, Japan and Canada will also be sitting around the negotiating table. AlgorithmWatch, over 90 civil society organizations, and prominent academics are calling on the negotiating states to regulate companies’ and national security authorities’ use of AI.

Press release

Europe’s Approach to AI regulation: Embracing Big Tech and Security Hardliners

Europe is about to adopt two major regulations on Artificial Intelligence: the EU’s AI Act and the Council of Europe’s Convention on AI. The Federal Council has already announced that it will base its own proposals for AI regulation on them. Yet, while both rulebooks were initially meant to turn the tables on Big Tech and to effectively protect people against governments' abuse of AI technology, interests of tech companies and governments' security hardliners may win out.

Expert Policy Proposal

The AI Act and General Purpose AI

Key Recommendations to inform EU's AI Act Negotiations regarding General Purpose AI

Battle in Strasbourg: Civil society fights for safeguards against AI harms

With negotiations on a Convention on Artificial Intelligence (AI) within the Council of Europe entering a crucial stage, a joint statement by AlgorithmWatch and ten other civil society organizations reminds negotiating states of their mandate : to protect human rights, democracy, and the rule of law. To adhere to this mandate and to counter both narrow state interest and companies’ lobbying, the voice of civil society must be listened to.

The EU now has the means to rein in large platforms. It should start with Twitter.

The European Commission today announced the platforms that will have to comply with the strictest rules the Digital Services Act imposes on companies. Twitter has to be on top of its list in enforcing these rules.

Civil society observers call for an effective Council of Europe Convention on AI

On the occasion of the International Data Protection Day on 28 January, AlgorithmWatch and six other civil society organizations remind the Council of Europe of its mandate in negotiating a global Convention on AI.

France: the new law on the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games threatens human rights

France proposed a new law on the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games (projet de loi relatif aux jeux Olympiques et Paralympiques de 2024) which would legitimize the use of invasive algorithm-driven video surveillance under the pretext of “securing big events”. This new French law would create a legal basis for scanning public spaces to detect specific suspicious events.

Civil society responds to the Council of Europe Treaty on AI

Together with other observer civil society organizations in the Committee on AI in the Council of Europe, AlgorithmWatch Switzerland stresses the importance of that legal framework on AI based on human rights, democracy, and the rule of law that is currently being elaborated in Strasbourg. We urge the EU not to delay this process in light of the negotiations on its own AI Act currently ongoing in Brussels. The two frameworks have a different purpose and should complement rather than copy-paste each other.

Submission to the UN report on the right to privacy in the digital age

When the right to privacy is violated, it is often the case that other human rights are also negatively impacted. In our submission, we list key areas of concerns on the way automated decision-making systems (ADMs) affect people’s basic rights.

Joint Statement ahead of negotiations on legal framework on AI in the Council of Europe

Today, the Committee on Artificial Intelligence (CAI) at the Council of Europe launches the negotiations on a new legal framework on Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems. In a Joint Statement, AlgorithmWatch and other civil society organizations urge Member States to create an AI governance framework that is truly oriented at the Council of Europe’s mandate: the protection of human rights, democracy, and the rule of law.

Human rights and activities of tech companies: Governments must act

Discrimination and violations of rights to equal treatment by the law – these are among the risks to human rights posed by the development and use of algorithmic systems by technology companies. In our submission to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) we argue that states have a duty to protect citizens from these risks.

Joint Statement on the Ad Hoc Committee on Artificial Intelligence (CAHAI) in the Council of Europe

Last week, the Council of Europe’s Ad Hoc Committee on Artificial Intelligence (CAHAI) held its last session. In a joint statement with the Conference of International NGOs of the Council of Europe, Global Partners Digital, and Homo Digitalis, AlgorithmWatch expresses concerns over the outcome of the process, and calls upon the Council of Europe to ensure that the procedure leading to a legal framework on AI be inclusive and open to representatives of civil society. Read the full statement below!

Position Paper: A Legal Framework for Artificial Intelligence

AlgorithmWatch Switzerland co-authored a position paper on the regulation of AI systems in Switzerland. The paper was written in collaboration with an interdisciplinary consortium of academics and supported by the DSI Strategy Lab (University of Zurich).

Draft AI Act: Submission by AlgorithmWatch

In April 2021, the European Commission published its draft version of the Artificial Intelligence Act (AI Act). The regulation will be directly relevant for Switzerland. Read our submission to the Commission’s proposal.

Open letter calling for a global ban on biometric recognition technologies that enable mass and discriminatory surveillance

AlgorithmWatch and AlgorithmWatch Switzerland are joining 177 civil society organizations, activists, technologists, and other experts around the world to call for an outright ban on uses of facial recognition and remote biometric recognition technologies that enable mass surveillance and discriminatory targeted surveillance.

Reclaim Your Face – A Civil Society Initiative to ban biometric mass surveillance

A large coalition of civil society organizations, among them AlgorithmWatch and AlgorithmWatch Switzerland, have come together in a European movement that demands a ban on biometric recognition systems that enable mass surveillance. Earlier this year, it launched a European Citizens Initiative, calling on the EU to ban biometric mass surveillance - such as automated face recognition in public spaces.