Tom Leithauser reports:
A United Nations treaty designed to help nations address cross-border cyber crime was signed over the weekend by 72 nations, which puts it on track for eventual ratification, according to the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).
The U.N. Convention Against Cybercrime was opened for signatures on Saturday in Hanoi, Vietnam, and will remain open through Dec. 31, 2026. Its enactment requires the signatures of 40 nations. The 72 nations that signed over the weekend still must make their support official according to their “own procedures,” UNODC said in a news release.
The U.S. was not among the signatories, although many U.S. allies were, including Australia, the United Kingdom, Spain, Greece, Poland, Sweden, and France. Russia, China, and Iran also signed. “The United States continues to review the treaty,” a State Department spokesperson told CPR.
Privacy and human rights advocates have expressed concerns about the treaty’s provisions, several of which, they say, would be abused by authoritarian governments to prosecute dissidents, human rights advocates, journalists, and cybersecurity researchers under the guise of policing cyber crime (CPR, Oct. 24).
The treaty would encourage nations that ratify it to adopt laws to enable national authorities to seize data and systems associated with cyber crime and to comply with requests from other nations for electronic evidence.
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