In 2021, Access Now collaborated with Latin American civil society organizations on the report Surveillance Tech In Latin America: Made Abroad, Deployed At Home, examining the companies that deploy remote biometric surveillance technologies in the region. None of the companies we profiled shared any input at the time, despite us asking. Now, nine of 23 companies have provided us with some, albeit limited, information about their provision of technology with surveillance capabilities.
Unfortunately their answers only reinforce the ongoing lack of transparency and clarity about the impact of such technologies, and highlight more than ever the need for companies to communicate clearly and consistently about how they are delivering on their human rights commitments. Our new paper Remote biometric surveillance in Latin America. Are companies respecting human rights? analyzes the company responses we received, and identifies the ongoing transparency challenges faced when trying to hold companies accountable for how their products with surveillance capabilities impact the human rights of individuals and communities in LATAM.
The paper is available in English, Spanish, and Portuguese.