ORAL STATEMENT
Humanists International
UN Human Rights Council, 60th session (8 September to 8 October 2025)
Item 3: Interactive Dialogue on the report of OHCHR on the right to privacy in the digital age
Speaker: Greg Epstein
Thank you Mr. President and we thank the High Commissioner for his report.
As humanists, we believe equality, dignity, and the right to privacy are essential for human freedom.[1] Yet this report shows that data-driven technologies often reinforce pre-existing discrimination and inequality.[2]
Several trends seen in the report are particularly concerning, including the use of health data being used to criminalize women exercising their rights,[3] and algorithmic systems targeting minority groups through predictive policing and the denial of benefits.[4]
Minorities’ voices are also silenced online, while incitement and hate speech are amplified. HRDs are increasingly targeted online through laws that restrict freedom of expression,[5] such as blasphemy laws[6] – which are incompatible with international law[7]– and through the misuse of counterterrorism laws.[8]
These are not bugs but rather features of systems which threaten to undermine democratic participation and universal human rights. Technology must support human freedom, not restrict it. Digital innovation must be grounded in international human rights law and we echo the Report’s call for transparency and accountability in the development of digital technologies and the prioritization of the right to privacy by all stakeholders.
Thank you.
[1] https://humanists.international/policy/principles-and-objectives-of-the-iheu/; https://humanists.international/policy/general-statement-of-policy/
[2] A/HRC/60/45, https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/documents/hrbodies/hrcouncil/sessions-regular/session60/advance-version/a-hrc-60-45-aev.pdf, para 50
[3] Ibid, para 2
[4] Ibid, para 2
[5] Ibid, para 42
[6] e.g. https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/03/12/pakistans-blasphemy-law-targets-youth-social-media
[7] https://humanists.international/2024/11/humanists-international-submission-cited-by-united-nations-secretary-general/
[8] A/HRC/55/48, https://docs.un.org/en/a/hrc/55/48
'The right to privacy in the digital age', Humanists International