Last year The Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL) issued an alarming report that should be known and talked about yet received comparatively little coverage. The report, entitled Europe’s hidden security crisis- How data about European defence personnel and political leaders flows to foreign states and non-state actors, outlines how vulnerable politicians and leaders are to blackmail based on data gleaned, or purchased, on their internet usage.
Data, currently legally purchased in the Real-Time Bidding market of which Google is a leading firm, can reveal personal financial information including gambling or debts, mental health challenges, addictions and other more intimate secrets about them and their families, obviously leaving them vulnerable to blackmail and pressure. The report has a heavy emphasis on China and Russia, clearly to grab the attention of the European leaders; however, the key point is that people’s information is being freely bought and sold to actors unknown opening up massive risks. This is in addition to the information freely provided by these firms to national security apparatuses in Western countries through a range of legal agreements.
The full report can and should be read on the ICCL website here: https://www.iccl.ie/digital-data/europes-hidden-security-crisis/
