The Cybercrime Convention is the first international treaty on criminal offences committed against or with the help of computer networks.
It addresses offences related to copyright abuse, computer-related fraud, child pornography and network security breaches. The Convention also covers powers to preserve data, to search and seize, to collect traffic data and to intercept communications.
The Convention has so far been signed by 38 of the 46 Member States of the Council of Europe, including the UK, France, Germany and Norway. Four non-member states – Canada, Japan, South Africa and the US – have also signed the treaty.
However, for the Convention to work it must not only be signed but also ratified. This means its provisions must be implemented in national laws. Only 11 states have now ratified the Convention. This group of first-movers may be surprising: Albania, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Hungary, Lithuania, Romania, Slovenia and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.
With Tuesday’s Committee approval, the US has taken the first steps towards ratification. However, US civil liberties groups are alarmed by the Convention, which they see as creating threats to privacy and security in the US.
In a letter sent to the Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee on Tuesday, EPIC warned that the Convention ”constructs a sweeping structure of vast and invasive law enforcement activity without a corresponding means of oversight and accountability. It speaks in very specific terms about the new authorities to pursue investigations but in only generalities with regard to legal rights.”
It continued:
“The Cybercrime Convention is the result of a process that excluded legal experts and human rights advocates. It is a one-sided document that fails to reflect the broad commitment to the rule of law and the protection of democratic institutions that has otherwise characterized the treaties proposed by the Council of Europe.
“It is therefore not surprising that the vast majority of the countries of the Council of Europe have thus far failed to ratify the Cybercrime Convention. We urge the United States not to support this deeply flawed proposal.”
According to CNET News, the treaty will go to a vote in the full Senate later in the year.