Privacy International - PI and Public Controversy

PI and Public Controversy

Privacy International's unconventional and sometimes aggressive approach to privacy advocacy has at times resulted in controversy and a questioning of its motives.

The most notable political controversy surrounding the organisation was sparked in 2005 when former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and former Home Secretary Charles Clarke publicly accused PI's Director and founder Simon Davies of covertly using his academic affiliation with the London School of Economics (LSE) to undermine the government's plans for a national identity card. The government sought to deflect attention from problems with its ID cards programme by attempting to personally denigrate the LSE report and Simon Davies personally. The LSE Director Sir Howard Davies strongly rebutted this unprecedented political attack on UK academic freedom. The government's intent was apparently to raise doubts about the accuracy of the report in several areas and in particular, the manner in which projected cost estimates had been calculated (based on figures developed by the independent IT analysis company, Kable), and what it called "selective and misleading use of evidence regarding biometrics and a failure to include any natural scientists to inform the report despite the significant claims made about biometrics and the accuracy of biometric technologies". Rather than address the issues raised by the report, several government politicians and their biometric experts instead chose to criticise the accuracy of the report, questioning whether the involvement of leading PI campaigners and well known opponents of identity cards meant that it could be considered unbiased. The episode is notable for the nature of its overtly political attack on an academic report from a leading UK university and its personalisation of criticisms of Simon Davies. Even MPs who supported identity cards recognised that the government had entered new territory by undermining independent academic work on issues of legitimate contemporary interest.

The government's claims of bias were strenuously denied by Simon Davies and resulted in heated debate between Government and Opposition parties both in the House of Commons and the House of Lords. The coverage led Davies to draw comparisons of the argument with former government scientific advisor David Kelly who took his life following an allegedly similar campaign.

In his 2006 autobiography, another former Home Secretary David Blunkett wrote "I am really sorry that the London School of Economics have allowed him (Davies) to even hint that he has any connection with them". Davies has lectured at the LSE since 1997 and continues to do so both as Visiting Fellow and as co-director of the LSE's Policy Engagement Network.

In June 2007 PI released an assessment of the privacy practices of selected online services. This generated controversy within the blogosphere for what some observers perceived as undue criticism of Google, which was rated as more privacy-infringing than Facebook or Microsoft. Particular criticism was levelled at Privacy International's choice to rate Microsoft's Live Search brand and Microsoft as a corporation separately, a decision that resulted in a more flattering assessment of Microsoft than might otherwise have been the case. PI defended itself on the grounds that it had also split Google into two separate entities.

Simon Davies drew criticism for his apparent enthusiasm for aspects of Phorm's model of operation, stating that " does not endorse Phorm, though we do applaud a number of developments in its process". PI have not published any analysis or comment concerning Phorm products.

In March 2009, following PI's criticism of Google's Street View service, Davies sent an open letter to Google chief executive Eric Schmidt, accusing the company of briefing journalists against him, by claiming Davies was biased in favor of Microsoft. Google has pointed to connections between Microsoft and data protection consultancy 80/20 Thinking, run by Davies, and has said that Davies' connections to Microsoft should be made clear in public, as the credibility of his criticisms is undermined by the fact that he acts as a consultant to companies who are direct rivals and critics of Google; a fact Davies rarely discloses in press releases or comments.