State of Surveillance: A Year of Digital Threats to Civil Society

This conference talk from the 38th Chaos Communication Congress (38C3) examines the evolving digital arms race between activists and government surveillance. Join researchers from Amnesty International's Security Lab as they present case studies highlighting surveillance wins, ongoing challenges, and emerging threats facing civil society. Discover how progress has been made against invasive spyware vendors through lawsuits and sanctions, while learning about the technical arms race between defenders and the exploit industry. Explore how notorious spyware companies continue to evade accountability, often with government protection. The presentation unveils findings from a brand new investigation into surveillance technology misuse and demonstrates tactics for mapping the increasingly complex webs of brokers and corporate structures used by surveillance vendors to hide their activities. Understand the growing surveillance threats at the intersection of mass surveillance, ad tech, and artificial intelligence, and how these tactics disproportionately impact marginalized groups including women and LGBTQI activists.