Cybersecurity and Cybercrime Laws in the SADC Region https://zimbabwe.misa.org Safeguards Against Illegitimate Access: There should be civil and criminal penalties imposed on any party responsible for illegal electronic surveillance and those affected by surveillance must have access to legal mechanisms necessary for effective redress. Strong protection should also be afforded to whistleblowers who expose surveillance activities that threaten human rights. Source: Electronic Frontier Foundation International standards and best practices stress that any limitation to fundamental rights should pass the three-pronged test on legality, necessity and proportionality. For instance, principle 41 of the Declaration on Principles of Freedom of Expression and Access to Information in Africa of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, outlines the following: 1. States shall not engage in or condone acts of indiscriminate and untargeted collection, storage, analysis or sharing of a person’s communications. 2. States shall only engage in targeted communication surveillance that is authorised by law, that conforms to international human rights law and standards, and that is premised on specific and reasonable suspicion that a serious crime has been or is being carried out or for any other legitimate aim. 3. States shall ensure that any law authorising targeted communication surveillance provides adequate safeguards for the right to privacy, including: 4. the prior authorization of an independent and impartial judicial authority; 5. due process safeguards; 6. specific limitation on the time, manner, place and scope of the surveillance; 7. notification of the decision authorising surveillance within a reasonable time of the conclusion of such surveillance; 8. proactive transparency on the nature and scope of its use; and 9. effective monitoring and regular review by an independent oversight mechanism. Although some Southern African countries are not bound by the International Principles of Human Rights in relation to Electronic Communications, which was drafted by the United Nations, the instrument clearly spells out how human rights should be protected in electronic communications. It also states that limitations of human rights should only occur if necessary and should be proportional to the aim, which the limitation strives to achieve. 8