On CCTV systems and human rights Back to contents 63 expression, anonymity “creates a zone of privacy to protect opinion and belief”, which is especially crucial in “hostile political, social, religious and legal environments”.122 Hence, state interference with anonymity should be subject to the three-part test of legality, necessity, and proportionality, as is any other interference with this right. In Myanmar, the right to privacy is violated by the widespread deployment of CCTV systems, particularly those collecting biometric data. In the absence of data protection laws that adequately regulate the collection use and storage of this data, the use of these systems provides powerful entities with carte blanche on how to analyse, use, and retain personal information. Evidence of how data in current cases is handled does not inspire confidence but rather speaks about a modus operandi that does not consider the importance of privacy and data protection. For example, in an unsolved case of child sexual assault, where the victim has become pseudonymously known as Victoria, the police department unnecessarily released the identity of the survivor on social media, without any prior warning or consent.123 Despite the NLD government’s justification on safety, security, and crime reduction, which is discussed later, civil society participants also expressed concerns over trade-offs involved in the narrative around privacy versus crime safety, in the absence of an adequate legal framework, public consultation, and careful planning. For example, they voiced possible misuses of the data by the government and the lack of accountability and redressal in the case of faulty or arbitrary interpretation of data, wrongful convictions based on such data, and also concerns about authorities being racially biased (e.g. the authorities assuming that the riots or crimes are likely to happen near the mosques, which could reinforce racial profiling based on existing racial prejudices in Myanmar society). Given the corruption of some government ministries, data could be manipulated, it could mysteriously go ‘missing’, or police forces could withhold data – for example, there was unexplained missing CCTV footage in the murder case of the well-known NLD legal counsellor Ko Ni.124