On CCTV systems and human rights Back to contents 59 The deployment of CCTV cameras, both traditional and AI-enabled, affects people’s ability to exercise a number of human rights. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR)114 protects individuals’ human rights, and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR)115 gives them legal force. The UDHR’s provisions are incorporated into customary international law, making it binding on all states. Myanmar has not yet ratified the ICCPR. However, under customary international law, states are under binding legal obligations to promote, respect, protect, and guarantee human rights. Private companies also have the responsibility to respect human rights, as envisioned in the UN's Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.116 While these principles are not binding, the UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of opinion and expression has opined ‘the companies’ overwhelming role in public life globally argues strongly for their adoption and implementation’.117 The installation of CCTV cameras worldwide has demonstrated the grave implications these technologies have on the exercise of human rights. As discussed earlier in this report, these cameras collect personal data that brings up a host of data protection concerns, particularly worrying in jurisdictions with little to no regulation about the collection, use, transfer, and retention of personal data – like Myanmar. When CCTV cameras include capabilities for biometric recognition, such as face and emotion recognition, the implications for human rights are even more worrying, as discussed in the Background. Risks arising from biometric technologies are covered in detail in ARTICLE 19’s policy brief on the effects of biometric technologies on human rights, particularly the freedom of expression.118