The influence of modern technology is manifested primarily in the field of personal rights, among which the right to privacy occupies a special place. On the one hand, measures directly aimed at protecting this right act as guarantees of the right to privacy. On the other hand, when limiting the right to privacy, appropriate safeguards should prevent possible abuse. In addition to the principles of confidentiality, integrity and accessibility, specific legal principles have been developed to protect the right to privacy.
In Uzbekistan, the concepts of “security”, “information security” and “national security” are revealed through “the state of protection of the vital interests of the individual, society and states.
There is no doubt that the rapid digitalization of the life of society, business and the state generates several objective problems. In particular, the pandemic caused a sharp increase in cybercrime in the information space.
According to experts, in 2021, the number of cyberattacks in the world increased by 50% compared to 2020. The damage from cybercrime in 2021 exceeded trillion against trillion in 2015.
It should be noted that the problem of protecting critical infrastructure from cyber threats remains relevant. Thus, more than 90% of attacks by the most well-known hacker groups were directed at critical information infrastructure facilities, with the most frequently attacked sectors being energy, industry, defense and the public sector. Along with this, the information space has become regarded by extremist ideologists as the most attractive platform for conducting ideological propaganda.
Furthermore, there is a potential tendency to increase extremist and terrorist online propaganda on the territory of the Central Asian countries.
With the development of technologies, the volumes and speed of information exchange are significantly increasing, the range of possible ways of collecting, processing, providing and distributing it is expanding. As a result, the harm that can be caused to an individual through the disclosure of certain information or in connection with keeping it secret also increases. These processes are deepening contradictions, which are caused by the opposition to principles of confidentiality and access rights to keep information confidential and the right of access to such information. Such contradictions arise both in private law and in public law relations.
The above negative trends require the SCO member states to develop comprehensive approaches to the protection of cyberspace and ensure information security.
The cross-border nature of these threats dictates the need to complement national efforts with collective actions at the regional and international levels.
Uzbekistan, being a full-fledged subject of international relations, interested in protecting its information space from external and internal challenges, attaches great importance to strengthening foreign policy cooperation in the field of international information security within the framework of reputable international and regional organizations.
In order to strengthen international cooperation and develop appropriate international norms to counter common challenges in the field of information security, the SCO member States presented the “Rules of Conduct in the field of international information security” to the UN General Assembly in 2011.
Uzbekistan also supported the further development of this document within the framework of the 69th meeting of the UN General Assembly in 2015.
Cooperation within regional organizations in addressing issues of ensuring international information security is an effective mechanism for developing new ideas and practical efforts related to confidence-building measures, and also acts as a key element of the efforts necessary to promote information and cybersecurity at the national and regional levels.
It should be noted that to date, the SCO has already established cooperation on issues of ensuring international information security.
In turn, the foundation of cooperation between the SCO countries in the field of information security is the Intergovernmental Agreement on Cooperation in the Field of International Information Security, signed on June 16, 2009.
At the SCO summits in Astana (2017), Qingdao (2018) and Bishkek (2019), President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev made several important new initiatives that are an effective tool for strengthening friendship and mutual understanding between peoples.
So, for example, at the SCO Summit held on June 9, 2017, in Astana, President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev put forward an initiative to empower the SCO Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure to organize a system for monitoring emerging threats on the Global Internet and countering them.
At the meeting of the Council of Heads of SCO Member States in November 2020, the President of Uzbekistan stressed the importance of ensuring regular discussion of the current situation, coordination of joint measures to counter challenges and threats, including in the information field.
It was noted that in the conditions of integration into the global information space, and the comprehensive digitalization of the activities of state bodies, the dependence of the efficiency of the functioning of society and the state on the state of the information sphere has significantly increased.
Following the summit, an important document was adopted – a Joint Statement by the Heads of the SCO Member States on Cooperation in the Field of International Information Security.
In the context of globalization, the information sphere is becoming more and more interconnected every day. This gives rise to the notion of the indivisibility of information security, which dictates the need to develop coordinated and more effective measures of interaction between the SCO member states in this direction.
Deeply aware of these processes, Uzbekistan in recent years has gained extensive experience in creating effective platforms for finding solutions to key issues on the agenda. Thus, on June 29, 2021, the CIS International Expert Forum on Information Security was held in Tashkent.
Based on the results of expert discussions, common approaches to the implementation of information security strategies and programs of the Commonwealth states were formed, including the development of a system for joint identification and monitoring of cybersecurity threats.
Based on the potential threats and risks mentioned above, important conditions for the SCO Member States to ensure the guarantee of human rights in the field of information security remain the same as follows:
a) it is necessary to ensure that modern technologies are used for peaceful purposes, to create a secure, fair and open information space built on the principles of respect for other countries’ sovereignty and non-interference in their domestic affairs.
b) it is necessary to develop practical cooperation and consolidate efforts to enhance international information security in line with the respective 2022-2023 Cooperation Plan and other documents adopted by the Organization.
c) it is necessary to continue to cooperate within specialized negotiation frameworks of the UN and other international platforms.
d) to continue to support regulating cooperation between their government bodies specializing in digital literacy to overcome the digital gap.
e) need to support countries’ equal rights to regulate the Internet and their sovereign right to regulate the national segments of the Internet.
Qodirjon Obidov
Department for International Human Rights Cooperation,
National Center for Human Rights of the Republic of Uzbekistan
