What can be done to protect refugees’ privacy rights and enhance their digital security?
In an article published by the Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy, Citizen Lab senior researcher Noura Aljizawi discusses the leak of personal data of Syrian refugees in Türkiye and the severe impact on their lives. Aljizawi cautions that the leak can lead to serious consequences, such as SIM swapping attacks, blackmail, and exploitation against Syrian refugees, with women refugees being particularly vulnerable. Further, she highlights the severe risk posed by this data leak in facilitating transnational repression and other forms of state-backed violence targeting Syrian dissidents in Türkiye. Aljizawi calls on the Turkish government and international organizations to take stronger action to support victims of this breach and to better protect the privacy rights of refugees.