Key Concerns Regarding Governance in the Era of Militarisation of Tech

"Governments are increasingly relying on data-intensive systems, both to wage wars and to administer public services. These systems, increasingly provided by the same firms using similar tools, will come to affect our day-to-day lives whether we are in war zones or town squares. This is the era of Militarisation of Tech. The technologies that our governments rely on to deliver services and pursue their objectives are becoming increasingly data-intensive and militarised, which threatens our privacy, dignity, and autonomy."

"The spread of these systems into our daily lives is no longer hypothetical. The same military contractor, such as Palantir, will be offering today its services to wage war, deliver humanitarian aid, and manage public sector healthcare data. Big Tech's cloud services offered to governments extend from local government services to processing intercepted communications. In theory, the deployment of any technologies, including those that process personal data, should be governed by specific legal frameworks. We have a duty to ask: are the necessary frameworks in place? Are they fit for purpose?"

"The balance of power is at stake when the lines between civil and defence tech blur. Data-intensive systems that operate seamlessly across contexts, allow for the fusion of military and civil data, tech, and infrastructures, put at risk the division between military and civil powers. When it comes to sectors like science, technology, industry and data, the Chinese Government has already implemented a 'civil-military fusion' strategy that seeks to to integrate civilian and military sectors. This means that civilian data is not exempt from national security classification"

Governments increasingly deploy data-intensive and militarised technologies across warfare, humanitarian aid, and public services, often supplied by the same companies. These systems fuse military and civilian data, infrastructure, and tools, eroding traditional civil–military separation and concentrating power. Major contractors and cloud providers enable analytics on health, local government, and intercepted communications, raising privacy, dignity, and autonomy concerns. Legal and regulatory frameworks for processing personal data are often unclear or inadequate. Civil–military fusion strategies, as seen in China, can subject civilian data to national security classification. Democratic safeguards, rule of law, and human rights require clearer governance and accountability.

Read at Privacy International