The data-collection business model fuelling Facebook and Google represents a threat to human rights around the world, Amnesty International has said in a report.

Key points: A report by Amnesty International said Facebook and Google's harvesting and monetisation of users' data was an abuse of human rights

A report by Amnesty International said Facebook and Google's harvesting and monetisation of users' data was an abuse of human rights It said the tech companies were breaching the rights to privacy and freedom of opinion and expression

It said the tech companies were breaching the rights to privacy and freedom of opinion and expression Facebook disputed this, saying its business model in fact promoted freedom of expression and freedom of association and assembly

The organisation argued that offering people free online services and then using information about them to target money-making ads imperilled a gamut of rights including freedom of opinion and expression.

"Despite the real value of the services they provide, Google and Facebook's platforms come at a systemic cost," Amnesty said in its report, Surveillance Giants.

"The companies' surveillance-based business model forces people to make a Faustian bargain, whereby they are only able to enjoy their human rights online by submitting to a system predicated on human rights abuse."

With ubiquitous surveillance, the two online giants can collect massive amounts of data which may be used against their customers, according to the London-based human rights group.

The business model is "inherently incompatible with the right to privacy," it contended.

Companies have 'insidious control of our digital lives'

The report maintained that the two Silicon Valley firms have established "near-total dominance over the primary channels through which people connect and engage with the online world," giving them unprecedented power over people's lives.

Amnesty International secretary-general Kumi Naidoo said the tech giants had "insidious control of our digital lives" which "undermines the very essence of privacy and is one of the defining human rights challenges of our era".

"Google and Facebook dominate our modern lives — amassing unparalleled power over the digital world by harvesting and monetising the personal data of billions of people," she said.

The report called for governments to implement policies that ensure access to online services while protecting user privacy.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has called for more government regulation around data-handling. ( Reuters: Aaron P. Bernstein )

"Governments have an obligation to protect people from human rights abuses by corporations," Amnesty said.

"But for the past two decades, technology companies have been largely left to self-regulate."

Facebook disputes report's findings

Facebook pushed back against what it contended were inaccuracies in the report, saying it strongly disagreed with its business model being characterised as surveillance-based.

In a letter annexed to the Amnesty report, Facebook privacy and public policy director Steve Satterfield said the company's business model was "what allows us to offer an important service where people can exercise foundational human rights — to have a voice (freedom of expression) and be able to connect (freedom of association and assembly)".

"Facebook's business model is not, as your summary suggests, driven by the collection of data about people."

Facebook spotlighted its measures implemented which limit data information used for ad targeting, controls provided to users regarding their data, and steps taken to restrict abuses by apps on the social network.

"As you correctly note, we do not sell data; we sell ads," Facebook said.

Facebook chief and co-founder Mark Zuckerberg has called for governments to implement uniform rules regarding data-handling instead of leaving private companies to make crucial social decisions such as the limits of free speech.

Google did not offer a specific written response.

But the Amnesty report noted that Google announced this month it would limit data that it shares with advertisers through its ad auction platform, following the launch of an inquiry by the Irish data protection authority, and had launched a new feature allowing users to delete location data.

AFP