Human Rights Protocol Considerations (hrpc) RG

IETF 126, Vienna

2026-07-20, 1130-1230 local time

Mallory Knodel, co-chair

Note-takers: Laura Scalone, Morgane Guerreau

Agenda:

Welcome and Introduction: Intro and Note Well

Talk: "Archiving the Internet: the importance of network measurement for human rights"

Lai Yi Ohlsen - 20 min

Flight problems, couldn't make it on time

Talk: "Cloud drift: how hyperscaler cloud computing shapes internet governance and what it means for resilience"

Corinne Cath - 20 min

Question 1 (Lars Eggert): This isn't really my area, I'm trying to
absorb what you presented, I think there's two problems: so one problem
I think you called out ius that infrastructure that previously mantained
and run by an organization. ... What is the bigger source of problems?
is it the goig from in house to somewhere in the clkoud release capacity
or is it that that place is run by a non-European entity?

• Answer: The concern here really is that we're outsourcing, the cloud
  is capturing operations. For me the bigger question is what makes
  you you to an organization that is profit driven and that is
  irrespective of EU or US.

Question 2 (Tara Tarakiyee): For me what's unclear is what are the
levers that are available? ... Are the things like inherent to the
architecture of the internet or how the idea works in a way that helps
alleviate this. ... I think with increasing consolidation of
infrastructure, you can have open standards, but you need people to
participate and use those open standards.

• Answer: So there is a role for this community, it is David versus
  Goliath, part of this is the politics and economics behind it. Many
  organizations and governments they will outwardly say oh we're
  moving to Microsoft because it's technically superior, and it's a
  way for them to reduce costs. ... We need to keep in mind this isn't
  the only future we could be building, we need to make transition
  infrastructures

Question 3 (Kurtis Heimerl): I wonder how that narrative lands with you
(centralized vs decentralized)

• Answer: It is a financial move as much as it is a technical move and
  once you start to or you stop maintaining your own infrastructure,
  it changes your budget. For a lot of big institutions that we are
  seeing turning to hyperscaler clouds, it is not a simple financial
  or political manouvre

Question 4 (Colin Perkins): I agree with your concern, however, I would
slightly wonder wether what we are seeing is the governance organization
actually starting to reflect on the internet as it is, and if this is
just a natural evolution?

• Answer: I love the question, only thing where I would hesitate is to call technical development a natural evolution. All technical evolutions are political.

  Discussion: "New pathways for incorporating international human rights into standards development for digital technologies"

  Tim Englehardt - 20 min

Question 1 (Mallory Knodel): Is there a way you can share this with
folks on the HRPC list for feedback?

• Answer: I won't be able to promise too much, but we have shared it
  with others in the drafting process to get ideas to have a clearer
  picture.

Question 2 (Lars Eggert): I just want to reply on the point of the ITU
materials. We can get ITU materials already.

• Answer:

Question 3 (Tara Tarakiyee): My question relates to something we've seen
from GDC and the business process is that when it comes to economic and
social rights they often get relegated.

• Answer: Thanks for bringing this up, I think it is a major issue. To
  integrate the ESCR perspective and these processes. It can be
  complex. I agree that it can be limiting.

Question 4 (Andrew Campling): Just responding to your list of questions
about what was working with ITU-T. That's beginning to work well. Thank
you for your presentation

Question 5 (Simone Onofri): We are working on translation and
integration, so we are using as a framework pretty much the last two
pages of the study report. Last point was a question on child
protection. The question is that, in your opnion, this can also be a
solution on a higher level of human rights.

• Answer: It's a super important question, from what I see nothing has
  gotten more traction in the last year than child protection issues
  or as we would prefer toi frame them as rights question, which puts
  children in the center. ... So yes I think that working on this
  issues is for sure one of the most important and pressing one, for
  children, for the effect on the broader ecosystem of technology, for
  political reasons, because this is where traction is. We have to
  address this.

Question 6 (Carolina Caeiro): ... understanding human rights as guiding
polcy, I think it's a very concrete area. ... it's an open question,
what do we do as a community, how do we trascend and get to engage with
others in the IETF itself

• Answer (by Mallory Knodel): I would love to take that question to the list.

  All other RG business - remainder