In recent months, Facebook has faced intense scrutiny from regulators and lawmakers around the world for its controversial data and privacy practices. Now, one of the largest and most powerful nonprofit organizations in the world has also weighed in. This week, Amnesty International said the business model of tech giants like Facebook and Google is “inherently incompatible with the right to privacy.”  The venerable group also said that these companies’ surveillance poses an “unprecedented danger” to human rights.

In a long post published to its page, Amnesty International advocated for an overhaul in the way big tech companies operate, shifting platforms to emphasize dignity, autonomy and privacy.

“Google and Facebook dominate our modern lives – amassing unparalleled power over the digital world by harvesting and monetizing the personal data of billions of people, said Kumi Naidoo, Secretary General of Amnesty International. “Their insidious control of our digital lives undermines the very essence of privacy and is one of the defining human rights challenges of our era.”

Naidoo also called upon governments to regulate how Facebook collects data, and to make sure users don’t sign away the rights to their info when they join.

It’s probably a pipe dream to hope Facebook eventually shifts to a more human-centered way of doing business, but it’s still valuable to have respected groups like Amnesty International pressure the company to do better.

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