“Secret, massive and indiscriminate surveillance programs are not in conformity with European human rights law" and are not justified by terror threats, said Nils Muižnieks, the commissioner for human rights at the Council of Europe, in a new report. He called on countries to introduce greater transparency and oversight in intelligence gathering and to stop sharing data with each other under informal arrangements. The report comes after a recent ruling in the UK that its mass surveillance program complied with human rights standards, a decision decried by civil society organizations.