replacement therapy and gender reassignment surgery by a transsexual woman, where undue burden had been placed upon her to prove the medical necessity of the treatment, was a violation under Article 8 and Article 6 § 1. Oliari and Others v Italy (2015) – Italy violated Article 8 by not providing legal recognition to same-sex couples. R (Elan-Cane) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2020] EWCA Civ 363 – UK courts held that issues of gender engaged Article 8 as gender was central to a person's private life. Violation of the convention by mass surveillance Mass surveillance, such as by the programs revealed in Edward Snowden's global surveillance disclosures, is often accused of violating the 8th article of the European Convention on Human Rights. A 2014 report to the UN General Assembly by the United Nations' top official for counter-terrorism and human rights condemned mass electronic surveillance as a clear violation of core privacy rights guaranteed by multiple treaties and conventions and makes a distinction between "targeted surveillance" – which "depend[s] upon the existence of prior suspicion of the targeted individual or organization" – and "mass surveillance", by which "states with high levels of Internet penetration can [] gain access to the telephone and e-mail content of an effectively unlimited number of users and maintain an overview of Internet activity associated with particular websites". Only targeted interception of traffic and location data in order to combat serious crime, including terrorism, is justified, according to a decision by the European Court of Justice. See also Article 10 ECHR Entick v Carrington Semayne's case Notes External links A guide to the implementation of Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights (PDF) Guide on Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights (PDF) 8 Privacy law