This week, Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott used recent terrorist threats as the backdrop of a dire warning to Australians that “for some time to come, the delicate balance between freedom and security may have to shift. There may be more restrictions on some, so that there can be more protection for others.” This pronouncement came as two of a series of three bills effecting that erosion of freedoms made their way through Australia’s Federal Parliament. These were the second reading of a National Security Amendment Bill which grants new surveillance powers to Australia’s spy agency, ASIO, and the first…
Author: EFFSource
Every few years, the White House updates its Strategy for American Innovation and asks for comments from the public. EFF’s submission explains that overly restrictive intellectual property regimes can stifle innovation by limiting the ability of researchers to build upon existing knowledge. Our comments address three topics on that theme. Patents: A flood of low-quality software patents has fueled the growth of patent trolling. These lawsuits are especially harmful to innovative small businesses and startups. EFF urges the Administration do more to improve patent quality and to support legislative reform (such as the Innovation Act which passed the House last…
The Canadian government’s surveillance of innocent Canadians is secretive, expensive, and out-of-control—that’s the message of a new video launched this morning by Canadian digital rights organization, OpenMedia.ca. The group is leading a large, non-partisan, Canadian coalition of organizations calling for effective legal measures to safeguard Canadians from government spying. The video reveals how information collected by government spy agency, CSEC (Communications Security Establishment Canada), can expose intimate details about Canadians’ private lives, including their financial status, medical conditions, political and religious beliefs, and even sexual orientation. CSEC was caught as they spied on thousands of innocent Canadian air travelers earlier…
Documents recently released by WikiLeaks have brought new evidence to the public eye that the intrusive surveillance spyware FinFisher may be in use by several members of the Freedom Online Coalition, including Mongolia, Netherlands, and Estonia.1 If this evidence is correct, it should rightly raise serious concerns around the world. FinFisher is notorious malware—software that allows those who use it to place programs, often called Trojans, remotely onto computers and devices operated by others, usually without the target’s knowledge much less consent. Once downloaded onto a target’s computer, FinSpy allows the operator of the Trojan to spy on the target’s…
Good news for whistleblowers, journalists, and everyone who likes to browse the Internet with an added cloak of privacy: the Tor network got a little stronger. Tor—software that lets you mask your IP address—relies on an international network of committed volunteers to run relays to help mask traffic. And that network is stronger now, thanks to the 1,000+ volunteers who participated in our second-ever Tor Challenge. The goal of the Tor Challenge is simple: to improve the Tor network by inspiring people to run relays. These relays are the backbone of the Tor network; they’re the machines that actually forward…
This is a guest post from Sana Saleem, Advisory Board Member, Courage Foundation. If you have comments on this post, you can contact Sana on Twitter. In the week leading up the first year aniversary of the 13 Necessary and Proportionate Principles, EFF and the coalition behind the 13 Principles will be conducting a Week of Action explaining some of the key guiding principles for surveillance law reform. Every day, we’ll take on a different part of the principles, exploring what’s at stake and what we need to do to bring intelligence agencies and the police back under the rule…
Between 15th-19th of September, in the week leading up the first year anniversary of the 13 Necessary and Proportionate Principles, EFF and the coalition behind the Principles will be conducting a Week of Action explaining some of the key guiding principles for surveillance law reform. Every day, we’ll take on a different part of the principles, exploring what’s at stake and what we need to do to bring intelligence agencies and the police back under the rule of law. You can read the complete set of posts at: https://necessaryandproportionate.org/anniversary. The Principles were first launched at the 24th Session of the…
This is a guest post from Yana Welinder and Stephen LaPorte, Legal Counsel at the Wikimedia Foundation.* If you have comments on this post, you can contact Yana and Stephen on Twitter. Between 15th-19th of September, in the week leading up the first year anniversary of the 13 Necessary and Proportionate Principles, EFF and the coalition behind the Principles will be conducting a Week of Action explaining some of the key guiding principles for surveillance law reform. Every day, we’ll take on a different part of the principles, exploring what’s at stake and what we need to do to bring…
Between 15th-19th of September, in the week leading up the first year anniversary of the 13 Necessary and Proportionate Principles, EFF and the coalition behind the Principles will be conducting a Week of Action explaining some of the key guiding principles for surveillance law reform. Every day, we’ll take on a different part of the principles, exploring what’s at stake and what we need to do to bring intelligence agencies and the police back under the rule of law. You can read the complete set of posts at: https://necessaryandproportionate.org/anniversary. The Principles were first launched at the 24th Session of the…
EFF Takes on Net Neutrality’s Critics in New Comments to FCCSan Francisco – The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) urged the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) today to see through misinformation from Internet service providers (ISPs) and protect the open Internet. EFF’s formal response to the ISPs’ claims are part of the FCC’s public comment period for its proposed new rules that would allow for so-called “Internet fast lanes” – a dangerous plan that would allow unfair Internet traffic discrimination and undermine net neutrality. The FCC has received over 1.7 million comments on the issue, with over 127,000 delivered through EFF’s DearFCC.org…