Category: Digital Security
Blog
Crypto Summit kicks off with spotlight on encryption and the future of the net
Today, Access kicked off our inaugural Crypto Summit, a multistakeholder conference devoted to emerging questions about cryptography and the future of the internet. These are edited remarks from Access’ Technology Director Jamie Tomasello and U.S. Policy Manager Amie Stepanovich from the event in Washington, DC.…
15 July 2015
Blog
Encryption debate heats up on the Hill in advance of Crypto Summit
Today, senior members of the Obama Administration, including the director of the FBI, visited the U.S. Senate Judiciary and Intelligence committees to discuss encryption policy. FBI Director James Comey, along with officials from the Department of Justice and state law enforcement, requested a “dialogue” with the private sector to enable the government to obtain exceptional access to encrypted data. Yet leading security experts have made clear that such access would undermine the security of technology and the privacy of internet users around the world. …
8 July 2015
Blog
Hacking Team hacked: How to protect yourself
There is now clear evidence that Hacking Team company sells surveillance software to countries including Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Russia, Ecuador, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, the Sudan, and the United Arab Emirates. The sale of surveillance tools to rights-abusing regimes directly impacts users at risk, including journalists, bloggers, sexual rights activists, members of the LGBTIQ community, and human rights defenders. We take a look at how people in these countries can protect themselves, and explore how companies and governments should respond.…
7 July 2015
Blog
Civil society groups urge governments to promote and protect encryption and anonymity
Today at the 29th session of the UN’s Human Rights Council (HRC) in Geneva, Access joined a group of more than 25 civil society organizations in a joint statement that calls on all governments to promote the use of strong encryption technologies, and to protect the right to seek, receive, and impart information anonymously online.
…17 June 2015
Blog
The Crypto Summit
Top government officials have called on policy and technology experts to “start a conversation” about cryptography. These calls ignore more than two decades of discussions about encryption standards and what must be done to keep our communications systems secure.…
10 June 2015
Blog
On eve of Women’s World Cup, Canada poised to undermine encryption
This month, 24 women’s national teams will travel to Canada to compete for the ultimate prize in soccer: the FIFA Women’s World Cup. Yet as the world celebrates, the government of Canada is poised to pass dangerous new surveillance legislation. …
5 June 2015
Blog
Congress on verge of major cuts to key cryptography agency
The U.S. House of Representatives passed a new funding bill yesterday that could undermine the development of internet security and privacy standards while increasing funding for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), which has advocated for weakening encryption. It next goes to the Senate.
…5 June 2015
Blog
Access asks Obama Administration to protect user rights in cybersecurity policy
Today, Access called on the Obama Administration to craft cybersecurity policies that better protect users’ security and privacy. We call for a “user-up” approach to cybersecurity that recognizes that security and privacy are intertwined. The entire security ecosystem benefits from policies that protect people as well as hardware and software.
…1 June 2015
Blog
UN report: encryption and anonymity online are necessary to advance human rights
Encryption and anonymity on the internet are necessary for the advancement of human rights, according to a new report from the United Nations. The report from David Kaye, a UN special rapporteur on freedom of expression, asserts that privacy is a “gateway for freedom of opinion and expression.” …
28 May 2015
Blog
New report: RightsCon 2015 Outcomes
This year’s RightsCon, held in Manila, was a sold-out event bringing together 660 attendees from 56 different countries to explore real-world strategies for keeping the internet open and free. It was an extraordinarily productive conference. To participate, the leader of each session was asked a simple question: How would your engagement create real-world change? The newly released RightsCon Southeast Asia Outcomes Report shows how the participants — representing civil society, the private sector, government, tech, and academia — answered that question. …
27 May 2015
Blog
Global Conference on Cyber Space heavy on “cyber,” light on solutions
Last week representatives from government, the corporate sector, civil society, and academia flocked to the Hague in the Netherlands for the Global Conference on Cyberspace (GCCS) to talk about freedom, growth, and security online. Despite two day’s worth of sessions and side events, little of substance was accomplished when it comes to protecting internet users’ freedom or bulwarking the security of the internet.…
23 April 2015
Blog
Promoting Digital Security in Tunisia at the World Social Forum
Fifty thousand activists from 5,000 NGOs around the world attended the World Social Forum in Tunis last week to press for change on a wide variety of issues. Access joined our partners Reporters Sans Frontieres, DSS 216, and C Libre to host a tent and support digital rights. …
30 March 2015
Blog
Best Practices for Digital Security while Traveling to RightsCon
Whether you’re a human rights activist, a businessperson, a government official, a technologist, or an academic — digital security matters. So as you make your way to RightsCon Southeast Asia in Manila, here are seven simple tips to help you travel more securely.…
17 March 2015
Blog
Emerging threats in cybersecurity and data protection legislation in African Union countries
In January 2015, heads of state met at the 24th African Union Summit to discuss the “African Union Agenda 2063” with the goal of enabling “a continent on equal footing with the rest of the world as an information society.” While Access applauds the human rights protections enshrined in the convention, we are deeply troubled by draft legislation that has emerged across the continent that tramples rights in the name of implementing the convention. …
13 February 2015
Blog
President Obama’s cyber summit must not dwell on solutions that violate privacy
Today, the White House will hold its Summit on Cybersecurity and Consumer Protection. While improved digital hygiene is critically important, the information-sharing proposals offered by Congress and President Obama so far place user privacy at risk while being of questionable utility for improving digital security.…
13 February 2015
Blog
New cybersecurity legislation introduced in U.S., but still doesn’t protect users
Today, U.S. Senator Tom Carper introduced the Cyber Threat Sharing Act of 2015, a new bill to authorize the public/private dissemination of cybersecurity-related information. The legislation’s limitations on the type of information that can be shared are not enough to protect user privacy. Access is calling on the U.S. Congress not to consider information-sharing legislation–which could ostensibly create new surveillance authorities under the guise of cybersecurity–until existing surveillance authorities are adequately reformed. …
11 February 2015
Blog
New Crypto Guidance Draft Offers Brighter Path Forward
The U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has released the second draft of its “Cryptographic Standards and Development Process,” a document intended to provide principles and guidance on the creation of cryptographic standards. Crypto standards developed by NIST serve as the basis for secure communications and interactions across the internet.
Access applauds NIST for the new draft — which expands upon and strengthens the language behind important principles first set out in the previous draft — and for actively and transparently engaging with the public on these important issues. We also encourage NIST to include specific language directed at the National Security Agency (NSA) before the text is finalized.…
29 January 2015