The Access team has reviewed Microsoft’s transparency report and analyzed what it does–and does not–tell us about law enforcement requests for Skype data, as well as how it measures up to the demands in the January open letter from civil society.…
3 April 2013
Access has joined nearly forty other privacy advocates, civil society organizations, and companies like Reddit and Mozilla in signing a letter urging the Obama administration to renew its veto threat against the resurrected cybersecurity bill CISPA.…
20 March 2013
On the heels of the announcement of the newly kicked off EU-US Free Trade Agreement (TAFTA), also known as the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), Access joined a group of roughly 35 internet freedom organizations, public health groups, activists, and other public interest leaders to urge both the US and the EU to keep copyright, patents, trademarks and geographical indications — so-called “intellectual property” — out of the negotiations.…
18 March 2013
Access welcomes the announcement of a new collaboration between the Telecommunications Industry Dialogue on Freedom of Expression and Privacy, and the Global Network Initiative. Beginning with a two-year trial, this collaboration holds the potential for meaningful engagement that yields more rights-respecting policies and actions in the telecoms sector.…
12 March 2013
The recent introduction of Do-Not-Track legislation is again bringing the issue of online privacy back to the forefront in the United States. Given its mixed history, lack of widespread agreement on how to treat Do-Not-Track requests, and what sort of behavior constitutes tracking, the effectiveness of existing Do-Not-Track systems are far from adequate.…
11 March 2013
Joining a growing number of governments proposing regulations that mandate pervasive surveillance, Peru recently introduced a draconian bill that accelerates the review of evidence related to criminal investigations in a way that contravenes the due process rights of Peruvians.…
7 March 2013
As a member of the Informal Experts Group (IEG) of the World Telecommunication Policy Forum (WTPF), Access joined other civil society representatives in sending a joint submission to the Group emphasizing the need to recognize calls for openness and inclusivity in the upcoming May WTPF.…
6 March 2013
Last week, a review marking ten years since the UN World Summit on Information Society (WSIS) kicked off in Paris at UNESCO. WSIS was a pair of UN-sponsored conferences held in 2003 in Geneva and 2005 in Tunis, aimed at bridging the digital divide and generally advancing the global discussion about the internet and ICTs. …
4 March 2013