Tag: Business & Human Rights

In September 2014, Business for Social Responsibility (BSR) released a working paper on best practices for stakeholder engagement in human rights due diligence. This paper, focusing on challenges faced by ICT companies when trying to engage with rights holders, was jointly produced with the Center for Democracy and Technology and commissioned by Microsoft’s Technology and Human Rights Center.

Access Senior Policy Counsel Amie Stepanovich testifies on behalf of Access/EFF urging the rejection of a proposed rule which would substantively expand the instances in which a government could search or seize control of an individual’s computer in the search for Botnets.

International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Plenipotentiary conference is held once every four years, and we expected this year’s conference in Busan, Korea to be full of controversy. The Conference is now about halfway over and our expectations came true. Here’s a quick halftime report on the major happenings and topics of conversation.

The sweeping new powers contained in Australia’s terror laws have the potential to violate privacy and expression rights of Australians and non-Australians and to “strike at the heart of press freedom.” The terror laws create a mutually reinforcing surveillance scheme, greatly restricting the spaces in which people are free to think and to act on and offline.

Access has written up an overview of the top procedural and substantive concerns to look out for at ITU Plenipotentiary as well as recommendations for relevant and productive areas for the ITU to focus its work on in the coming four years.

U.S. intelligence community misses on questions of human rights

On October 22nd, twenty-seven new European Commissioners selected by President-Elect Jean-Claude Juncker are set to be confirmed by the European Parliament. In the 5 years ahead, a certain number of these incoming Commissioners will have a huge influence on digital rights and security issues that impact the lives of European citizens and, indirectly, the rest of the world.

With numerous internet governance discussions scheduled, the 51st International Meeting of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) has been going on this week in Los Angeles, USA. Access staff is there, participating in a variety of pre-events, workshops, and high-level meetings.

Access commends KakaoTalk for recognizing the need for extreme measures in the face of overbearing and arbitrary government surveillance.

Limited time remaining to submit applications for the RightsCon Southeast Asia Rumble in the Semi-Tropical Jungle. Don’t wait!