Tag: Encryption

Earlier this week, two foreign journalists for Vice working in southeastern Turkey were arrested, raising concerns about the journalists’ safety and security. In a dark reminder of the “Crypto Wars” of the 1990s, a Turkish official stated yesterday that the main reason that these journalists were detained is that they use encryption. This morning, the news surfaced that the journalists have been released and are free to leave the country, although the charges against them have not been dropped. A local translator who had been working with them remains in custody.

This incident raises serious issues for digital rights and digital security, and could cause a powerful chilling effect for freedom of expression — not just in Turkey, but in other conflict-prone regions around the world.

Access’ Crypto Summit finished after a long day of spirited debate about one of the most pressing concerns confronting technology today — encryption and the future of the internet. Here are a few closing highlights.

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.

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.

Access hails the new report by UN human rights expert David Kaye that defends the use of encryption as necessary for free expression, and that affirms digital security as essential for the broader advancement of 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.”

Access joins coalition opposing crypto backdoors, but that’s just the beginning.

Senators show support for information sharing proposals that risk user privacy

The UN Human Rights Council will review the human rights record of the government of Spain on Wednesday as part of its Universal Periodic Review. Access calls on UN member states to recommend that Spain halt the criminalization of encryption, and to protect the rights of all users in the country.

Spanish law enforcement is claiming that the use RiseUp.net’s secure communication technologies justifies arrests and detainments. Access vehemently disagrees.