Tag: Regulation

From 2004, the United States has signed onto free trade agreements with nearly half of the countries in Latin America. As a product of these agreements, Peru, Colombia, Chile, Panama and other Central American countries agreed to enact new and more restrictive copyright laws, which can place important threats on the fundamental rights of internet users across the region.

Today is Data Privacy Day, an international holiday that marks the 32nd anniversary of the signing of the Council of Europe’s Data Protection Convention 108. Data Privacy Day, which is celebrated all over Europe, Canada, and the US, recognises our fundamental right under human rights law and the importance of privacy to the maintenance of democratic societies, the advancement of human dignity, and the flourishing of other rights such as freedom of expression and association.

Yesterday marked the two-year anniversary of the internet and mobile network blackout designed to undermine the anti-government protests in Egypt. This event catapulted the issue of telecoms and human rights onto the international stage. To mark this anniversary, Access has sent a letter to the telecommunication sector’s Industry Dialogue on Freedom of Expression and Privacy, an industry working group that arose in the aftermath of the incident. The letter addresses the failure of the major telecoms involved to provide principled guidance to the industry and issues a statement of expectations to governments that would request restrictions on user rights.

Access has joined more than forty organizations and 61 individuals in sending an open letter to Skype, asking the company to clarify its policies for protecting users’ security and to release a comprehensive transparency report detailing government requests for user data.

We were deeply saddened to learn this weekend of the passing of Aaron Swartz: a friend, fighter, and spark of brilliance. Many of us at Access knew Aaron well–we were lucky enough to share an office with him for a chunk of time between 2011 and 2012. We’d find him there, in front of a spread of screens–in late, in early, and sometimes not at all. His unpredictable and irrepressible approach to life–and his life’s work–was one of his most defining characteristics.