Today, the USA FREEDOM Act of 2015 was approved by the House of Representatives by a vote of 338-88. Access welcomes the House’s passage of the bill as a step forward on the path toward meaningful surveillance reform. …
13 May 2015
Today, Access joined a coalition of dozens of civil society organizations, trade associations, and companies demanding an end to bulk surveillance activities conducted by the government under provisions in the USA PATRIOT Act. If sufficient reform cannot be passed, then we must call on Congress to allow these provisions to sunset without any reauthorization.…
25 March 2015
After a lot anticipation and hand wringing, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission finally released its rules about how it will implement its landmark Open Internet Order. The rules — which run some 300 pages — block the creation of fast and slow lanes and appropriately classify broadband internet as a “telecommunications service” under Title II of the Communications Act.…
12 March 2015
Tomorrow, the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee will secretly consider the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act (CISA), a bill that would enable companies to sign, seal, and deliver your personal information to the NSA. …
11 March 2015
Today the U.S. Federal Communications Commission listened to the more than 4 million voices who asked for the agency to protect the open net. Voting 3-2 in favor of Net Neutrality, the agency re-classified broadband internet under Title II of the Communications Act—the strongest protections currently available. The move caps off almost a decade of activism by civil society groups in the U.S., but also pressure from groups outside the country including members of the Global Net Neutrality coalition.…
26 February 2015
As of this past Saturday, there are less than 100 days remaining until certain provisions of the USA PATRIOT Act will expire unless Congress takes action. Now is the time for Congress to pass surveillance reform, and if they cannot, to allow the USA PATRIOT Act articles to sunset.…
25 February 2015
Next week, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission will vote on rules that, it says, would finally put in place Net Neutrality protections for U.S. internet users. While we are optimistic about the strength of these rules, we’re also worried they will fail to adequately protect against so-called “zero rating” services — schemes devised by internet providers and services like Facebook, Wikimedia, and Spotify in which app usage doesn’t count against data caps —and other forms of price discrimination. A failure to include such language in the FCC’s new rules would not only render them weaker than what came before, but would also create a giant opening for Verizon and other carriers to perpetrate rampant online discrimination.…
20 February 2015
This week the U.S. government issued a General License to provide users with easier access to the internet and a wide range of software, hardware, and services “incident to personal communications” in Sudan. Access applauds the move, which follows years of advocacy by our organization alongside civil society partners in the U.S. and Sudan. …
19 February 2015
Today, Access delivered a petition signed by 3,000 users to the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to investigate the use of so-called “zombie cookies” by mobile carriers to track their customers’ web traffic. Access also delivered a similar petition to the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) because both agencies arguably have the authority to investigate these harmful practices.…
18 February 2015
Today, President Barack Obama issued a presidential memorandum addressing the increased development and use of drones within the United States. Among other things, the memorandum, which has the force of law, requires the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) to develop a multistakeholder process for the creation of non-binding rules governing commercial drone use. The NTIA will collaborate with businesses and civil society organizations to develop the guidelines, which must be drafted to adequately address threats to privacy and free expression posed by the public use of the technology, particularly the unique challenges of drones as mobile internet service platforms. …
15 February 2015
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
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
Today U.S. Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler confirmed that the agency will move to pass strong Net Neutrality protections later this month. Any action by Congress to roll back FCC authority or threaten common carrier status for broadband providers will meet thunderous opposition, by U.S. users as well as international communities.…
4 February 2015
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
Access has been fighting the use of supercookies since last fall, when we learned that the mobile carrier Verizon Wireless had been secretly injecting Unique Identifier Headers, or UIDH, into every single http request made by its mobile users. Recently, we learned even more disturbing news about mobile tracking on Verizon and other cell phone carriers over the past few weeks. Even without this type of third-party abuse, though, the very existence of these cookies violates our privacy rights if we can’t truly opt out. …
27 January 2015
This week the White House announced plans to release a new legislative proposal aimed at providing notice to victims of corporate data breaches. While these proposals show the White House’s prioritizing data security, it is not yet clear that Personal Data Notification and Protection Act will actually lead to improved security or provide adequate protection for users’ privacy. …
13 January 2015
Today, Dutch Ruppersberger (D-MD) re-introduced the Cyber Information Sharing and Protection Act (“CISPA”), a bill that has passed the House of Representatives twice previously, both in 2011 and 2013, and subsequently also twice faced a veto threat from the Administration. We once again urge Congress to reject CISPA. Instead, Congress should pass the Secure Data Act. Unlike CIPSA, it would actually protect user privacy and increase data security.…
9 January 2015
Sony Pictures Entertainment was recently pwned by a group calling themselves the Guardians of Peace, ostensibly acting under the guidance of the North Korean government (though this is subject to debate). It was bad that the hackers took advantage of a culture of bad cybersecurity practice at Sony. Thanks to a bevy of embarrassing cybersecurity practices, worse cybersecurity discourse, and a growing culture of fear in Washington (and around the world), there is little doubt that this incident will be spun to support poorly-drafted laws that infringe upon user rights and do nothing to increase security. We shouldn’t, and we don’t, have to sacrifice privacy to achieve better network security. The U.S. Congress needs to reject any legislation that would attack our privacy, such as an invasive information sharing regime.…
23 December 2014
In spite of a feeble legislative term, including the particularly devastating failure of surveillance reform, the 113th U.S. Congress pushed through four positive last-minute cybersecurity bills over the past two days. President Obama is soon expected to sign these bills into law. The new cyber measures increase government transparency and Congressional oversight of federal cybersecurity efforts, while expanding coordination between civilian agencies. Access supports the efforts of Congress to pass cybersecurity legislation and hopes the momentum will lead to more significant legislation for the 114th Congress.…
12 December 2014
Today, U.S. Senator Ron Wyden introduced a bill to prohibit the government from mandating backdoors in hardware and software technologies. The legislation prohibits any federal agency from intentionally weakening consumer encryption standards. As we’ve previously said, strong encryption standards and device security are critical to the privacy of individual users. Access commends Senator Wyden and urges the Senate to quickly pass the Secure Data Act.…
4 December 2014
Yesterday, the European Parliament voted by a large majority to refer the EU-Canada passenger name record agreement (PNR) to the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) to assess its compliance with the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights. Ever since CJEU’s landmark ruling invalidating the Data Retention Directive last April, a number of ongoing and proposed agreements that include data retention schemes have been put under the microscope. Yesterday’s vote is the first of many steps to ending indiscriminate and unlawful surveillance programmes in the EU. …
26 November 2014