Promoting And Protecting Digital Rights Since 1994
EFA is an independent non-profit association that relies on membership subscriptions and donations. If you’re concerned about digital rights in Australia, please join or donate today.
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The Proposed Home Affairs Assistance and Access Bill Affects the Australian Economy
The Australian Government doesn’t own the Internet, but increasingly it seems to want to. Many of our members own and work in Internet businesses, and they’ve been telling us, loudly and clearly, that they follow the laws of Australia, they don’t place themselves above the law, and they are not a safe haven for bad actors. And they’re worried that the Assistance and Access Bill will damage their businesses. These…
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Home Affairs Wants to Know – What Do You Think of its ASS Access?
If you have one task you can prioritise over the weekend can EFA suggests this: submit any comments on the The Assistance and Access Bill 2018 to [email protected] Emails need to be in by Monday 10 September 2018. There is no format or minimum response, and the more direct submissions they receive the better the chances they will listen (you’d hope). We’ve been asking for two years to see the…
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September 12 – Pre-Crime film & digital rights night in Brisbane, Sydney & Melbourne
Tickets available now via links below! Book early to avoid disappointment or lack of pizza. 6:30 pm at ThoughtWorks. Join us for Pre-Crime, a film where science fiction turns into disturbing fact as forecasting software, algorithms and databases quickly become the new fortune-tellers for future crimes, driving us to ask: how much are we willing to abandon for the sake of security? Followed by a discussion about surveillance technology, predictive…
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EFA joins Access Now & 76 others in asking Ministers to stop anti-encryption legislation
Today Electronic Frontiers joins 76 organizations, companies, and individuals, in sending a letter to leaders in the Australian government asking them “not to pursue legislation that would undermine tools, policies, and technologies critical to protecting individual rights, safeguarding the economy, and providing security both in Australia and around the world.” The letter has been sent to Senator the Honorable Scott Ryan, President of the Senate, Christian Porter MP, Attorney-General for Australia, Angus Taylor…
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Media Release: Doctors, Lawyers, and Privacy Experts Denounce HealthEngine Sharing Patient Health Data With Non-GPs
Australia, Melbourne — Monday 25 June 2018 — EFA, Future Wise and APF today denounced the actions of HealthEngine and its doctor appointment booking system which has been sharing patient data with law firms, marketers, and other entities with the flimsiest pretense of patient consent. “If this ethically dubious behaviour is technically legal, then Australia’s privacy legislation must be changed,” said Justin Warren, Electronic Frontiers Australia board member. “People have…
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Centrelink duty of care has failed, regardless of Information Commissioner ruling
Privacy rights groups Digital Rights Watch, the Australian Privacy Foundation and Electronic Frontiers Australia have slammed a statement by the Office of the Information Commissioner and the Privacy Commissioner that their investigation found no wrongdoing in the release of personal information by a government department. In February 2017, writer Andie Fox wrote an article that was critical of Centrelink’s controversial debt recovery program. In response, the office of the former…
Help fight for our digital rights
What We Do
Policy
We actively monitor a number of policy areas and specific issues. The topics below provide a detailed view of EFA’s policy positions.
Copyright
Australia’s copyright laws are outdated, inflexible and not fit for the digital age. As such, EFA is a long-standing supporter of reform of Australia’s Copyright Act.
Privacy & Security
Privacy is fundamentally about consent and control over access to information, and goes hand-in-hand with security. Privacy is a human right.
Censorship
Adults should be able to make their own informed decisions about what content they create and consume.
Encryption
Access to encryption technologies is vital for individuals and groups to be able to safeguard the security and privacy of their information.
Internet Safety
Surveillance is not safety. Safety for whom, against what? This complex problem is more likely to be exacerbated, rather than solved, by measures that allow for unaccountable surveillance and the undermining of communications security.
Surveillance
EFA is committed to ensuring that Australian’s home life is not subject to arbitrary interference.