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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    After the ‘Facebook Files’, the social media giant must be more transparent

    Most people on Facebook have probably seen something they wish they hadn’t, whether it be violent pictures or racist comments. How the social media giant decides what is and isn’t acceptable is often a mystery. Internal content guidelines, recently published in The Guardian, offer new insight into the mechanics of Facebook content moderation. The slides show the rules can be arbitrary, but that shouldn’t be surprising. Social media platforms like…

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    Copyright for Australia that makes sense. That’s fair.

    Volunteer Wikipedians in Australia are highlighting the need for the introduction of fair use in Australia. You can visit FairCopyrightOz to learn about how Wikipedia does, and Australia could, benefit from it. Imagine a land in which everything was outlawed, except for the things that were specifically allowed. Our laws are based on principles rather than prescriptions. Except for copyright. – Peter Martin Have you ever done one or more…

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  • Data retention has always been about a lot more than ‘national security’

    Attorney-General George Brandis told us in ­November 2014 the data retention regime ­“applies only to the most ­serious crime, to terrorism, to international and transnational organised crime, to paedophilia, where the use of metadata has been particularly useful as an investigative tool, … only to crime and only to the highest levels of crime”. The mandatory data retention legislation was duly rushed through the parliament in March 2015 at a…

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    Data retention: universal warrant requirement is only effective protection

    Last week’s revelation by the Australian Federal Police that they illegally accessed the retained telecommunications data (‘metadata’) of a journalist without first obtaining a warrant demonstrates the complete lack of effective protection provided by the current legislation. AFP Commissioner Andrew Colvin asserted that ‘the police officers investigating the leak did not realise they were required to obtain a warrant to access the journalist’s metadata.’ The requirement to obtain a warrant…

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    Government says NO to expanding data retention to civil cases

    Just before Easter, the government announced that it will not be expanding access to telecommunications data (‘metadata’) to civil litigants. This is an important victory. Had the government allowed even a limited expansion of access, it would almost certainly have been just the first of a number of such expansions. It’s also heartening to see that, despite running over the Christmas-New Year period, the government’s consultation received 262 submissions, including 217…

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    Get a VPN today!

    From today, 13th April 2017, all Australian telecommunication providers are now required to collect a whole range of your telecommunications data (‘metadata’) and retain it for two full years, so that it can be requested by government agencies. This data includes information about your phone usage (including texts and your location) and about your Internet connection. This information allows very detailed conclusions to be made about many aspects of your…

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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.