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.

  • Bytes & Rights 2017 – Perth

    The Bytes and Rights 2017 conference is being held as part of the Festival of the Web, an 8-day series of international conferences in early April in Perth. See the full program of Festival of the Web events. Bytes and Rights is a conference focused on the many issues around how society responds to changing technology, especially technology related to the Internet. We will discuss legal, policy, regulatory and social…

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  • What is Fair? Karen Chester from the Productivity Commission

    Good morning. Thank you Professor Giblin and congratulations on the launch of yours and Professor Weatherall’s book – What If We Could Reimagine Copyright? An anthology of ten thoughtful essays that collectively make for a forward‑looking treatise on copyright. And my thanks to the Australian Digital Alliance for inviting me to speak today, and to the broader church of the Australian Digital Alliance membership. Many of whom contributed time and…

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  • Bots without borders: how anonymous accounts hijack political debate

    A bot (short for robot) performs highly repetitive tasks by automatically gathering or posting information based on a set of algorithms. They can create new content and interact with other users like any human would. But the power is always with the individuals or organisations unleashing the bot. Politicalbots.org reported that approximately 19 million bot accounts were tweeting in support of either Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton in the week…

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  • Help oppose the expansion of data retention to civil cases

    The Attorney-General’s Department is considering expanding access to the mandatory data retention scheme to include civil cases. This could mean that retained data is made available for a range of civil matters including: copyright infringement family law cases employment-related cases We’ll be vigorously resisting any such expansion in this scheme and instead will be pushing for a comprehensive review of this deeply-flawed scheme in 2017. We encourage you to add…

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  • “Everyone Made Themselves the Hero.” Remembering Aaron Swartz

    On January 18, 2012, the Internet went dark. Hundreds of websites went black in protest of the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the PROTECT IP Act (PIPA). The bills would have created a “blacklist” of censored websites based on accusations of copyright infringement. SOPA was en route to quietly passing. But when millions of Americans complained to their members of Congress, support for the bill quickly vanished. We called…

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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.