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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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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Big data: more isn’t always better
Big data is big news these days. But most organisations just end up hoarding vast reams of data, leaving them with a massive repository of unstructured – or “dark” – data that is of little use to anyone. Given the potential benefits of big data, it’s crucial that we find better ways to gather, store and analyse data in order to make the most of it. Stories of big data…
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Five New Year’s Resolutions to protect your Digital Rights
New Year’s resolutions are notoriously difficult to maintain. Whether you’re planning to eat better, quit smoking, exercise more or call your mother more frequently, it’s easy enough at the start, but very few people maintain their resolutions past the 1st of February. So we’ve put together this list of easy resolutions for you. Most require a little bit of work at the start but you’ll still have all your New…
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.