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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Governments undermining encryption will do more harm than good
Western governments, notably the UK and the US, are pushing the software industry to open “backdoors” into our encrypted communications. The argument touted by government agencies for nearly 20 years is that terrorists use strong encryption to hide their communications, therefore we should ban strong encryption. British Prime Minister David Cameron has been outspoken in his desire for a such a ban. And last week, US President Barak Obama’s Chief…
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EFA joins Global Call to World Leaders to Support Strong Encryption
Today Electronic Frontiers Australia joins experts and organisations in more than 35 countries in asking world leaders to support strong encryption and to reject any law, policy, or mandate that would undermine digital security. This open letter is now open to public support and is hosted at: SecureTheInternet.org. In countries including France, India, the UK, China and the US, governments are considering legislation and other proposals that would undermine strong…
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EFA’s 2016 Wish List
While this has been a difficult year for the digital rights agenda in Australia, 2016 looks much more promising. With an election looming in which innovation and ‘tech-savviness’ are likely to be regular talking points, it provides one of the best opportunities for digital rights issues to really break into the mainstream. As we did last year, we’ve put together a list of outcomes we’d like to see happen in 2016.…
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Proposed copyright amendments welcome but insufficient
EFA welcomes today’s release by the Department of Communications of an exposure draft of proposed amendments to the Copyright Act that seeks to address a number of important weaknesses in the current law relating particularly to the educational, library and archives sectors. In particular, EFA welcomes the proposed extension in the safe harbour provisions, as we called for earlier this month. EFA is however disappointed that the government continues to…
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How the TPP Will Affect You and Your Digital Rights
The Internet is a diverse ecosystem of private and public stakeholders. By excluding a large sector of communities—like security researchers, artists, libraries, and user rights groups—trade negotiators skewed the priorities of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) towards major tech companies and copyright industries that have a strong interest in maintaining and expanding their monopolies of digital services and content. Negotiated in secret for several years with overwhelming influence from powerful multinational…
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Digital innovation requires copyright reform
EFA welcomes the release of the government’s National Innovation and Science Agenda but is disappointed that the agenda is silent on copyright reform. As recommended by the Australian Law Reform Commission in their November 2013 report on Copyright and the Digital Economy, the introduction of a broad flexible fair use exception into Australian copyright law is a well-overdue reform that is critical to ensuring Australia is able to benefit fully…
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.