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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No justification for society-wide mandatory data retention scheme
EFA is alarmed that Cabinet’s National Security Committee has signed off on the fast-track implementation of a mandatory data retention scheme, apparently citing the ‘rising threat of home grown terrorism’. The Daily Telegraph reports [paywalled] that the government is believed to be seeking “an interim data retention measure…to be introduced as early as September to meet what spy agencies claim is an immediate need in the face of heightened fears…
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New intelligence powers: what’s included
By Thomas Karpiniec, Chair of EFA’s Policy & Research Standing Committee. Last week, Attorney-General George Brandis introduced an omnibus bill to the Senate that seeks to update the legislation governing the operations of Australia’s intelligence services. Three weeks ago, we reviewed the proposals that were expected to be included in this tranche of legislation. The more controversial of these include provisions for “disrupting” target computers in the course of executing…
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Diverse international coalition warns about copyright dangers in TPP
Social media companies, entrepreneurs, investors, and Internet user groups speak out about copyright dangers in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement With secretive TPP talks intensifying in Ottawa Canada, business leaders have sent a letter raising concerns about how the TPP could force online service providers to act as Internet cops, raising costs and potentially putting smaller providers out of business. A large international coalition representing over 100 web companies and…
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Police using mobile phone tower dumps for fishing expeditions
Fairfax Media is today reporting that Australian police are receiving metadata dumps from mobile phone towers. These data dumps provide information about “the identity, activity and location of any phone that connects to targeted cell towers over a set span of time, generally an hour or two. A typical dump covers multiple towers, and mobile providers, and can net information about thousands of mobile phones.” Access to this information is…
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What Does Copyright Have to Do With ‘Free Trade’?
This article, by Jeremy Malcolm, was originally published on EFF’s Deeplinks Blog. Jeremy is a former EFA Board Member and is currently Senior Global Policy Analyst at EFF. See the original article. What Does Copyright Have to Do With “Free Trade”? Unpicking the Undemocratic Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership Democracy makes the job of our trade negotiators much harder. The light of democratic oversight makes it difficult for them to…
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Next tranche of new surveillance powers [Updated]
[Update: in a doorstop interview on 2nd July, Attorney-General Brandis said the following: ATTORNEY-GENERAL: Legislation that I will be introducing into the Senate in the week after next will give effect to the recommendations, the 21 recommendations in Chapter-Four of the Joint Parliamentary Committee Report on Intelligence and Security. That was, as I say, a bipartisan report. That legislation will primarily be directed to agency powers and also aspects of…
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.