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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Despite Wikileaks, Clinton still preaching on an open internet
In January last year, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton gave a landmark speech entitled “Remarks on Internet Freedom“. The speech was noteworthy for its clear and unambiguous rejection of all forms of censorship and network control. Coming on the heels of Iran’s presidential elections and Chinese cyber-attacks, it seemed the U.S. was drawing a principled line in the sand. They put their money where there mouths were, allocating millions…
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Conroy not fooling anyone on an open internet
The internet freedom business is doing a roaring trade these days. Things started picking up early last year with Hillary Clinton’s landmark speech, “Remarks on internet Freedom,” which equated an open internet with human rights and condemned state-sponsored censorship of the net. Then came the revelations by Wikileaks, starting with the “Collateral Murder” video and escalating to the current batch of diplomatic cables. These leaks severely tested the commitment of…
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Google getting on board, but can we stop behavioural tracking?
In the last year, the idea of a “do not track” mechanism for web surfers has gained currency. The name invokes the idea of the do-not-call list for telemarketers, which those of us who prefer eating dinner undisturbed will be well familiar. With Google this week endorsing the concept via its Chrome web browser, will the idea catch on – and how can it protect your privacy? Despite similar names,…
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Time to retire classification
(From an opinion piece published on ABC Online). Before it came along, we were served by a revolving series of moral panics, changing censorship ministers and a patchwork of different state systems. Many books and films were banned that today would hardly warrant a mention – I wonder how many high schools would not allow “The Trial of Lady Chatterley” a place in their libraries? In the sordid history of…
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Facebook address move raises new privacy worries
Update 19/1/11 10am: Looks like Facebook have suspended this scary new feature for now. Facebook, by now almost synonymous with online privacy woes, has made another change to its platform that has privacy experts worried. The latest move, reported in several outlets, expands the information available to Facebook application developers. Now, users can grant applications permission to read their mobile phone number and current address. While it doesn’t appear to…
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Europe gets it: Filters don't protect children
The European Internet Services Providers Association (EuroISPA) has spoken out against ISP internet filtering, saying that it is an ineffective band-aid that leaves illegal material online and in the wild. EuroISPA has called on the European Parliament to focus instead on permanently removing the material at its source. Forcing ISPs to block access to sites, they point out, leaves the material available to abusers – as it is they, who…
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.