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 […]
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, […]
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 […]
EFA calls for universal warrant requirement for data retention
EFA welcomes the report of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights [PDF] which confirms that the protections for journalists included in this year’s mandatory data retention legislation are inadequate and may ‘limit the right to an effective remedy, fair hearing, privacy and freedom of expression.’ While the Committee’s report primarily addresses the procedural shortcomings […]
The internet hasn’t killed privacy – but it has changed it forever
When people say “privacy is dead”, it’s usually for one of two reasons. Either they truly believe that privacy is irrelevant or unachievable in today’s hyper-connected world or, more often, that not enough is being done to protect privacy when huge amounts of personal information are being posted online. Although I agree more could be […]