[Okfn-ca] Fwd: Canadians join nearly 300 organizations and thousands of citizens around the world to call for United Nations and world governments to respect our right to privacy

Diane Mercier diane.mercier at gmail.com
Sat Nov 30 01:08:49 UTC 2013




-------- Message original --------
Sujet: 	Canadians join nearly 300 organizations and thousands of 
citizens around the world to call for United Nations and world 
governments to respect our right to privacy
Date : 	Tue, 26 Nov 2013 09:21:04 -0800
De : 	David Christopher <david at openmedia.ca>
Pour : 	protect-our-privacy-outreach at googlegroups.com



Morning everyone,

Just a quick note to share a release OpenMedia is issuing this morning, 
about how Canadians are joining with nearly 300 organizations from 
around the world to call on the UN and world leaders to respect human 
rights when it comes to privacy.

Lots of people across the globe have put a lot of work into this - I'd 
like to give a special mention to EFF (one of our Privacy Coalition 
partners here in Canada) and to Tamir from CIPPIC for their trojan work 
on this project.

All the best

David



For Immediate Release


Canadians join nearly 300 organizations and thousands of citizens around 
the world to call for United Nations and world governments to respect 
our right to privacy

Move comes following confirmation that U.S. spy agencies have been 
spying on citizens of allied nations.


November 26, 2013 – Global citizens and hundreds of organizations have 
launched an international campaign to rein in government surveillance 
and to protect the right to privacy. Today, OpenMedia.ca is joining with 
civil society organizations from around the world to launch an 
international petition to support the growing global call for 
governments to respect human rights 
<https://en.necessaryandproportionate.org/take-action/openmedia>when it 
comes to surveillance activities.


The campaign will rally citizens around the world to endorse the 
Necessary and Proportionate: 13 International Principles on the 
Application of Human Rights to Communications Surveillance 
<http://necessaryandproportionate.org/>. These principles were developed 
through months of consultation with technology, privacy, and human 
rights experts from around the world. The principles emphasize the human 
rights obligations of governments engaged in communications surveillance.


Today’s move comes in the context of shocking revelations about how 
government surveillance activities have undermined citizens’ privacy 
rights. In recent months we’ve learned how government surveillance 
agencies capture our phone calls 
<http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jun/06/nsa-phone-records-verizon-court-order>, 
track our location 
<http://www.zeit.de/datenschutz/malte-spitz-data-retention>, peer into 
our address books <http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-25028495>, and analyze 
our emails 
<http://www.theverge.com/2013/11/19/5121624/intelligence-head-releases-nsa-email-metadata-authorization-order>. 
They do this often in secret, without adequate public oversight, and in 
violation of our human rights. Most recently it was revealed that the 
NSA deliberately infected 50,000 networks 
<http://www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2013/11/23/nsa-infected-50000-computer-networks-with-malicious-software/>around 
the world with malicious software designed to steal private information.


“Government surveillance of law-abiding citizens is clearly invasive, 
expensive, and out of control,” says OpenMedia.ca Executive Director 
Steve Anderson. “That’s why we’re working with partners here in Canada 
and across the globe to put a stop to illegal spying 
<https://openmedia.ca/csec>and to protect our fundamental human right to 
privacy <http://ourprivacy.ca/>.”


Mr Anderson continued: “We’re calling on people around the world to 
speak up now to protect our privacy rights. We’ll be presenting this 
petition to the United Nations and to world governments - so it’s 
important that we each take time to show our support 
<https://en.necessaryandproportionate.org/take-action/openmedia>, and to 
spread the word to our friends and family. Here at OpenMedia we know 
from experience 
<https://openmedia.ca/sites/openmedia.ca/files/infographic_stopspying.jpg>that 
when citizens speak up to demand change, it really does make a 
difference - we’ll build a pro-privacy momentum decision-makers can’t 
ignore.”


The 13 International Principles on the Application of Human Rights to 
Communications Surveillance <http://necessaryandproportionate.org/>make 
clear that:


 1.

    States must recognize that mass surveillance threatens the human
    right to privacy, freedom of expression, and association, and they
    must place these Principles at the heart of their communications
    surveillance legal frameworks.


 2.

    States must commit to ensuring that advances in technology do not
    lead to disproportionate increases in the State’s capacity to
    interfere with the private lives of individuals.


 3.

    Transparency and rigorous adversarial oversight is needed to ensure
    changes in surveillance activities benefit from public debate and
    judicial scrutiny, this includes effective protections for
    whistleblowers.


 4.

    Just as modern surveillance transcends borders, so must privacy
    protections.


Organizations partnering with OpenMedia on this initiative include: 
Access, Chaos Computer Club, Center for Internet & Society-India, Center 
for Technology and Society at Fundação Getulio Vargas, Digitale 
Gesellschaft, Digital Courage, Electronic Frontier Foundation, Open 
Rights Group, Fundacion Karisma, Samuelson-Glushko Canadian Internet 
Policy & Public Interest Clinic, SHARE Foundation and Privacy 
International.


Citizens can show their support for these principles by adding their 
name at: https://en.necessaryandproportionate.org/take-action/openmedia


Canada’s OurPrivacy.ca coalition can be found at: http://ourprivacy.ca 
<http://ourprivacy.ca/>



About OpenMedia.ca


OpenMedia.ca is a network of people and organizations working to 
safeguard the possibilities of the open Internet. We work toward 
informed and participatory digital policy.


Through campaigns such as StopTheMeter.ca <http://stopthemeter.ca/>and 
StopSpying.ca <http://stopspying.ca/>, OpenMedia.ca has engaged over 
half-a-million Canadians, and has influenced public policy and federal law.


About OpenMedia.ca’s privacy campaign


OpenMedia.ca led the successful StopSpying.ca 
<http://stopspying.ca/>campaign that forced the government to back down 
on its plans to introduce a costly, invasive, and warrantless online 
spying law (Bill C-30). Nearly 150,000 Canadians took part in the 
campaign. To learn more, see this infographic 
<https://openmedia.ca/sites/openmedia.ca/files/infographic_stopspying.jpg>.


Earlier this year, OpenMedia.ca launched its Secret Spying 
<http://secretspying.ca/>campaign, to demandanswers and immediate action 
from the government after it was revealed 
<http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/data-collection-program-got-green-light-from-mackay-in-2011/article12444909/?utm_source=Shared+Article+Sent+to+User&utm_medium=E-mail:+Newsletters+/+E-Blasts+/+etc.&utm_campaign=Shared+Web+Article+Links>that 
a secretive government agency has been spying on the telephone and 
Internet activities of individuals, including law-abiding Canadians.


On October 10, 2013 OpenMedia.ca collaborated with over 35 major 
organizations and over a dozen academic experts to form the Protect Our 
Privacy Coalition <http://ourprivacy.ca/>, which is the largest 
pro-privacy coalition in Canadian history. The Coalition is calling for 
effective legal measures to protect the privacy of every resident of 
Canada against intrusion by government entities.


OpenMedia.ca and the BC Civil Liberties Association (BCCLA) recently 
announced 
<https://openmedia.ca/news/national-campaign-launched-civil-libertarians-announce-court-challenge-stop-government-spying-canadi>they 
will work together to put a stop to illegal government surveillance 
against law-abiding Canadians. OpenMedia.ca has launched a national 
campaign <https://openmedia.ca/csec>encouraging Canadians to support a 
BCCLA legal action which aims to stop illegal spying by challenging the 
constitutionality of the government’s warrantless collection of data on 
Canadians’ everyday Internet use.


-30-


Contact


David Christopher

Communications Manager, OpenMedia.ca

1-778-232-1858 <tel:1-778-232-1858>

david at openmedia.ca <mailto:david at openmedia.ca>


More Information


  *

    Five highlights from the Canada-Brazil spying revelations. [Source:
    The Globe and Mail
    <http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/five-highlights-from-the-canada-brazil-spying-revelations/article14721506/>]

  *

    Privacy watchdog on spy agency’s data collection: ‘We want to find
    out more’. [Source: The Globe And Mail
    <http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/privacy-watchdog-on-spy-agencys-data-collection-we-want-to-find-out-more/article12459998/>]

  *

    Canada’s spy agency may have illegally targeted Canadians: watchdog.
    [Source: National Post
    <http://news.nationalpost.com/2013/08/21/canadas-spy-agency-may-have-illegally-targeted-canadians-watchdog/>]

  *

    Inside Canada's top-secret billion-dollar spy palace. [Source: CBC
    News
    <http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/inside-canada-s-top-secret-billion-dollar-spy-palace-1.1930322?cmp=rss/>.]

  *

    Data breach protocols deficient in 9 federal departments, watchdog
    finds. - [Source: CBC News
    <http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/data-breach-protocols-deficient-in-9-federal-departments-watchdog-finds-1.1341017>]

  *

    Lawful Access back on the agenda this Fall? - Michael Geist.
    <http://www.michaelgeist.ca/content/view/6939/84/>

  *

    The secretive CSEC agency has a staff of more than 2,000 and a
    budget of about $400 million. [Source: CBC News
    <http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/secretive-eavesdropping-agency-pulls-plug-on-public-reporting-1.1275621>]

  *

    Surveillance expert Ron Deibert on the threat spy agencies pose for
    citizens
    <http://www.theglobeandmail.com/commentary/spy-agencies-have-turned-our-digital-lives-inside-out-we-need-to-watch-them/article12455029/>.

  *

    Internet Law expert Michael Geist on why Canadians should be
    concerned about government spying
    <http://www.michaelgeist.ca/content/view/6869/125/>.

  *

    Privacy commissioner Jennifer Stoddart says there are significant
    concerns about the scope of information that CSEC are reported to
    collect. [Source: CBC News
    <http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/privacy-czar-to-probe-canadian-impact-of-u-s-data-program-1.1313162>]

  *

    In this article
    <http://www.theglobeandmail.com/commentary/editorials/canadians-need-proper-debate-about-monitoring-of-phone-and-internet/article12445818/>,
    The Globe and Mail describes the revelations about Canadian
    government spying as “disturbing and unacceptable”

  * This document
    <http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/raw-documents-canadas-top-secret-data-mining-program/article12446852/>,
    obtained by The Globe through Access to Information, shows how
    Minister MacKay authorized a top secret program to data-mine global
    ‘metadata’ in 2011.


-- 
David Christopher
Communications Manager, OpenMedia.ca <http://OpenMedia.ca>
(778) 232 1858
david at openmedia.ca <mailto:david at openmedia.ca>
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