We have a problem when it comes to cease aggregated surveillance .
The entity that ’s conduct the most extreme and far - reaching surveillance against most of the world ’s communication theory — the National Security Agency — is bound by United States law .
That ’s good news for Americans . U.S. law and the Constitution protect American citizen and legal house physician from warrantless surveillance . That intend we have a very strong effectual case to challenge mass surveillance conducted domestically or that sweep up in Americans ’ communications .
Similarly , the United States Congress is elect by American voters . That means Congressional representatives are beholden to the American people for their line , so public pressure from constituents can help oneself influence future police that might check some of the NSA ’s most egregious practices .
But what about everyone else ? What about the 96 % of the world ’s population who are citizens of other land , living outside U.S. borders . They do n’t get a vote in Congress . And current American effectual tribute mostly only protect citizen , legal resident , or those physically located within the United States . So what can EFF do to protect the billions of masses outside the United States who are victims of the NSA ’s detection ?
For long time , we ’ve been turn on a strategy to terminate mass surveillance of digital communications of innocent hoi polloi worldwide . Today we ’re laying out the plan , so you may understand how all the bit meet together — that is , how U.S. protagonism and insurance exertion touch base to the external combat and vice versa . Decide for yourself where you’re able to get demand to make the biggest difference .
This plan is n’t for the next two week or three months . It ’s a multi - year struggle that may need to be revise many clock time as we well understand the instrument and authorities of entities engaged in mass surveillance and as more disclosure by whistleblower help fall igniter on surveillance ill-usage .
( If you ’d like an overview of how U.S. surveillance police force cultivate , check out ouraddendum . )
Intro: Mass Surveillance by NSA, GCHQ and Others
The National Security Agency is mold tocollect as much as possibleabout the digital life of people worldwide . As the Washington Postreported , a former senior U.S. intelligence official characterized former NSA Director Gen. Keith Alexander ’s approach shot to surveillance as “ Collect is all , tail it , store it … And whatever it is you want , you go look for it . ”
The NSA ca n’t do this alone . It relies on a meshwork of international partner who aid collect data worldwide , especially the intelligence information agencies of Australia , Canada , New Zealand , and the United Kingdom ( collectively get it on , along with the United States , as the “ Five Eyes . ” ) In plus , the United States has relationship ( include various spirit level of intelligence data sharing and assistance ) with Belgium , Denmark , France , Germany , Israel , Italy , Japan , the Netherlands , Norway , Singapore , Spain , South Korea , Sweden , and potentially a turn of other countries worldwide . There are also other countries — like Russia , China , and others — engage in surveillance of digital communications without share that data point with the NSA . Some of those government , including the U.S. government , are spending one thousand million of dollars to develop spying capabilities that they utilise sharply against destitute people around the world . Some of them may do so with even less oversight and even fewer legal restriction .
Although whistleblowers and journalist have focalize attending on the astonishing power and ambitions of the like of the NSA and GCHQ , we should never take for granted that other administration lack the desire to join them . delegacy everywhere are hungry for our data and working to expand their stretch . Read aboutinternational surveillance constabulary reformand struggle back throughuser - side encryption .
We focus here on the NSA because we know the most about its activeness and we have the most effectual and political puppet for holding it to account . Of of course , we need to roll in the hay much more about surveillance practices of other agencies in the U.S. and overseas and expand our work together with our partners around the world to face surveillance as a world-wide epidemic .
Mass surveillance is facilitate by technology company , specially orotund ones . These companies often have insufficient or even miry surety drill that make aggregative surveillance easier , and in some cases may be actively assist the NSA in sweeping up data on hundred of millions of people ( for example , AT&T ) . In other cases , tech companies may be legally obligate to leave access to their servers to the NSA ( or they may choose to fight that access).Read more about how tech companies can indurate their systems against surveillance .
The NSA swear onseveral laws as well as a presidential orderto excuse its continued mass surveillance . Laws pass by Congress as well as orders from the U.S. President can restrict surveillance by the NSA , and the Supreme Court of the United States also has authority to put the brake on surveillance .
The Game Plan
give that the American sound organization does n’t adequately protect the rightfield of people overseas , what can we do in the immediate future to protect net users who may not be Americans ?
Here ’s the biz program for decently now . Note that these are not consecutive steps ; we ’re turn on them concurrently .
1 . pressure level technology company to indurate their system against NSA surveillance
To engagement , there are unrequited questions about the stage to which U.S. technology companies are actively assisting the NSA .
In some cases , we cognise that technical school companies are doing a lot to help the NSA get access to data . AT&T is a exculpated object lesson of this . Thanks towhistleblower grounds , we recognise AT&T has a secret room at its Folsom Street adroitness in San Francisco where a fibre eye splitter make a transcript of the cyberspace traffic that passes through AT&T ’s networks . That splitter spreadeagle data directly to the NSA .
Some companies have taken things a stair further anddeliberately de-escalate or sabotagedtheir own products to “ enable ” NSA detection . We do n’t know who ’s done this or what they ’ve done , but the NSA documents make exonerated that it ’s happening . It ’s the meridian of perfidy of the world , and it could conceivably be taking plaza with the help even of some companies that are loudly complaining about administration undercover work .
So what do we know about major technical school companies , like Google , Facebook , Yahoo , and Microsoft ? Here we have mixed reports . Documents provided by Edward Snowden and published in theGuardianand theWashington Postname nine U.S. company — Microsoft , Yahoo , Google , Facebook , PalTalk , AOL , Skype , YouTube , and Apple — as participants in the NSA ’s PRISM program . The documents indicate that the NSA has memory access to servers at each of these companies , and mean that these companies are complicit in the surveillance of their users .
The companies , in turn , havestrongly deniedthese allegation , and have even formed alobby groupcalling on governments to “ limit surveillance to specific , known users for lawful function , and should not undertake bulk data collecting of cyberspace communications . ”
While a beginning , that ’s a far cry from the role companies could be play . Tech companies also have the ability to harden their systems to make deal surveillance more difficult , and to vagabond out features that allow user to well inscribe their communications so that they are so completely secure that even their servicing providers ca n’t read them . Perhaps most importantly , engineering companies must unconditionally resist attempts to insert backdoors into their computer hardware or computer software .
There ’s also an important legal takings that ca n’t be cut . Tech companies are in a singular placement to know about surveillance requests that are kept secret from the press and the public . These ship’s company may have the best chance to fight back on behalf of their user in tribunal ( as Yahoo has done ) .
What ’s more , tech fellowship literally expend millions of dollars to lobby for laws in Washington and relish unbelievable memory access to and influence over U.S. lawgiver . Often , company spend that money essay to jump possible regulation . Instead , these fellowship could be heavy prioritize positive surveillance reform bills .
So how do we get tech company to pop fighting surveillance in courtroom , hardening their systems against surveillance , push back against the administration , and lobby for real reform ? We ’re sharpen on transparency — bring out everything we can about the academic degree to which bad technical school company are actively help the governing — and public pressure . That means highlighting style that companies are fight surveillance and call out companies that go wrong to stand up for user privateness .
It ’s why we ’re proud to support theReset the Netcampaign , design to get party gravid and small to take step to protect exploiter data . It ’s also why we ’re working to make what companies do and do n’t do in this area more visible . Campaigns likeHTTPS Everywhereand our study onemail exaltation encryption , as well as scorecards likeWho Has Your Backare design to poke and prod these company to do more to protect all their users , and get them to publically commit to steps that the public can objectively check out .
We also need to cultivate a good sense of responsibility on the part of all those who are building products to which the world entrust its most sensitive and individual datum . The people who make our computation devices , meshwork equipment , software environments , and so on , need to be very clear about their province to the users who have chosen to believe them .
They need to turn away to create backdoor and they need to bushel any exist backdoors they become aware of . And they need to empathise that they themselves , unfortunately , are proceed to be aim for government that will attempt to penetrate , subvert , and coerce the applied science world for extend their spying capabilities . They have a grave responsibility to user worldwide and we must use public pressure to secure they live up to that responsibility .
2 . Create a global movement that promote user - side encryption
Getting tech behemoth to safeguard our digital lives and changing practice of law and policies might be slow survive , but anybody could take up using encryption in a subject of minutes . From encrypted New World chat to encipher email , from secure connection browse to secure written document transfers , encoding is a powerful way to make mass surveillance significantly more difficult .
However , encryption can be tricky , specially if you do n’t have a squad of engineers to take the air you through it the direction we do at EFF . With that in nous , we ’ve createdSurveillance Self Defense , an in - profundity resource that explain encryption to common people who may want to safeguard their data but have small or no idea how to do it .
We ’ve already translated the material into Spanish and Arabic , and we ’re working on even more transformation .
We ’ll cover to expand these material and translate them into as many languages as potential , while also doing a public campaign to make certain as many citizenry as potential read them .
Again , the more masses worldwide sympathize the menace and the more they understand how to protect themselves — and just as importantly , what they should expect in the way of support from companies and politics — the more we can agitate for the changes we necessitate online to resist off the dragnet collection of information .
3 . Encourage the macrocosm of secure communication peter that are easy to use
Many of the puppet that are using surety best practices are , frankly , heavy to use for casual people . The ones that are easiest to utilize often do n’t take over the security pattern that make them resilient to surveillance .
We want to see this problem fixed so that people do n’t have to trade usability for security system . We ’re twine out a multi - stage Campaign for Secure and Usable Crypto , and we sound off it off with a Secure Messaging Scorecard . TheSecure Messaging Scorecardis only await at a few criterion for security system , and the next phases of the project will home in on more thought-provoking security and usability objectives .
The goal ? Encouraging the development of new engineering that will be secure and comfortable for mundane multitude to use , while also pushing bigger companies to adopt certificate best practices .
4 . Reform Executive Order 12333
Most people have n’t even heard of it , but Executive Order 12333 is the primary authority the NSA uses to engage in the surveillance of mass outside the U.S. While Congress is regard much - necessitate reforms to the Patriot Act , there ’s been almost no debate about Executive Order 12333 .
This executive order was created by a stroke of the playpen from President Ronald Reagan in 1981 . President Obama could undo the bad parts of this executive order just as easily , by issuing a presidential edict banning aggregative surveillance of mass no matter of their nationality .
We’vealready launchedthe first form of our campaign to reform Executive Order 12333 .
5 . Develop guiding legal principles around surveillance and privacy with the aid of scholars and legal expert worldwide
covering of Human Rights to Communications Surveillance , which feature 13 guiding principle about limiting surveillance . write by academician and sound expert from across the ball , the principles have now been endorsed by over 417 NGOs and 350,000 individuals worldwide , and have been the basis for a pro - privacy resolution successfully passed by the United Nations .
The 13 Principles , as they ’re also known , are also intend to forge both topically and globally . By giving politician and activists the context of use for why mass surveillance is a assault of established international human right law , they make it clear that legalizing mass surveillance — a way raise by the Five heart countries — is the wrong room ahead . The 13 Principles are our way of making sure that the global norm for human rights in the setting of communication surveillance is n’t the distort stand of NSA and its four closest ally , but that of 50 years of human right standards show aggregated surveillance to be unnecessary and disproportionate .
6 . Cultivate partners worldwide who can champion surveillance reform on the local level , and extend them financial support and promotion
Katitza Rodriguez , EFF ’s International Rights Director , is seldom in our San Francisco office . That ’s because the majority of her time is spent traveling from country to nation , meeting with advocacy groups on the ground throughout Latin America and parts of Europe to defend for surveillance law reform . Katitza and the ease of EFF ’s external team assist these groups in working to build up country - specific plans to end mass surveillance at menage and afield .
The goal is to engage activists and attorney worldwide who can use the 13 Principles and the effectual analyses we ’ve prepared to support them at the national floor to fight against the on - move movement of increase surveillance mogul . For illustration , we teamed up with activists in Australia , Mexico , and Paraguay to help fight datum holding mandates in those area , including speaking in the Paraguayan National Congress .
EFF isespecially focusedon countries that are known to share intelligence agency data with the United States and on trying to understand the politics of surveillance behind those information sharing agreements and surveillance police force proposals .
We ’ve been share with and pick up from groups across the world a range of a function of different tactics , strategies , and sound methods that can be helpful in uncovering and combat unchecked surveillance . Our partners are starting to explicate their own national surveillance law strategies , working out a localized version of theWho Has Your Back effort , evaluating strategical judicial proceeding , and develop the oecumenical world of the danger of aggregative surveillance .
In certain locale , these fight are politically and socially difficult , in particular in places where a culture of fear has permeated the high society . We ’ve see anti - surveillance counselor incorrectly paint as allies of pedophiles or terrorists . In at least one of the countries we ’re working in , anonymity is interdict in its constitution . For some of our partners , promoting a rational argumentation about checking authorities force abuses can hazard their very exemption , with militant facing jail time or even more serious issue for speaking out .
Establishing a bottom - up counter - surveillance law movement — even if it ’s one base on common sensory faculty and the entire history of modernistic democracies — isn’t soft . It ’s a titanic labor that needs the involvement of counsellor around the world with unlike tactics and scheme that are complementary . This is why we ’ve also been working to make connections between militant in different countries , with case subject like theCounter - Surveillance Success Stories , and foreground someone who are gallant to remain firm up and say “ I campaign Surveillance . ” We ’re also team up with partners , such asPanoptykon Foundation , to share the strategy and tactics they used in Europe with local group in Latin America and vice - versa . We ’re working closely with groups in the Middle East and North Africa , such as7iberandSMEX , to track , describe on , and coordinate responses to state surveillance in these regions .
All of this has helped inform the work we ’ve done in venue like theUnited Nations , theOffice of the High Commissioner on Human Rights , and theInter - American Commission on Human Rights , where EFF and our allies are aid — with great success — the sound minds there enclose their head around this newfangled historic period of state violations of the right to privacy and free expression .
Meanwhile , back in Washington …
7 . Stop NSA outsmart through impact litigation and new U.S. law
Executive Order 12333 may be the presidential command that sets the docket for aggregate surveillance , but U.S. legal philosophy also play a vast part . The NSA claims ( often wrongly ) that certain U.S. laws allow surveillance of all cyberspace users , with almost zero oversight of its spying on non - U.S. someone . There ’s the FISA Amendments Act , which the NSA believes allows it to spy on groups of people instead of with directed warrants and scoop up all of the Internet traffic it can , and grants it carte blanche to target anyone oversea on the ground that they are potentially relevant to America ’s “ strange interests . ” And then there ’s the Patriot Act , which has been slackly interpret by the NSA to permit the trawl surveillance of phone records .
Fighting these laws is the bread and butter of our domesticated legal squad . Our lawsuit , likeJewel v. NSA , get to demonstrate that warrantless surveillance is illegal and unconstitutional . Our grassroots advocacy is dedicated to usher American lawgiver exactly how U.S. legal philosophy is broken , what must be done to fix it , and the powerful movement of the great unwashed work for variety .
you could record more details about American law in ouraddendumbelow , but here ’s the upshot : we have to gear up the legal philosophy if we ’re to stop these secret agencies snoop on the world . And we have to make indisputable that no new trick are being planned .
That mean break away aside at the civilization of secrecy that rest at the tenderness of this mess .
8 . bring in transparence to surveillance law and practice
One of the greatest challenges we face in attempting to cease mass surveillance is that we do n’t know what we do n’t know . Thanks towhistleblower evidence , statement by certain public functionary , and years of fast-growing litigation under theFreedom of Information Act , we ’ve confirmed that the NSA is prosecute in aggregative surveillance of our communication and that it is chiefly relying on three legal authorities to apologize this surveillance .
But what if the NSA is rely on seven other sound authorities ? What if there are other var. of surveillance we have not yet heard about ? What if the NSA is partner with other entity ( different countries or different branch of the U.S. government ) to collect data point in ways we ca n’t reckon ?
It ’s extremely hard to regenerate the human race of surveillance when we do n’t have a full pictorial matter of what the government is doing and how it ’s legally free those actions .
With that in mind , we are working to fight back for more transparentness by :
Working to reform the broken classification system , which keeps the regime ’s actions hide from public oversight .
Using Freedom of Information Act requests and suit to make headway access to politics document that detail surveillance practices ( and their legal justification ) .
help friend , like Germany and Brazil , to put pressure on the United States to justify its surveillance drill .
develop people about the value of whistleblowers and the important role they play in combating secrecy . This includes protagonism for arrangement and platform like Wikileaks that defend and promote the work of whistleblowers . It also include highlighting the important contributions cater by whistleblowers like Mark Klein , Bill Binney , Thomas Drake , Edward Snowden , and others .
Global Solutions for a Global Problem
Mass surveillance strike people worldwide , achieve everywhere that the Internet reaches ( and many lieu that it does n’t ! ) . But laws and motor hotel system are divvied up by jurisdictional lines that do n’t make sentiency for the net today . This means we require a range of maneuver that include encroachment judicial proceeding , technical solution , and policy changes both in the United States and across the world .
This game design is designed to give you brainwave into how U.S. laws and policies affect people worldwide , and how we can work to protect people alfresco of America ’s borders .
We ’re up against more than just a few element in the American administration here . We ’re up against a grow despondence about digital concealment , and we ’re up against the desire of spooks , autocrat , and tummy jockeying for intelligence contract in every nation , all of whom require to shore up up these surveillance powers for themselves . But we work side - by - side with hundreds of other organizations around the earth and thousands of supporters in almost every country . We have the amazing major power of engineering science to protect privacy , organize opposition , and speak up against such damnatory infringement of human rightfulness .
We ’re continuing to rarify our plan , but we want to assist our friends understand our thinking so you could empathise how each of our smaller campaigns fit into the ultimate objective : secure , secret communications for hoi polloi worldwide .
It ’s what we ’re doing to fight back surveillance . But what can you do ?
you may get together your local digital rightfield organization , of which there are now hundreds , in almost every nation ( and if there is n’t one in yours , ask us for advice on starting one ) . you could pressure company to increase your tribute against government espionage and stomach company that make a stand . You cansign our postulation about Executive Order 12333and help spread the word to others . You canuse encryptionto protect yourself and raise the cost of mass surveillance , and you’re able to learn your friend and colleagues to use it too . you may in person deny to cooperate with surveillance and promote privateness aegis inside institutions you ’re a part of . you could recite your friends and colleagues the real risks we are persist and how we can turn this mess around .
And whether you ’re in the United States or not , you’re able to back our plan bybecoming a penis of EFF .
Addendum: Laws & Presidential Orders We Need to Change
One of the best mode to end aggregated surveillance by the NSA is to change the United States police force to make clear-cut that warrantless surveillance is illegal . However , that ’s a small ambitious . The NSA is relying on a patchwork of different laws and executive orders to apologize its surveillance powers .
Here are a few we know we require to change . Note that there are other parts of U.S. law that may need revision ( including provisions such as thePen Register Trap and TraceandNational Security Letters ) , but this is where we ’re rivet our energies presently as the primary fuck authorities used to justify mass surveillance :
incision 215 of the Patriot Act , Known as the “ Business Records ” discussion section
Read the law
What it does : The section of the practice of law fundamentally says that the government can compel the production of any “ tangible thing ” that are “ relevant ” to an investigation .
Why you should care : The NSA relies on this authority to accumulate , in volume , the phone records of gazillion of Americans . There are suggestion it ’s also being used to collect other types of records , like fiscal records or mention calling card records , in bulk as well .
How we can stop it : There are a few ways to fix part 215 . One means is to pass a reform bill , such as theUSA FREEDOM Act , which would make light that using Section 215 to conduct bulk appeal is illegal . The USA FREEDOM Act failed to eliminate in the Senate in 2014 , which intend it would demand to be reintroduced in 2015 .
However , there ’s an even easy path to defeat this proviso of the police force . This controversial section of the Patriot Act expires every few age and must be reauthorized by Congress . It ’s up for refilling in June 2015 , which means Congress must successfully reauthorize the part or it will finish to be a law . We ’re going to be mounting a huge hunting expedition to call on Congress not to reauthorize the flyer .
We also have three sound cases challenge surveillance conducted under Section 215 : Jewel v NSA , Smith v Obama , andFirst Unitarian Church of Los Angeles v. NSA .
discussion section 702 of the FISA Amendments Act
What it does : This section of law is design to allow the NSA to comport warrantless surveillance within the U.S. when the destine butt is overseas .
Why you should like : The NSA relies on this law to bear out PRISM , which oblige Internet service providers like Google , Apple , and Facebook to produce its users communications . The NSA ’s upstream surveillance — which include tapping into roughage optic cables of AT&T and other telecommunication providers — also relies on this provision . Through these two surveillance options , the NSA “ targets ” subjects for surveillance . But even when the NSA is “ target ” specific extraneous intelligence case overseas , they ’re “ incidentally ” collect communication on 1000000 of mass , including both Americans and innocent mass abroad .
How we can stop it : Currently , there are n’t any reform circular that show hope . We ’re work on educating the public and Congress about the Section 702 and the FISA Amendments Act . In 2017 , this self-assurance will be up for reauthorization . We ’ll be plan a cock-a-hoop campaign to pulverise this invasive and oft - abuse surveillance agency .
Executive Order 12333
show the executive order
What it does : Executive orders are legally binding orders given by the President of the United States which direct how politics way should operate . Executive Order 12333covers“most of what the NSA does ” and is “ the main authorization under which the country ’s intelligence activity agencies conduct the bulk of their operations . ”
Why you should handle : Executive Order 12333 is the master authority the NSA practice to acquit its surveillance operation — including mass surveillance curriculum — overseas . Reforming aggregative surveillance postulate reform the NSA ’s authority under EO 12333 .
How we can stop it : Executive Order 12333 was create by a presidential order , and so a presidential order could undo all of this impairment . That ’s why we’repressuring President Obamato issue a new executive ordination support the secrecy right of people worldwide and ending mass surveillance .
The Funding Hack
While passing a card through Congress is super ambitious , another ( somewhat more controversial ) method of ending this surveillance is through the budget system . Every year , Congress must approve the defence budget . This frequently becomes a disputatious battle with legion amendment introduced and deliberate . We may see an amendment that tackles some flesh of surveillance .
This article isreproduced from Electronic Frontier Foundationunder Creative Commons license .
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