Access Now Policy Team

On Wednesday, July 15, Access took the floor at a UN event to discuss candidates for the Human Rights Council. In response, six out of eight participating candidate countries echoed the importance of prioritizing the right to privacy at the Council.

Access denounces the ruling of the European Court of Human Rights against the news website Delfi.ee.

Responding to civil society voices, and the leadership of Brazil and Germany, the Human Rights Council has moved decisively forward in the battle for privacy online.

Today, the Department of Treasury and Department of Commerce officially released the anticipated changes to the Cuban Assets Control Regulations (CACR) and Export Administration Regulations (EAR).

The High Court of Kenya has temporarily suspended the implementation of eight clauses of the Security Laws (Amendment) Act of 2014, which restricts the exercise of human rights in Kenya. Access applauds the High Court’s decision in suspending these parts of the law law and urges the Court to thoroughly consider the entire law’s human rights impact in its ultimate assessment.

After weeks of heated discussions, the International Telecommunication Union Plenipotentiary Conference closed on November 7th, ending on a significantly lighter note than the controversial 2012 World Conference on International Telecommunications (WCIT). Internet governance expert Avri Doria attended the conference in Busan, South Korea, better known as “the Plenipot,” on behalf of Access. Here are her impressions of the outcomes of the conference.

Yesterday, the USA FREEDOM Act — the bill that would have halted the NSA’s bulk collection of telephony metadata under section 215 of the PATRIOT Act — failed to move forward in the United States Senate.

This week the Senate is expected to vote on the USA FREEDOM Act, a bill that would end one of the worst abuses of the NSA’s surveillance authority. Access urges the Senate to protect privacy and pass the bill.

Access Senior Policy Counsel Amie Stepanovich testifies on behalf of Access/EFF urging the rejection of a proposed rule which would substantively expand the instances in which a government could search or seize control of an individual’s computer in the search for Botnets.

International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Plenipotentiary conference is held once every four years, and we expected this year’s conference in Busan, Korea to be full of controversy. The Conference is now about halfway over and our expectations came true. Here’s a quick halftime report on the major happenings and topics of conversation.